Thanx for all the useful info.

I will be going to Rio on January 5th, and will stay in Brazil until Jan. 11th. I was able to find a local travel operator (Gay Travel Brasil www.gaytravelbrasil.com) with good package deals, but yet expensive. I will be staying in Copacabana at a gay-friendly hotel, which according to the people at GTB, I will be able to bring in any local boy-friend I find, and I am also going to go to Paraty for a 4-night trip. Even though I found the GTB package not a bargain, it was 30% cheaper than what I was offered by a Miami-based operator (BROL) and about 40% cheaper than what I found researching directly on the internet...

Now I just hope everything works out as planned. Wish me luck, because I am getting a bit nervous about this trip. But I will let you all know of how it went.