Stories from the Playground of Fortaleza Brazil

Greetings from Fortaleza.

I made it here on my two stops (Cincy and ATL) without a hitch; the ice storm arrived in Chicago later that afternoon. We were 1 h late, so a flight from Italy arrived at the same time. Total chaos at immigration with hundreds of horny Italians trying to get in. They completely cannot handle it here - with more than one international flight.

My first hotel was very nice. Lots of wealthy Brazilian tourists, which means lots of hott women (but not available, although I did not try). I did nothing the first night, Christmas Eve, thinking that everyone was in Church, which is probably not the case.

Christmas Day, I decided to walk to Praia do Futuro, which looked close to my hotel on the map. I walk by the port area and a big Petrobras palnt, and then past some residences where some teenage boys are hanging around. I go past them with no notice. Presently, I hear rapid steps behind me and my backpak is ripped off of my shoulders. I ran across the street (a big one) and this car stopped right away. A coupled took me into their car. The woman worked at another hotel and they gave me a ride back to mine. The thieves got one ripped backback, which was a souvenir from a conference in Rio in 2007, so it had sentimental value, one ratty towel, one nasty old bottle of sunblock, and the plastic case to a cheap pair of sunglasses I got for free from a local pizza place. I hope they are happy with their big haul from the rich gringo. I had a no wallet on me, and only a few reais and photocopied ID.

It coud have been much worse (I was robbed at knifepoint in Rio in the daytime in 2004), but it still sucks and is psychologically bad. Ironically, both this incident and the Rio one were when I was walking in the middle of the day (Saturday in Rio, Xmas here) from one beach to the other (Copa to Ipanema, and Mucuripe to Futuro here).

I have not seen any women of note on the beach here - lots of families and kids Thursday through Sunday.

By Friday night I was thinking that this was a total bust.

Friday night (Xmas) I walked down to Praia da Iracema. I went to Zipi Bar; the first one you hit. Empty at 10 pm, but then pretty crowded by 11, and packed at midnight. Lots of GPs, many very hott (some not).

There is a motelnearby, Village Motel, on Rua Ararius. R$51 for 2 h; very nice rooms, fully equipped. I went with one on Xmas night, R$150, bu tthen I paused and she did not want to continue, except for R$100, we then agreed on R$50. She also asked for (and got) R$20 for a taxi, which she kept and we took the taxi back and I went on to my hotel, all paid by me. So I got ripped off the first night. She was hott though, from Piaui state originally.

Saturday night I went back to Zipi and was with another one. The sex was actually better with the ripoff artist, although this time R$150 straight, and totally legit with the taxis. This one was into biting, which I am not.

Sunday night, nothing. watched some TV in the room and learned about that idiot on the NWA flight. Now it will be an even bigger pain in the ass getting home. I checked out at 9, and waited for the guy I know at the U here (Universidade Federal do Ceara). Lots more hott Brazilian women checking in and milling about.

We went to UFC. The barrio it is in is called Pici. It turns out it is actually PC (Post Command). The site was a US base in WWII. There is a street called "Mister Hull", Cordell Hull was FDR's Secretary of State, so that is probably the origin. I was there for a while and then we went to lunch at "North Shopping" (actual name). They have an ice rink. That would have been funny to see. I used to skate a lot from grade school through college; I could not do much worse than these Brazilians.

Now I am at another, cheaper hotel. The first one jacked up the rates starting Monday. This one is better located. Yesterday afternoon, I went to "Prive Belissima" recommended on GP Guia. About a R$ 15 - 20 taxi ride and I could not have found it myself. Not a very good selection, but they are open 24 h. I was with a very cute one from Manaus. It was somewhat rushed, but OK. R$90 + 2 (condom); I had two soft drinks (each R$3); no extra charges.

last night again to Zipi Bar. The garotas there do not come one to you (at least not to me). Except for the hottness factor (compounded by little need for clothing here), it could be a club in Chicago. I was with one, this time a pure European origin. The best experience so far. I got ripped off about R$10 by the taxi driver, but so it goes. So the standard Zipi experience is about R$220 - 240.The first, ripoff one got a pack of cigs at the Motel and a Smirnoff Ice, so that was the upper end, and the second one just a water.

