Just got back from a great first trip to RDJ. What a great city. We never saw any of the unpleasant things we read about. We felt very safe, no beggars, shit slingers, and very few shady characters. This was probably due in part to the diligence of Richard our guide and friend. We were lucky enough to find him through a Club Hombre recommendation from Jaguar.

Richard took us to all the old familiar places and few I hadn't read about. "Four
Floors of Whores" is an experience no one should miss. Its like something you would expect to find in India: unbelievably awful.

You could probably have a good time without a guide but when you consider how little a guide costs in relation to the cost of the trip I would recommend that any first timer consider Richard particularly or someone like him. His fee if it was only for translating purposes was well worth the cost. I do think that next time I might try and find an open minded beautiful GDP fluent in English to do the same job. HaHa. They probably wouldn't let her into a terma though but she could wait outside like the female Navy personnel. The types I like though I would be afraid to leave on the street. They would be scooped up in a heart beat.

We stayed at the Marriott, very girl friendly though overpriced, and conveniently liked the Monte Carlo terma the most. Its just around the corner from the Marriott. After trying a few clubs Barbarella was the one we returned to regularly. We went there so many nights I think they reserved tables for us. It was kind of like going into Cheers, where everybody knows your name. It's too bad the girls aren't more open minded about being traded among buddies. They do it but begrudgingly.

If you haven't experienced Portuguese it is so far from Spanish that even if you are somewhat comfortable in Spanish there is practically no common ground for communication. The language barrier was the only negative for a for an otherwise great place to visit.

I've been to Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Peru and the women from Rio are by far the sexiest and most beautiful women I have encountered. All I can say is wow.

Our guide Richard introduced us to several of the Club Hombre members we came across in our travels. All are great guys.

Glad you had a good time! It was nice meeting you at MC.

Richard is still recovering from you guys, you kept him going. Last night he was complaining, "I've been working so much I haven't been laid in weeks!"

Oh, and he had nothing but nice things to say about you guys as well.

Good to meet you, I'll give your regards to Monte Carlo.

SPAM!!!

I'm kidding! Just wanted to see how it felt to be on the other side for once

Richard gets a vote of confidence from me.

Glad you had a good time. When you get a chance, could you write up a trip report with some of the details of your adventure? It is nice to see Rio from a new pair of eyes once in awhile.

Glad you had a good time, it looked like it when we met you and your friends at MC. I'm sure you'll be back, welcome to the ship of cursed souls.
CG

I'm glad Rich is guiding now, although he does spend too much time with Jag, which will undoubtedly lead to disaster for some unlucky newbie.

See, I can do something right!! Oh yeah, Cat, fuck you.

Jag

Richard - you skipped Villa Mimosa? Isn't that the obvious number one destination, especially for Marriott guests?

Oh - sorry - that's Jaguar's domain - sorry Jag!!! -- I forgot that for a moment --my bad!

I stayed at that Marriot a couple of months ago. It is very nice. The thing I like about that area is that it has a large beach area.

A guide is definitely worth it for your first trip to Rio in particular given that some of the places are well-hidden. I wouldn't recommend using one to some of the places in Asia because those places tend to be right in your face, so it isn't necessary. I'm glad it worked out for you. I knew a guy that used another guide in Rio a couple of years ago, and he didn't have good things to say.
The key there is to make sure you know what the guide service includes and that they are actually going to deliver what they promise. He said he was only offered 2 places to go. One day he wanted to go to Solarium so his "guide" pawned him off on a couple of other Hombres that were in town. He didn't even know that Monte Carlo was right around the corner from his place or that the brothel apartments existed downtown as a change of pace until I told him afterward he got fucked in Rio in more ways than one. And with this particular service, from what I understand, it isn't really a big secret in Rio among the people that go down there a lot, but for some reason, it's covered up on this board. This site is supposed to be about the free flow of information to help us all with our travel plans, not a bunch of friends scratching each other's backs with compliments and referrals so that they in turn can get help with something when they are in town. You know it's true, so don't even start ass kissers.

IMO - If you go anywhere without doing your research on where to go and what to do, you are a fool and deserve to have a disappointing trip. My first trip to Rio in 2003 I used reasearch from this site plus Bwana Dik's guide and UWPhoto's cheatsheet and had a great vacation (1st of 20 to Rio).

As far as guides. The old addage goes if you provide me good service I'll tell a friend, if you provide bad service I'll tell 20 friends. Sooner or later the bad service will put them out of business.

So how do I get ahold of Richard? Arriving today in Rio. At the Windsor Plaza Copacabana for two nights, then the Sheraton. Girl friendly? Yes, No. How much do they charge for a visitor?

Both Sheraton locations are girl friendly, no charges and ID required. One visitor at a time allowed, if you want a dupla get a buddy to claim one for you! [I have woke a few guys up at 3AM to vouch for an extra ]

CFK,
Why didn't you just go to the apt you bought for the garota?

JR, the apartment is located in another city.

Hammockguy, PM Gibletpie [8 posts above yours], he can hook you up with Richard.

CFK

(Message edited by copperfieldkid on March 06, 2011)

Marriott, multiple trips to Barbarella, etc...I can just imagine what this trip must have cost you :-) But glad to hear you had a good time....