Day 1

Arrive in town in the morning and checked in at the hotel. I had booked a “superior” room at the Luxor Regente for a reasonable rate. When I walked into the room, however, it was clear that I had a problem. There were two single beds. After laughing out loud, I said to the bell captain that “this is not going to work, I had been promised at least a double bed.” His reply was “oh, don’t worry, we can just push the beds together.” No lie. Needless to say, I went back down to the lobby and explained to the man at the desk that their solution was not acceptable. Initially, the person said that they had very few “superior rooms” with double beds. Are we back to the 50’s,when Ricky and Lucy Ricardo “chose” to sleep on separate beds and always kept one foot on the floor? Thankfully, a room was found that could accommodate me.

After settling in and cashing a little money at the hotel, I went to Alcazar’s to meet with the Rio Trips contact. More will be said about them later, but suffice it to say that they were the absolute best!! Can’t imagine what it would have been like without their assistance and company. With Don being under the weather, Karl drew the short straw and became the man who would show us the ropes.

First stop of the 10 day odyssey was to be 4 x 4. For those who don’t already know, 4 x 4 is purported to be the granddaddy of all termas. Located downtown, it is the biggest and, most importantly, has the most women. Wall to wall, in fact. Let’s get to the pluses and minuses, starting with the later.

Minuses:
1. It’s located downtown, away from Copacabana, where most people stay.
2. After 6:30 or so, it becomes really crowded with the local Brasiliero businessmen.
3. Kind of spread out over a number of floors, so it can get a little confusing.

Pluses:
1. Beautiful women and lots of them.
2. If you get to a room before 5:00 pm, the $30R entry fee is waved. You can get a simple suite for an hour for $150R, plus whatever you spend on drinks.
3. Refer to #1.

My first reaction, and apparently like everyone else who goes there for the first time, is amazement at the number and quality of the women there. Sure, there are those that were not so attractive, but overall, it was like being a kid in a candy store with a fistful of dollars. There were all types of women there, with a tremendous variation of size, hair and skin coloring and body types. Something for everyone.

After recognizing Rebecca from her pictures on the site, I knew that she would be my first Brasiliera. I asked Karl to introduce us, and after reasonable acquaintance period, I went for the 1 hour simple suite. I can’t say that it was an earth-shattering hour, but she is gorgeous, has amazing breasts, and I popped twice. Since the suite had a shower, it was easy to clean up afterwards. Overall, I had to say that I had a good first experience.

Went back to Copa afterwards and had dinner at one of those “kilo” restaurants, where you select food from a buffet. Your plate is then weighed (every time you get food), and you pay based on the total amount you’ve chosen. What this basically does is that you get full selection, but perhaps waste is reduced because there is a disincentive to “plating” more than you can eat. Still, I got full, and my total came out to about $22R.

Pretty exhausted from the sessioning and the jet lag, but we still decided to check out the Terraco Atlantico, which is the restaurant outside of Help (or as the locals call it “Helpie”). Not only is the restaurant a pre-gathering place for those going to Help, it is a marketplace in and of itself for those who wish to strike deals before going to Help, or for those who don’t want to pay the entrance fees. A great place for people watching, but I was too tired to do anything more than that.


Day 2

After the daily ritual of meeting and lunching at Alcazar’s, we head to Luomos, a terma very different in style and feel from 4 x 4.

Minuses:
1. Smaller than 4 x 4 and hence fewer women (both attractive and unattractive).

Pluses:
1. Much cozier and clubbier feel than 4 x 4. A much more comfortable place to just hang out.
2. A better proportion of attractive girls.
3. Newer facilities and all laid out on one floor.

I can see why this place if the favorite of many. The way the lounge sofas are laid out, it is really conducive to sitting back, enjoying the music and surveying the talent. Once again, it takes a while for the initial shock to wear off. After that, it’s a matter of narrowing down the field. I had two that I had my eye on, and asked Karl to grab for me the first one he saw. Lucky for me, it turned out to be Mayara. She works at 4 x 4 on the weekdays and then Luomo on the weekend. Yes, she does, in her words, “fuckee fuckee seven days a week.” Still, I can see why. In every respect, she was built for sex. She has an amazing back arch, that curves down to an other worldly ass.