After the motel, the one last night wanted to be dropped off in Praia da Iracema. So I finally - on my fifth night here - saw what the hell Lou was talking about. It is exactly as described, right past the police station, and then right (Rua Tremembes) and there is a sort of Bourbon Street scene. Except for the hottness factor, of course. Forro Mambo is the biggest place and there are maybe half a dozen other boites within a couple of blocks.

I do not regret Zipi Bar, it is a lot less chaotic and easier to get in and out. There is gridlock in the real Praia Iracema area. There are probably a lot of normal people there (none at Zipi Bar), and even the chance of meeting a regular brasileira there as a tourist - but most are probably with guys.

Important Report from Rio. Emergency. emergency

HELP IS NO MORE!!!

There have been rumors of help closing for as long as I have been visiting Brazil. I guess it took the city to win the World Cup and Olympic bids to make it reality. I know some guys who have been coming to Rio for 5+ years who have never been anywhere besides Help and Meia Pattaca. It's truly the dawn of a new day for those type individuals. They will be forced to venture outside of their comfort zones. Even though the three of us did not focus the majority of our time and efforts on Help, I am already seeing evidence that it will affect us. I went to Monte Carlo tonight. They were making every customer aware that their prices increased today. If I am a conspiracy theorist and you two think it is completely coincidental that Help closed last night, and MC raised it's prices today; then let me know.

Just for your knowledge. In October I went to MC, did 40 minutes with a girl, and drank 2 capirinhas for R$290. I did 1 hr tonight because the girl was a sweetheart, and I could not tell her no when she asked for 1 hr and the suite. But I drank no alcohol, only two waters. So knowing the price of my water and the new service prices, it would cost $R328 to do 40 minutes and drink two waters now. Probably $R340 with two alcoholic beverages.

A Copacabana icon is dead, and it's the end of an era. With the weakened USD, the growing Brazilian economy, and the closing of Help I think Rio is going to eventually be outside the affordable price range of more than a few.

The beauty of Copacabana

Meu amigo explained one of his favorite parts of the Playground of Rio


The termas will be around, but it's not the same. the beauty of copa was being able to interact with other americans in a centralized location. the beauty of copa was being able to enjoy the beach without missing your afternoon shag. what terma allows you to sunbathe, while sipping a capirinha and making your selection from the string bikini beauties scattered along the sand? the beauty of copa was being able to peruse potential targets strolling up and down the strip while eating dinner with an ocean view. the beauty of copa was knowing that a farewell shag was likely to be strolling just outside your apartment door when it was nearing time for departure. there was no need to lug bags to 4x4 and taxi directly to the airport from 4x4 unless you absolutely wanted to do it that way. just as a diversified portfolio is the best investment strategy, diversity of options is also good for the playground. whether you loved or hated help, it gave an added dimension to the playground. even those who hated and avoided help will be forced to acknowledge just how much the scene has changed for the worse in its absence. RIP!

Copacabana is dead

This is a nice,informative,and sad report from "um Amigo do Playground"

made it back home today. This most recent trip was really interesting. I arrived on January 6. The last official day of operation for Help was Thursday, January 7. By Saturday, January 9, the Help building was gutted and empty. This includes the adjacent restaurants. It was quite eerie seeing that area so dark and desolate at night. Help's closing has affected the entire Copacabana (Avenida Atlantica) scene. Meia Pattaca no longer exists in its former fashion. It is now a family oriented restaurant with no working girls to be found. The working girl beach scene was also destroyed by the closing of Help. This past week during the immediate post-Help fallout, a number of the Help girls could be found hanging out at the Balcony. It's not large enough to replace Help. It is not a club, and it is not indoors. I do not think it will ever be a true replacement for Help. Besides there really is a city-wide government effort to "clean-up" before the World Cup (2014) and Olympics (2016) arrive. Government officials do not want the shadier aspects of Rio so readily visible to the international eye. Many do not feel that the government will accept the scene simply being shifted a few blocks further north from Help to the Balcony. They want it removed from the strip altogether. There is already speculation about when the government will move to shut down the Balcony. Of course we all know that the game will always exist in Rio. The girls will just be working in places less visible along paths less well traveled.

