General Info

Fellow mongers,

I am in urgent need of your help. My partner in crime and I have booked my trip to Rio for October however, our usual girl friendly apartment ([URL]RioApartmentRentals.com[/URL]) looks like it may have gone out of business (no replies to multiple emails or phone calls). I have tried numerous legit websites and all apartment owners so far are saying no to visitors as they don't want their apartments to be used for sex tourism (party poopers!

Do any of you have any recommendations for apartments to stay in the Copa area?

Many thanks in advance.

MT

[QUOTE=ExecTalent;1742557]A friend in Rio the other day had her cellphone stolen while she was sitting waiting for a bus. She noticed guys on motorcycles surveying the area before another guy knocked the cellphone out of her hand, picked it up and ran off with it. Other friends tell me there is hardly any work and people are getting more and more desperate.

Can think of no easier way for a bandit to rob someone, especially a tourist, than to have them voluntarily get into his car. Uber fare - 40 Reais. Passenger's cash, phone, let's make a visit to an ATM and BTW, how much are those credit cards and your passport worth to you?[/QUOTE]I thought the same, but lots of people I know are using it. Uber screens their drivers and has logs of who is driving the cars, etc. Taxis are less safe, theoretically.

Again, I had the same theory but I see a ton of people using it and swearing they believe it's safer than getting into a taxi where you really have no idea if the driver is a real driver.

I've had female friends jacked by taxi drivers, so who knows.

Use at your own risk, I suppose.

Entrance Visas in Brazil. Updated on June 25,2015.

[URL]http://www.portalconsular.mre.gov.br/estrangeiros/1qgrv-simples-ing-25.06.2015.pdf[/URL]

[QUOTE=EricCartman;1743126]I thought the same, but lots of people I know are using it. Uber screens their drivers and has logs of who is driving the cars, etc. Taxis are less safe, theoretically.

Again, I had the same theory but I see a ton of people using it and swearing they believe it's safer than getting into a taxi where you really have no idea if the driver is a real driver.

I've had female friends jacked by taxi drivers, so who knows.

Use at your own risk, I suppose.[/QUOTE]In my two years using Uber, I have logged 403 trips. I was surprised, but that's what Uber's anniversary Email to me said.

I have used them all over the Globe, and have felt immensely more secure in them than a Taxi, mostly because I -always-. -anywhere-. Had someone speaking English.

Your location is tracked via GPS in real time, and even the Uber app has a panic button feature IIRC.

I will use local taxis, but only with a local. Or with a local's specific guidance.

Fellow mongers,

I have lived vicariously through your reports for years, never thinking I would get a chance to practice our craft in Brazil. Now I have a very slim window of opportunity as I am visiting Rio and Sao Paulo in Aug 15. Unfortunately our dollar has tanked big time so I am looking to make the most of my visit with both limited Funds and Time (yes far from ideal.) Does anyone know of Monger friendly Tour Guides in Rio that can show me the sights including a trip into VM?

Cheers

[QUOTE=Andeze;1743690]Fellow mongers,

I have lived vicariously through your reports for years, never thinking I would get a chance to practice our craft in Brazil. Now I have a very slim window of opportunity as I am visiting Rio and Sao Paulo in Aug 15. Unfortunately our dollar has tanked big time so I am looking to make the most of my visit with both limited Funds and Time (yes far from ideal.) Does anyone know of Monger friendly Tour Guides in Rio that can show me the sights including a trip into VM?

Cheers[/QUOTE]Dear Andeze,

I am just on the same boat as you. I will arrive at Sampa by the 16th of Aug. As a gringo, perhaps we needed some local intel to help us out. PM me if you would like to.

Chill out together at Sampa.

Cheers

[QUOTE=Andeze;1743690]Fellow mongers,

I have lived vicariously through your reports for years, never thinking I would get a chance to practice our craft in Brazil. Now I have a very slim window of opportunity as I am visiting Rio and Sao Paulo in Aug 15. Unfortunately our dollar has tanked big time so I am looking to make the most of my visit with both limited Funds and Time (yes far from ideal.) Does anyone know of Monger friendly Tour Guides in Rio that can show me the sights including a trip into VM?

Cheers[/QUOTE]Hi Andeze,

I'm about to arrive at Sao Paulo by the 16 of Aug. As a fellow monger, perhaps it would be great to hang out and discover the local punters scene.

PM me if you are interested.

I have a friend who is begging me to send her some Hair Weaves so she can sell them in her salon in Caxias. What is the cheapest way to mail them to her? I am nervous that it might cost more money to send them to Brazil than it is to buy the hair. LOL.

[QUOTE=Bravo;1746265]I have a friend who is begging me to send her some Hair Weaves so she can sell them in her salon in Caxias. What is the cheapest way to mail them to her? I am nervous that it might cost more money to send them to Brazil than it is to buy the hair. LOL.[/QUOTE]And besides that, what about the import duty?

[QUOTE=SouthernGunner;1744061]Dear Andeze,

I am just on the same boat as you. I will arrive at Sampa by the 16th of Aug. As a gringo, perhaps we needed some local intel to help us out. PM me if you would like to.

Chill out together at Sampa.

Cheers[/QUOTE]I'm born in Sao Paulo and would be glad to help you two. Please,. PM me for details.

ABG.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;1746299]And besides that, what about the import duty?[/QUOTE]Import duty? How much is that? If I drop 100 bucks on hair, I wonder how much it would cost to send to Rio and then how much it they would charge me for the import tax?

[QUOTE=Bravo;1746407]Import duty? How much is that? If I drop 100 bucks on hair, I wonder how much it would cost to send to Rio and then how much it they would charge me for the import tax?[/QUOTE]You'd better buy yourself a ticket to Brazil. If you use ordinary mail, they might disappear on the way. That is the reason why many companies don't do business with private people in Brazil, because their merchandise never arrive to their destinations.

Here is some info about duties in Brazil. [URL]http://www.dutycalculator.com/country-guides/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-Brazil/[/URL].

I can second that from experience. Stuff mostly does arrive but it can be months late. Literally. Even stuff with a tracking code that they tell you it will arrive in so many days. It doesn't.

Anybody know of any proxy servers besides Brazilproxy? My spyware doesn't like them. Trying to get on GPguia. I did a search on the forum but I didn't find anything.

[QUOTE=Cho637;1750775]Anybody know of any proxy servers besides Brazilproxy? My spyware doesn't like them. Trying to get on GPguia. I did a search on the forum but I didn't find anything.[/QUOTE]What's been going on player? You need to come out and join me and Pipe Layer in Thailand sometime.