https://sopla.substack.com/p/clube-11-566

I am having a great time here. Check my report on the sauna above. It is just my first week, my only doubt is whether I will love Clube 11 after a month. Everything depends on the turn around of boys. It looks like the standard price here is 100R for a full service programa. I am offering 150 and the boys are treating me like a Queen. I am surprised all the boys I talked to (about 10) are openly versatile. Back in 2017, when I visited for the first time, that was not the case. And when you meet Bahianos in Rio, they are always only top (at the beginning). I am gladly impressed by this change. The sauna is celebrating its 20th anniversary week,  a big party is planned for this Saturday.

This coming Sunday is the local gay pride parade, from Praia do Porto da Barra down to Ondinas. I will probably be there if the crowd is not overwhelming (I do not like to be squeezed). I guess I could keep my distance from the most heavy crowded sections of the parade. If I feel safe pulling out my camera (I think I will), I will get nice pictures. There is an after parade party at Zoom, so I will probably go there for the first time.

The city and the people are fantastic. Everyone is very welcoming and friendly. However, I do not think I would like to live here. I hate walking up and down all these hills. Today I took a day off to rest, my right knee is killing me (I had a surgery 10yeas ago). Besides that, poverty is too ubiquitous and too many buildings, often beautiful ones, are falling in pieces.

I went to the Museu de Arte Moderna de Bahía and saw some very appealing artwork, but everything would look so much better with more investment. After my visit there, I attempted to walk south to get to the Museu de Arte, but my knee forced me to call an Uber to go back home to put some ice on it without reaching my intended destination. Before taking the Uber, I walk through a path between the highway and the favela you see bellow in the picture. There were homeless people living on the path, they could not even afford the favela. They smelled horrible and looked like corpses, malnutrition and heavy drugs. It made me very sad, so much misery in such a beautiful natural scenery. 

48 minutes ago, BSR said:

Before going, I thought Iguazú was a bucket-list trip, one & done is all you need.  But if I’m ever in the “neighborhood” again, I definitely plan on going back.  They say the falls are a different experience depending on the weather.  The days I went to the two sides, the weather was absolute shyte:  cold, raining, windy.  I had an umbrella but didn’t bother because the wind made the rain blow in sideways.  Even though I’m a total weather wimp, I still stood on the viewing platforms for well over an hour on each side just because I was so entranced by the views.  Fingers crossed it’s sunny the next time I go.

The bonus of the trip was that I hit it off with my cabdriver, and we ended up going out for dinner and drinks 3 of the 4 nights I was there.  He took me to an amazing steakhouse where a 1kilo dry-aged tomahawk was only $50!  I didn’t go to a steakhouse in Buenos Aires because they were pricey, but I was so glad I got to try some of Argentina’s legendary beef.  If anything, the ribeye actually exceeded expectations, high as they were.

Weather is important, but also be aware of the river height. The weather may be fantastic, but if it is a drought season you will see a poor shadow of the falls. 

5 hours ago, sydneyboy said:

An excellent report. I have been to Brazil 9 times but not for 8 years. I am contemplating another trip. I note your positive comment about Lagoa. I have not been there in its “new” location, not so new any more, and it has received mixed reviews over the years from long time regulars and the consensus has been that it is not what it used to be. Judging by your review it is worth the effort. I was mugged in Rio on my first visit to Brazil in 2005 an experience I have not forgotten and have usually stayed longer in Sao Paulo than Rio on my various trips. 
I have come to the conclusion that the Brazilian rent boy saunas are for those of us of mature years unbeatable.

Besides Lagoa, you may want to check Python in SP. My sources tell me that the new sauna is taking many of the hot boys that used to work at Lagoa. As in Rio, the saunas are competing for the boys, offering discounts in their fees and feeding them. Apparently Python has been very successful lately at attracting the best and the many.

3 hours ago, KevinFL said:

My apologies for the confusion regarding the "shows" comment. I had just read a couple comments from others on a different post regarding the 202 shows and realize it wasn't in your posting. 

No prob. Perhaps you read the comments to the post in my new blog, someone there says that he prefers the shows at 202.

I do not have a preference about the shows. I find the drag queens equally funny in all the venues I have watch them, and the strippers equally bad and boring in all the Brazilian saunas where I've seen them.

14 minutes ago, KevinFL said:

As I said on some post recently, 117 is off the hook on Tuesday's lately. Great to see it back near its peak. 202 is not even near that level on any given night. For me, the shows regardless of who has the "best" one is meaningless. I'm there for other reasons 😉

The shows? I have never weighted the shows in my evaluations, I am not sure why you bring in that topic. I still prefer 202 because of the boys and the atmosphere, but 117 has grown on my heart (ok, perhaps on some other organs too).

Last night I left Rio, I am now in Salvador. My last week over there I was surprised at what an amazing time I had on Tuesday at 117.

Point 202 vs Clube 117: Who’s on Top in Rio?

SOPLA.SUBSTACK.COM

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Just like soccer has its great rivalries —Flamengo vs. Fluminense— the two biggest saunas for rent boys in Rio de Janeiro have been battling for years for the...

2 hours ago, BSR said:

You have it bass ackward.  First the children of single mothers (and absent fathers) drop out of school, become substance abusers, commit crime, end up in jail, and/or commit suicide, then they collect statistics on the damage that single motherhood inflicts on their children and on society as a whole.

You know (I guess)  that there are solid statistics showing that homosexuals, bisexuals, and other members of the LGBTQ+ spectrum present higher incidence of depression, substance abuse, and suicide compare to the heterosexual population. Following your logic, we should eradicate all non conforming sexualities to avoid the damage.

7 minutes ago, Lotus-eater said:

The statistics reveal biological and social reality (e.g., The Two Parent Privilege). Normalizing single parenthood (overwhelmingly female) will not magically eliminate its large negative effects on children, particularly those who are least advantaged.