A number of the girls have already moved out of Copacabana, because without Help and a steady supply of easy marks willing to pay overinflated prices, they can not afford rent in Copacabana. Girls who were doing temporary rentals in Copa are already moving back to their respective parts of the city. Many girls told me that they were going to work in Europe for a few months. Many told me that there is no reason for them to hang around Copacabana now that Help is gone. Many guys I know cancelled January trips once they learned that Help was closed. Several guys already in Rio altered travel plans and decided to fly out to Fortaleza for a few days.

The scene has really changed. Based on what I have seen this month (mid summer, peak tourist season), I predict that there will be very little or nothing going on in Copacabana during the slow winter season. There will always be fun to be had in Rio, but you will need to go to Niteroi, Jacarpagua, Baja de Tijuca, and other areas outside of Copacabana to enjoy the best of Rio these days.

Stories to keep you inform from " outros amigos"

Last night, I went to a churrascaria (Gheller). It was pretty late when I was done (I had a work related thing to take care of that had just come up and took a while) I overate and was really not in much condition for shagging. I did not feel like paying a cover at Zipi, so I went to Tremembes (=Bourbon) and got pulled into Cafe del Mar. The hostess who literally pulled me in off the street said I did not have to pay a cover I I could get a caiprinha for free, which I did. I had two aguas and the whole damage for the night was R$15. I saw only one garota I really liked and she was making out on the pool table with a guy (which admittedly made her seem hotter). Probably had this been my first night it would have been different, but I am not so desparate now.

I didn't know you knew about Belissima. I thought I was the great researcher.

I went there this morning. It was my earliest experience with a GP: 1030 - 1100 am. There were very few guys, but essentially the same selection as when I had been there at 5 - 6 pm or so. The really cute one I shagged two days ago showed up while I was there. But she to have no interest in a round 2. It's like Lou says, the attitude is different. It is really not a place to hang out. You do your business, whatever time it might be, and go on your way.

I was a real cure one again. Looks wise I have no problem with the four I had at Belissima. All fairly short, but very cute with nice bodies, faces. two were more rushed (and that was partly my not being in the groove, so to speak), but the other two were a really good time.

Myles will probably be beside himself with how stupid I am, but I walked back this morning. I knew that was a fairly nice street with upscale store that went back to the beach, and I had no problems, except for sweating my ass off. I then walked back on the beach to the hotel, where I am making final use of their excellent wi-fi (like the US, the cheaper hotels are th eones with free/better internet than the swanky ones). There was one really hott chick in her thong on the beach, but the scenery is really nothing like Rio. It was still not very crowded, although they are putting up all sorts of pavilions etc for 'Reveillon 2010".

I too was surprised at the lack of Afro Brazilians here. This is officially the Nordeste, but I think it is really regiao Norte - more like the Amazon with Indian people. hence the short, dark (but "reddish" not "black") type, which is cute, but...

Call me a rascist, but what was most appealing, albeit off limits, was seeing at the hotels all of the wives/girlfriends of the rich white Brazilian tourists from SP etc. here on vacation. There was one at breakfast this morning (who was actually too pale, homely and skinny) who had a Polish eagle tatooed on her leg. Could have been back in Chicago. You can get that in Porto Alegre, but it costs

Not that I am not very attracted to the mulatas you see in Rio. And there are plenty of whites there too. Rio really is par excellence.