Since I was still new to the game, Karl was kind enough to ask her whether she was open to pictures, bbbj, etc. Her answer to all of them? “No problema.” She is all about customer service. I spent an hour with her. She loved to pose for pictures and even enquired as to whether I wanted to take any pictures during sex. I politely declined, but she was more than willing as to any other photographic requests.

Performance? I’d have to say that the term “sexual predator” best describes her. She is not only good at her job, it looks to me that she loves it as well. What ever you want, she is game and enthusiastic. Oh yeah, she also has the biggest clitoris I have ever seen!!! Only my second day, but oh what a terma experience.

Terma politics: Now, I am not talking about the garotas’ opinion on the gulf war. What I am talking about is what happens when you session with one girl and then decide whether to session again with the same one or choose another. If you choose a different girl, you are making a subtle statement that you want to play the field. The first girl’s feelings are often hurt and these women have long memories. If, after sampling other wares, you go back to the first girl, she may harbor some ill will. On the other hand, if you repeat with the same garota (either that same day or a future day), you are kind of branded as hers. She will become a little protective over her new territory and will not be pleased if you then stray. Not really logical, since you know she will be sexing down other guys, but ours is not to reason why . . . . If you do not want to be branded, the next time you go to that terma, immediately pick someone else so that your original girl gets the message. I know, sounds kind of silly, but it is their world. This is exactly why it’s best to go to a bunch of termas.

Back to our original programming. Mayara asked me whether I was up for a rest and then going back to the cabine. I hesitated and grinned, and she said that she knew that I wanted to see other girls. I half-heartedly denied this, but she knew. On Saturday evenings, Luomo provides food in the relaxation room. Originally, I was leery of mixing my sexual appetites with my culinary appetites, but I’d have to say the food was quite good. And a much needed pick me up after Mayara.

After my snack, I went back to the main room and was taken aback by this long lean blonde who was doing a “show.” There’s not really a stage at Luomo, so the dancer really works much of the main room. In any case, she was stunning. She did not have the butt that Mayara has, but I can appreciate many different forms of beautiful women. I had Karl call Shela over after her show, and she proceeded to “market” herself to me. This marketing consists of dancing very seductively, deep kissing as well as “gear shifting.” Yeah, I was sold. We went back to the hour suite and after a few pictures got down to business. A lot of different positions and the change in women from curvy morena to lean mean loira was a great change of pace. Not necessarily better or worse, but Shela was a little more sensual. A nice time was had by all, or at least me. But now I was just plain tuckered.

After a nice dinner, the Riotrips gang ventured to Frank’s Bar. Here’s the scoop with Frank’s. It’s kind of like a strip club with one and a half dance areas. There is a $30R minimum, which amounts to two beers. There are strip shows, and at around 1:30am, there is a live sex show between a man and a woman, followed by a lesbian sex show. I would have to say the shows are quite entertaining, although all newbies must be warned that the guy having sex does NOT wear a condom and he likes to prove that he is indeed cumming. Therefore, be careful of not sitting in the firing zone. Those who do must end up demonstrating their quickness in jumping out of their seats and diving for cover.

All of the dancer’s at Frank’s, as well as the women who lounge around the bar, are all “in play.” You can get them to sit with you and let them market themselves. If you decide to take one away, you either must buy them drinks for $30R, or pay that amount as a bar fine. The one benefit of Frank’s is that most of the women are regularly there, so if there is a problem, you kind of know where to find them. The going rate is between $150R to $300R, but 200 to 250 is probably the most fair. Once again, Karl introduced us to some “friends of ours,” meaning women that they know and can vouch for. Karl also helped negotiate deals that I know we couldn’t have done by ourselves. I was introduced to a beauty who resembled Gloria Reubens, formerly of ER, and although I was sorely tempted, I was bushed, and I reminded myself that this was a marathon after all and not a sprint. I turned her down to my regret as I later saw her dance and was impressed by her body and beauty. One of our group gladly stepped in and took her back to his hotel. The following day, he grinningly thanked me for bowing out. As long as you keep track of the drinks you have at Frank’s, it’s a cool place to hang out.

