(Ok I have never been in a Terma in my life, so if any of my questions seem silly to a seasoned vet keep that in mind.)

I have been in numerous strip joints here in the US and I am thinking they dont hold a candle to what I will see/experience in mighty Brazil. However I have read practically every rio trip report and still have these nagging questions....


1. Upon arrival to the termas it is my understanding that you are asssigned a locker which you place your belongings in then get into a robe and slippers. I have also read that most termas will not let you pay the girls fee with a credit card/ cash only. Having said this: when you get your locker do you guys keep your wallet in the locker til its time to close the tab and pay up? Or do you always keep your wallet/money close to you?


2. Favelas: I have read that Rio is like a rose, very beautiful but if you grab it blindfolded you will hurt yourself. For those of you who have been there multiple times, how bad really is the crime/ locals? Is it compariable to say Compton in LA or perhaps a bad neighborhood in Detroit? And if I want to say get a 1/2 day tour of wildlife in the surrounding rainforest are the favelas avoidable or do they surround Rio on all sides?

Wallet is kept in the locker. You settle when you leave and don't actually pay the girls fee directly. When the termas (some of them) say you can't pay the girl's fee with a credit card, what they are saying is that the portion of your bill that goes to the girl must be paid in cash, but this is paid to the cashier when you leave like everything else.

I'll defer to others on the safety issue, except to say while one has to be careful, I would rather walk on the streets of Rio than a very dangerous neighborhood in the U.S. OTOH, Rio would be a better place to visit if there were less crime.

Comparing crime in Rio and the US is nearly impossible. Don't think of Rio as being better or worse than Compton or other US bad spots. Instead, think of a really nice area near you. Good homes, nice stores, very upscale. Then, imagine that within this nice community is a block or two of a neighborhood far worse than anything we have here in the US. That is how Rio is - the favelas are spread all out. Some are very large, practically the size of small/medium towns. Others are pretty small, like the one in Copa. But, the danger around them is all the same.

My point is, you can go to LA or Detroit or any large city in the US and never see a bad neighborhood, since they tend to be localized. In Rio, you have five blocks of good, two blocks of hell on earth, then six blocks of good.

Read my "Rio safety guide for the paranoid".

I would not walk anywhere in a forest near Rio. The forest on Corcovado is one of the worst areas, except right on the top.

Basically, you risk to have pirates pounce on you, and absolutely nothing you can do short of hiring 5 armed police security guards for your forest excursion.

Of course, you might be lucky and have no problems. But I would not want to take the risk.


There are a few safe areas, read about them in my report.

Totally safe: the hill behind the army barracks behind Mario's at Leme on weekends only.

Almost totally safe: the access to Pao de Acucar and morro da Urca, near the cable car to sugar loaf, behind the army area on Praia Vermelha.

I have lived in Rio for the last 20 months. My personal opinion is that the crime issue is worse here in Rio. The reason is that the poverty is more pronounced and more widespread than in the US. People are just more desparate. Compounding the issue is that unemployment in Rio is on the rise.

(Message edited by bluestraveller on December 10, 2004)

J43143:

In addition to agreeing with what the above gentlemen have written, I want to point out that:

If you want to see wildlife in Rio (1/2 day wildlife tour), forget it. There's really not much to see "in the woods" except lots of trees - any fauna that still exists stays way up high in the trees (not that the Amazon rainforest is much different). Stil, if you want to get a taste of "jungle", take the path behind Praia Vermelha that BS mentions in his safety guide (it's really quite beautiful, and 99.95% safe) and when you get halfway between Urca and Pao de Acucar (the two hills), make a left onto the path between the two and stroll to your hert's content - the path leads to teh top of Urca, takes about 45 minutes, and is a "free" way to get to Pao de Acucar if you are a real cheapskate (like me!). Anyway, it will certainly cure your desire to see "jungle". If you REALLY want to see brazilian wildlife, go to the Pantanal (4 hour plane ride away...).

That being said, the general rule of "bad neighborhoods" in Rio is, if it's up a hill don't go there! With the possible exception of Santa Teresa, which is definetly worth a visit.

Anyway, there's more than enough "wildlife" in the Termas to keep you occupied

BS