Lies, lies, and more lies. Newspaper Article/ keeping you posted

nd, from the outset, that word was a problem. On a strict definition, eventually expressed in international law by the 2000 Palermo protocol, sex trafficking involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to transport an unwilling victim into sexual exploitation. This image of sex slavery soon provoked real public anxiety.
But a much looser definition, subsequently adopted by the UK's 2003 Sexual Offences Act, uses the word to describe the movement of all sex workers, including willing professionals who are simply travelling in search of a better income. This wider meaning has injected public debate with confusion and disproportionate anxiety.
The end result of a massive law enforcement investigation that including every single law enforcement agency in the entire country, special agencies and the government is that not one single person who ever forced anyone into the sex trade was found. Not one.
Despite politicians and media claiming thousands of people are brought into the country each and every year to be forced into a prostitution (a claim echoed in the US, in Canada and in pretty much every Western nation), there’s actually little evidence it happens at all and it’s likely real numbers are extremely smaller than those tossed around in the media.
The so called information comes from misquoted, misunderstood or completely fabricated sources. It’s sensationalism and piss poor journalism at its best.
As it happens, UK law enforcement originally claimed it had achieved a massive success in its bid to end human trafficking by making over 500 arrests. Once the Guardian got a hold of the official documentation, that number changed. Over 100 were clerical errors.
They never really happened. That brought the number down to just over 400. About half of those arrested were women, few implicated in any kind of trafficking.
53 had been released even before the program was called a success, 106 with no charges filed and 47 for minor offences. 73 were charged for immigration breaches, and 76 got hit with drug charges.
In the end, 96 people were arrested for trafficking, 67 were charged and 47 never made it to court. In fact, only 22 were prosecuted, including two women rescued as victims.
15 men and women were ultimately convicted, according to the program’s definition of trafficking, which includes transporting a sex worker who is willingly going along with you. 10 of the people convicted fell under this definition, and had forced no one into the sex trade.
That leaves five people, two of whom were in prison months before the crackdown even began. The other three were convicted at the end of an investigation started in 2006, a year before the program began.
So in the end, no one was found to have been a human trafficker as the result of a massive, cross country sting operation that investigated over 800 brothels and other establishments, raiding sex workers and those who work with them.
Five people, over the span of a few years, were charged with real, legitimate trafficking. Is it a problem? Of course, in much the way supervillains are a problem. It’s real, but it’s not nearly as bad as the movies make it seem sometimes.

lies, lies, and more lies. Newspaper Article/ keeping you posted

You can’t read about the sex trade without reading about the scourge of human trafficking.
Above all other criticisms of prostitution, this is the big one. Nothing makes people panic more than the idea that their daughter or sister or wife could be whisked away by masked foreigners and forced to fuck strangers for money in another country.
The uptight can claim it leads to other crimes and disease and all that shit that maybe the stats don’t back up fully, but damn, human trafficking is rough. If it was real, anyway.
Turns out the Guardian paper in the UK just blew the lid off of the human trafficking bullshit powder keg they’d been sitting on for quite a while over there. Here's the opening:
here is something familiar about the tide of misinformation which has swept through the subject of sex trafficking in the UK: it flows through exactly the same channels as the now notorious torrent about Saddam Hussein's weapons.
In the story of UK sex trafficking, the conclusions of academics who study the sex trade have been subjected to the same treatment as the restrained reports of intelligence analysts who studied Iraqi weapons – stripped of caution, stretched to their most alarming possible meaning and tossed into the public domain.
There, they have been picked up by the media who have stretched them even further in stories which have then been treated as reliable sources by politicians, who in turn provided quotes for more misleading stories.
In both cases, the cycle has been driven by political opportunists and interest groups in pursuit of an agenda.
In the case of sex trafficking, the role of the neo-conservatives and Iraqi exiles has been played by an unlikely union of evangelical Christians with feminist campaigners, who pursued the trafficking tale to secure their greater goal, not of regime change, but of legal change to abolish all prostitution.
The sex trafficking story is a model of misinformation. It began to take shape in the mid 1990s, when the collapse of economies in the old Warsaw Pact countries saw the working flats of London flooded with young women from eastern Europe. Soon, there were rumours and media reports that attached a new word to these women. They had been "trafficked".