Day 3

Went to Luomo again for the second day in a row. Since this was Sunday, this and Solarium are the only termas that are open. I was starting to really drag now. Too many late nights combined with active terma afternoons. Still, a beautiful blonde struck my eye (all three of them). I asked another woman (a friend of Karl’s) to call her over. She was relatively new there, so not that many people knew her name. She introduced herself as Elenia (sp?). Long, lean and lovely, this latina did not have to market herself to me very long, before we were headed for the cabine. Not as memorable as an experience, but this could have been a result of my fatigue more than anything else. Nevertheless, afterwards, she asked if I was going to Help that night and hinted that I would see her there. A few of the Luomo girls go to Help after closing or on their days off if they want to earn extra $R.

About Help. Originally, I thought there were two reasons to go to Help. One was to meet a woman, negotiate the fee, and take her back to the hotel for some action. The second was to just gawk at this amazing phenomenon. A relatively big disco, with hundreds of women and men trying to negotiate sexual congress. A sight that really has to be seen. What are the women like? Well, they really run the gamut. There are some real stunners, quite a reasonable number of hotties, a lot that are arguably doable, and a ton that are perhaps not. Also, there are a number of those that Karl referred to as “specialty items.” Some are huge, some look like men, and we even saw one woman who was obviously pregnant. The range on the men looking to score was just as diverse. This observation led us to the third reason to go to Help: make fun of everything in Help.

We started to nickname women (and men) who really stood out. Some of the best? Well, there were the women whom we referred to as: Milli Vanilli, Tits Ahoy (huge breasts with a nipple exposed), high end (she always asked for about $500R), angry Asian (kind of self explanatory), Bette Midler (she had a huge rose tattoo between her breasts), Look Alike (she was a Lisa Kudrow of ‘Friends’ look alike), Doo Rag Girl, Problem Girl (she had caused problems for a number of guys that had taken her home), Sheena Easton, Crying Game (we swore she was a guy), Full Frontal (beautiful woman with huge rack, but no butt), Barney (after the purple dinosaur), Dupla (that pregnant woman), Butter Face (everything was great, BUT HER FACE), and perhaps my favorite name Bitter Beer Face (anyone who has seen the Keystone Beer commercial will understand). The great thing is that we’d see most of these women every time we went to Help. I envision someday playing a type of Bingo at Help with theses names. You know, every time you identify one of them, you can mark it off on your scorecard. It really was quite fun.

Day 4

After meeting with the guys at Alcazar, we decide that today would be a great day for a downtown terma run. After hearing positive things about Terma 65, that is our first stop. Although 65 is considered one of the two venerable termas downtown, we found it disappointing. Not a ton of women like 4 x 4, nor was the quality what we hoped. After about 30 minutes, we bailed and hightailed it over to 4 x 4. It was getting late in the afternoon, so it was becoming more crowded, women and men. Saw Mayara there and immediately concluded that today would be my first dupla.

I called her over and asked her if she liked women. After she responded positively, I did what many newbies fail to do, I asked her if she liked them sexually. My buddy had a dupla the first day we were in Rio, but even though they were very friendly towards each other during the selling phase, they generated little heat between themselves in the suite. After Mayara smiled and affirmed that she did, indeed, like them sexually, I asked her to find someone to dupla (can we use that as a verb?) with. She asked if I had any preferences (loira or morena). Taking the advice of many before me, I merely requested that she be beautiful and someone that she herself liked.

After a few minutes, she came back with Carol for my approval. Short, pretty girl with big boobs and a big butt? Sure, it is on!!! Aside from the sex, I’d have to say that one of the coolest things about the dupla is that, in the boite, you have two women sitting next to you taking turns kissing you passionately. After engaging in that pleasant pastime for about 15 to 20 minutes, we went to the suite. Since I wanted to get down to brass tacks as soon as possible, I decided to wait on the pictures until after the fun was concluded.

As an aside for those who have not yet dupla’d, my recommendation is to have a plan before you go in. I’d have to admit that once we were in there, I was a little overwhelmed. Who kisses whom, who sucks what, and in what order. A small dilemma, although one of the world’s most enjoyable dilemmas. After engaging in all the fantasy positions, one licking, one sucking; one kissing, one licking, one sucking; etc., I finished with time enough to take a few pictures of them kissing, licking and ‘69ing. All in all, a mind-blowing experience.