 

Of course I am not saying that normalizing single parents would solve all the challenges. That would be as reductionist and stupid as the reading of the stats that you are advocating for.

21 minutes ago, BSR said:

Of course kids need to be raised with love, but statistics prove that the quantity of parents very much matters.  Children raised by single mothers are “five times more likely to commit suicide, nine times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 14 times more likely to commit rape (for the boys), 20 times more likely to end up in prison, and 32 times more likely to run away from home.”

If people like you stopped using stats and other devices to stigmatizing single parent families, I bet you those numbers would look better.

13 hours ago, josh282282 said:

Hi

I wonder if you could elaborate? I'm interested in understanding your opinion better.

What do you mean regarding age-appropriateness in tv, cartoons,  chidrens movies etc with opposite sex couples?

I distinctly recall seeing as a very small child (before even 5 yrs old) on children's cartoons, movies, tv etc  opposite sex married couples being portrayed. I don't mean seeing couples actually having sex, kissing, or anything like that. I just recall seeing opposite sex couples in media, the school reading books, media etc doing basic things family activities.  For example,  Sesame Street had multiple opposite couples: Gordan & Susan Robinson & Luis & Maria for starters.

Was that age-appropriate or inappropriate display of human sexuality in your opinion?

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful reply.

Josh

13 hours ago, josh282282 said:

Hey there.

Could you explain a bit further? What specifically you mean by "LGBT characters"? 

Also, specifically what "themes" do you not support? It such a broad topic that it's almost impossible for the reader to understand what you meant.

Could you supply some examples? I'm just confused and would enjoy exploring your views more.

Josh

52 minutes ago, Poppie said:

How do we view your new blog, everything in English?

The links are below with my signature (gracias moderators). The old blog is no longer accessible, I am transferring some of that content to Substack and slowly starting to create new posts. It is not fully in English. Depending on the topics, some posts will be only in SPA, some only in ENG, and some will be in both languages. Thank you for reading it.

29 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

He sounds like a celebrity who protects his brand on his terms. 

He did nothing wrong. so WHY would he "apologize" ? 

I kind of agree. He does not need to apologize, he needs to educate himself. It is quite easy to explain how a child has two parents of the same gender, at least you are troglodyte. 

1 hour ago, Vegas_Millennial said:

Last night at Buff Daddy's Red Eye in NYC there was one woman in the crowd.  I was in the back room getting a dance, and the DANCER said to me "Ugh, I can hear the screeching of that woman all the way back here".  So apparently it's not just us customers that find woman annoying in a gay man's strip club.

Would you welcome those women if they quietly monopolize your dancers' attention?

New report:

Down and Dirty at Boite Casa Grande

3 hours ago, You_Can_Turn_Over said:

A competent electrologist can take care of this over a few short sessions spaced out over maybe a year or so.

I am retired now, so I have time to take that annoying hair one by one.

I am not well prepared to deal with all the hair growing from my ears. 

6 hours ago, harlow said:

I’m wondering the same. I’ve always found him attractive and love his content but this escort gig seems reactionary to his break up with Rhyheim. 

I wish I could comment. I tend to agree, although I woulds blame it into his break up itself, but rather in the lack of direction in his life. It sounds like a play of words but it is not.

He is gorgeous in person, but I wonder whether or not he is fit for escorting. If you have the money, it worths the try. So gorgeous.

4 hours ago, JEC said:

This is sad.  Such a talented young man.

Hopefully he will be able to redirect his energies back on track. Or even better, perhaps this is just part of his self promoting genius. 

1 hour ago, KevinFL said:

I'm surprised by the comments on Uber in Rio. Flights arriving in the morning can be a nightmare of a longer ride if landing in GIG airport and making the Uber/taxi ride to the beaches during the weekday morning. It's much better for Saturday and Sunday arrivals. I'm in Brazil very often during the year and I have seldom had delays using Uber to get around town. For some that maybe have had an issue once or twice and now are exclusively using the Metro it may have been just bad timing for that journey. If at night especially getting around town I'm feeling much better in an Uber than on a Metro in Rio. I'm so grateful that it's so affordable and I've never had an issue with drivers with the exception of watching some getting super stressed in that morning traffic from GIG during rush hours. I definitely tip generously as SirBillybob stated above!

I always take Uber from and to the airport. I think we were talking about the trips you take everyday, once you are settled in your base. 

Yes, I also do love Uber's affordability and comfort and I am taking it all the time. However, Metro does have an advantage if you want to save time during the rush hours. As you mention, traffic in Rio can add long minutes to your trips and sometimes I am very horny and want to be in the sauna ASAP. 

27 minutes ago, BSR said:

I wrote my previous post from the Plaza de la República, ~20 minutes after seeing “La ballena.”  The play also hit me pretty hard, but I had to think about it.  After some reflection ~2 hours later, I was able to understand it on a deeper level.  And then this morning, while discussing it with my teacher (I was taking 2 hours of private classes a day), I actually started crying because of the play’s simultaneous beauty and sadness.

Maybe because Spanish is my 2nd language (although I was able to understand all the dialogue just fine), more likely because it simply took me longer to process, “La ballena” impacted me almost (just?) as strongly as it did you.  Thanks again for the recommendation.

Good to know you have feelings! 😇

1 hour ago, mike carey said:

They are, and on the Argentine side you are in among them, winding between cascades on the paths. We did a jet boat trip from a bit downstream, worth it, but it adds to rather than creates the experience, and it may not even been an option now. The Brazilian side gives you a grand vista of them. Whatever you are able to see, it's an experience of a lifetime. But in reality, it's one of many, not the defining one.

I just deleted a post I wrote before reading this, recommending the view from Brazil.