It was now early evening and 4 x 4 was rocking and crowded. We all decided that the terma run should not end yet and Karl suggested going to a small lower-end terma. We were game. We walked a number of blocks over to MV30. The cover was 30R, but with that entry price, your drinks were free up to that 30R. Not a lot of women, maybe 10, but there were a few jewels there. One of my buddies had not planned to session, but succumbed to the wiles of a very persistent marketer.

I was fatigued after my dupla, but this cute little number (Raina) caught me eye, and “what the hell!” You know what it’s like when you’re with a whole bunch of friends and you’re asked if you’re hungry. You may not be exactly hungry, but you decide “I can eat.” That’s how I felt. The session itself was not that great, no bbbj, no dfk, but she was cute and I needed my edges rounded a bit. I guess there is something about a woman’s ankles around your ears and a nice set of mirrors that really get you into the mood. I was able to complete more easily than I would have anticipated. Can’t really ask for more than that.

MV30’s facilities weren’t that great and it is kind of small, but I’d go there again for a change of pace. Don’t ask how to get there, I’ve got no idea. Make sure you go with someone who’s been there before like Karl.

Exhausted now, we all had dinner and called it an evening around midnite.

Day 5

After spending yesterday downtown, we decided to stay in Copa. We ventured over to Monte Carlo. A small terma like Luomo, it’s facilities were okay, but the bar area is kind of small. One big plus, it has a nice understated robe. I thought about buying one for myself and a friend back home, but was a little surprised by the price ($100R). Didn’t get one because we never made it back there.

There were about 15 women there and about 6 guys. The numbers were pretty good, although the quality was a little disappointing. Still, I was able to find an attractive loira with a nice rack and butt. I was pleasantly surprised that her English wasn’t bad. She said that she was studying English a few days a week and this new ability to communicate added to the pleasure of it all.

As an aside to the newbies, the ability to communicate in Portugese is NOT essential, especially if you have guides like Karl and Don. However, it helps a great deal. The difference between a good and great session is often the chemistry between you and the garota. Without the ability to communicate effectively, it is more difficult to “charm” the women. Of course, the real great women have more than enough charm for the both of you, but a little Portugese goes a long way. Get the Pimsleur tapes. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

Anyway back to the cabine. Paola was pretty, funny and affectionate. It was very enjoyable, but I was shocked when I noticed that she had scarring around her breasts and nipples. I’ve seen and felt a lot of tits, and I could not believe that these were fake. They felt real. Real good in fact. I asked her about them. She informed me that the boobs were real, although she did have surgery. She had breast reduction a year ago, because the boobs were too big. I felt relieved and reassured. I had a great time and will remember her most for uttering my favorite seven word question “do you want to fuck my ass?” Being a southern (California) gentleman, could I refuse?

Afterwards, I followed a friend’s advice and went for the massage at MC. Huge mistake!!! It was horrible. I like deep tissue massages, and this did not even come close. Also, more oil was wasted during the massage than was lost during the Exxon Valdes fiasco. Not recommended. I don’t know what my friend was thinking, although he later admitted that he got a massage mainly to get away from this garota that was stalking him. Not sure what her name is, but I think he referred to her as Godzilla.

After Monte Carlo, we decided to go back to Luomo. It’s a comfortable place, and the women are hot. What’s not to like? There were still a few women there on my “to do” list and I didn’t want to waste any more time. Walked in and immediately saw one of my targets. Sorry, but this time, no names. Suffice it to say that she is beautiful with a slim body and FLAWLESS boobs and ass. She is built for speed. After spending a nice amount of time getting acquainted, we proceeded to the King Suite. Very, very nice.

I found out that her day off was Thursday, which was perfect. My buddy had fallen in love with another woman at Luomo, who also had Thursday off. We had already planned on trying to make a VIPS run and saw this as a perfect opportunity. We asked both of them and they agreed. This would now affect my next few days as I knew that I would now have to rest up to make the most out of the Vips trip.

For those not in the know, Vips is a love hotel around Leblon, past Ipanema. It is a gorgeous place with tremendous amenities and is just made for a fantastic sex excursion (kind of like a Rio within Rio).

Later that night, we decided to go to Help for another round of Nickname Bingo. Since I was now saving myself for Vips, I had no intention of taking anyone home. This freedom really clears the mind. It really makes it easier to see how the dynamics work at Help. I’m really started to like just going to Help to grab a drink and people watch.

Day 6.

A really quiet day as we tried to abstain in an effort to conserve strength for Vips. Went to the rain forest for our first attempt at doing something we could tell our PG-13 friends about. Still haven’t been to Sugar Loaf or Corcovado. Once again, the weather was crappy, but the rain forest is quite beautiful.

At night, we went to Frank’s again. While there, we once again saw the sex shows, but I was, in truth, distracted by this incredibly gorgeous creature that Don introduced me to. Don’t remember her name, but she is a good friend of Don’s. I kid you not, beautiful face with a porn star body. If I wasn’t saving myself for Vips. . . .


Day 7

My buddy and I meet our girls around noon and head off to Vips. We’ve decided to get the best room, the Millenium Suite. After a slight wait, while the room was cleaned, we check in. It is flat-out awesome, two floors of chrome, stone, and leather decadence. On the first floor, there is a small pool, two king size beds, two bathrooms, a big screen tv, an indoor fountain, leather sofas and lounge chairs, a Jacuzzi and a love chair. Upstairs, there is another bathroom, and exercise room, a larger pool, sun deck, two saunas and another love chair. Holy shit! If you can’t get your freak on here, it can’t be done.

My buddy stayed downstairs first, while my lady and I went upstairs to the love chair and then to one of the lounge chairs on the sun deck next to the pool. What can I say, sex outdoors is cool. Warning for those who are shy, there are helicopter tours that occasionally buzz the hotel. As for me, it was something of a turn on. After round 1 upstairs, we went downstairs for a quick lunch and then round 2. Both beds are on the first floor, and although they are sort of separated, if you don’t have the music on (and even if you do), you might hear what’s going on on the second bed. I’m not particularly voyeuristic, but I can’t say that it really bothered me. After my buddy went upstairs for his turn at the upstairs love chair, I went for round 3. By that time, however, I was exhausted. I can’t say that I was too disappointed when my friend’s girl came downstairs and informed us that we had to go.

Total cost of the Millenium Suite for 8 hours, including food, was a little less than $600R. Not bad when split between two people. That amount also included the extra per person charge (free only for two people per suite). My recommendation is for all those who want something special to do the Vips run with a women you like and have some chemistry with. Even if you don’t have chemistry with her yet, you will afterwards. The women really dig the place. You can also buy drinks there, but we brought our own. Much more economical. As I was dropping my girl off, she offered to spend the next night with me and then go with us to Corcovado. Sounded like a plan to me.

After the women went home, we met back with the guys, had dinner and went to Frank’s again. This was the third time there, and for the third time, one of our group went off with the same girl (Magda). Not really my type, but her sales efforts must really be top notch. All three of the guys who went with her glowed about her afterwards. As she was a “friend” of Karl’s and Don’s, it provided a high comfort level (very little risk of being robbed or having a crappy session). I had no gas left in the tank, and the super gorgeous one from our last visit wasn’t there, so I bagged early to recover for the next day.

Day 8

This morning, we finally decided to do a little more PG13 touring. We went to Sugar Loaf for a few photo opportunities. It was nice. The views are impressive. Afterwards, the gang decided on going to 4 x 4 again. There was a new recruit, and I think every newbie has to go to 4 x 4 just to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of beautiful women. There, I went off with a beautiful light skinned mulatta (Nicole) with really big boobs (did I mention I like those?). It was a nice session, but I would come to regret it. After coming out, I saw the woman (Pacia, I think) a friend went with. Really pretty and had a great sensual air about her. I found out that she is the younger sister of Mayara, my first great terma experience and anchor of my dupla. At this point, my mind was telling me to go back in with Pacia, at the very least (I always wanted to pitch both ends of a sibling doubleheader), or go with both sisters. They were both teasing me unmercifully. My mind said yes, but my penis said no. Especially since I had a “date” that night with my Vips sweetie. Since I couldn’t, I persuaded my buddy to go with Pacia, so that we could say that we, as a team, got the sisters.

Later that night, my Vips girl came over to the hotel. After the Vips experience, we now had a nice comfort level. Nothing wrong with bookending 8 hours of much needed rest with two bouts of great sex.

Day 9

As we had planned, we went to Corcovado with my new close friend. I can’t say the experience was that great. The weather really sucked. It was cold, it rained a little and the fog was so thick that even underneath the statue, we couldn’t see Christ’s face. My friend said that the weather was the result of me bring a working girl to see Christ. Ooops. Our cab driver then took us to one of the helipads. From there, there were a lot of photo opportunities, and the views are reportedly better there than at Corcovado.

After sending my girl off to the terma, we had a really nice dinner at Don Camillo’s, before heading off to Help for our last night. I haven’t said much about restaurant’s, so I’ll add a few notes here. The food in Rio is CHEAP, plentiful and really good. As an example, Don Camillo is a really good, upscale Italian restaurant. For five people, five entrees, a bottle of red, and four deserts, the total was about $70US. That’s amazing.

At Help, we had another fine night spotting those who we nicknamed previously. A friend tried to score with High-End, but balked when she stood firm at $500R for ONE HOUR. He ended up with another hottie all night for $250R. Road not taken, chanced missed. Once again, I chose not to engage, and acted merely as a wingman. Although my friends liked the Help hook ups, I can’t say that I’m enamored with it. I guess I prefer the certainty of the termas, or the comfort of going with someone that can be vouched for (like at Frank’s). Still, I can see the attraction.

Day 10

Our last day. Not thrilled to be going home, but not as inconsolable as I would have expected. Had a nice lunch, checked my email and then headed over to Luomo for a goodbye session with my sweetheart. Going to Luomo before you head off to the airport is a wonderful tradition. They happily hold your bags for you, and it is a great opportunity to ensure that you are dead tired for your flight home. As you can expect, saying goodbye is tough, especially to someone you’ve grown very fond of. Definitely my least favorite part of this wonderful trip.

Conclusions

So did this trip meet or exceed my expectations. I had a great time and the trip met my expectations. Why not exceed? I had done a lot of research and my expectations were sky high. The termas are great. Where else can you get a sure thing with any number of stunningly beautiful women who, get this, love sex? Even Help and Frank’s is great, even if I didn’t partake.

My one big recommendation? For those who’ve never been to Rio before, or have never had a great experience, I REALLY recommend the guys at Riotrips. Don and Karl were GREAT. They provide you with pickup service at the airport and with cell phones during your stay. They answered all my questions (a lot) and explained the subtle things that I would not have figured out on my own. Going to termas (as well as Help and Frank’s) is very daunting without a learned hand leading the way. Even if you’ve been there before, their translating, negotiating and companionship is invaluable. There are usually a number of guys along for the ride formally and informally, and it makes for a great time. It’s really cool to go to a terma with a bunch of guys and then regale each other with stories (great and sad) afterwards. Lastly, if you run into ANY trouble with women, the law, etc., Don and Karl are but a phone call away (at any time of day or night). Best insurance I ever paid for.

Enough of this report, I can’t waste any more time on this. I have to check the internet to start planning my next trip to Rio. Tchau.

Thanks for a great report. I'll be doing my first Rio adventure in a few weeks and have already booked the guys at RioTrips. I'm also a SoCal monger, so it looks like I'll be following in your footsteps. I'll do my part to keep the garotas warm for you.

Sterling

I am laughing at the nicknames because I immediately knew who "Doo Rag Girl" from Help is. She always wears that thing, and I have often looked at her at wondered if she had undergone Chemo or something.

Very nice report. Karl is a lot of fun to hang with isnt he?

I hope Bull_Winkle reads your report and learns something.

GCL

I always thought of the "Doo Rag" girl as being "Pirate Girl": I half-expected to see her sporting an eye patch every time I saw her at "Help-ee".

Interestingly thought she was there every time I showed up, I never saw her leave with anyone. There's probably a lesson there, but I'm just not smart enough to figure it out...

The garotas at Frank's are not the best looking? When compared to Barbarella. But most of them have very nice figures. And are more than to earth and honest, compared to Barbs. The show's are excellent and start at 1 AM. And I have never been ripped off by the waiters.

I highly recommend a visit to Frank's.

Esdude,
Where are all these wonderful pics you took?

"Being a southern (California) gentleman, could I refuse? " - one of the more hilarious lines ever.

Rich, you ignorant slut. I agree that Don and Karl are great. Kudos to them for losing that third wheel who got in the way when I was there.

Okay Bull_Winkle. Thats it. I have listened to you (and others of your ilk) long enough. I am sick of it all. I have here 5 Ambiens which I intend to take at once. If I live through this, (and I doubt I will), you will be my most bitter enemy. Your face will replace Deeg's on my shrine of hate I keep in the basement. I hate you. You will pay. One day, somehow, I will extract my REVENGE!

If it helps (you destroy yourself), take another look at my thoroughly depressing videos. Oh, that's right, you can't. Before you go (permanently), could you say more about the shrine of hate? If you actually move back to Rio, I will have to create my own basement shrine of hate. Pardon me while I go carve swasticas in my forehead.

Rich
I didn't think trailers in Alabama had basements. You must live in the exclusive area. Hemp

Hemp. Careful, or you may join the ranks of Alabama's most hated, along with Bull_Winkle, and that scoundrel with a greencard known as Deeg. In any case, my trailer happens to be a two story custom model--in a very exclusive area.

Actually from what I hear, his trailer has been in a number of exclusive areas...I understand he moves it every night to a different one

Actually Rich is about to move into a really swank trailer in Copa, and all you regional bigots who are ridiculing his southern standard of living will not be invited to stay there when you come to town(I already have an invitation, thank you very much).

The South shall rise again (or is that the south side of Rio?)

Mangoman

Can anyone suggest how to get in touch with Don/Karl? He never seems to respond to some of the e-mail addresses listed here...

Don can be reached at riotrips@hotmail.com

Call Don at (011 5521)9108 1502

What happens if you are just hanging out with the crew at Alcazar, will Don expect you to pay him for his services? I know Rio well, so I really don't need Don's help. But if I am running around with you guys all day for terma trips, I don't want Don to feel like I should drop some money in his pocket. Will there be a problem?

Of course there isnt a problem. You can hang out anywere you want. Don is very cool about such things. The only time it is a problem is when guys that arent on service show up at Alcazar with a list of girls numbers for Don to call and translate, or a list of agencies, or 500 indepth questions about Rio and expect Don's undivided attention and time--but even then DOn is too nice to say anything about it. He usually tries to be polite and help.

Cool, I just wanted to know before I put myself in an awkward situation. I would hate to be hangingout and going on terma runs with you guys and then for Don to turn to me at the end of the night and be like "Where is my 200 bucks?"

I have never met Don, but he has a great rep on this board. There are alot of guys who work with tourists who are very shady and they will try to nickel and dime you to death.

Thumper - I totally agree with Rich about Don. He is truly a Class Act but we should all remember that is his business. We all have jobs and income and I feel it is only fair he should be compensated if he renders services. To me the $200 or $250 for whole trip is the best money I ever spent. Either way you will enjoy Don's company. Have a good trip. Hemp

Rich and Hemp are totally right about Don.If one wishes to take advantage of his services they will find that the nominal fee is money well spent. I don't believe I have ever heard anyone who has tried the service who has been unhappy with the results. I certainly wish they had been available when i started to go to Rio.
Of course,the degree of recompense should be cominserate with the degree of service. If you are a seasoned old timer and you are comfortable on your own the service is probably not for you.
If this is the case you probably will not be needing or requesting much assistance or attention.
As far as hanging around with the guys on a casual basis there should be no problem if you simply observe common sense ettiquette. Make yourself welcome by acting like a good companion. If someone does you a favor (like translating or setting up a date with a garota) on the odd occasion, I think that the appropriate response might be picking up a drink tab or making a gift of a box of cigars. Something of this nature would probably go a long way toweard creating good will. I always like to return a favor for a favor...keeps things nice and even. Just my opinion, of course.

For the record, I was a Don "client" my first trip to Rio. On my return a few months later, I saw him far less than round 1, but when I did, he was still pretty helpful even though he was off the program (bad analogy, I know). The Artist is right - if any guy in Rio helps me get laid, I'm gonna buy him round of beers!