Carnaval in Rio

I think my experience of Carnaval was different from most tourist’s. Most people head straight for the Sambodromo (where the main event is held). Due to my late decision to stay for Carnaval, I didn’t get tickets for the Sambodromo. This didn’t stop me from having a great Carnaval though :) I have been told that in the old days, Carnaval was a celebration in the streets with the local Bataria (band) providing Samba music for the people. These are called Bloco’s, as mentioned in a previous post. The whole competition (held in the Sambodromo) is fairly “new”. So if the streets are where everything is happening, then that is where I will be.

I met some of Adriana’s friends the previous week, and we were going to join them for Carnaval. Andrea, Kassia and 4 friends were going to dress up differently every day. Definitely the right crowd to hang out with!

Day 1:
I arrived in Rio on the Saturday that Carnaval started…at 7am. After a long bus ride from Ouro Preto. On my arrival I was quite tired. After a huge lunch, I rested for a bit. By this time the people I was going to join for the day, had partied too hard and were all man-down. To be honest, this suited me quite well as I stretched myself a bit thin the week.

Day 2:
All rested out, Adriana and I headed for a bloco at the botanical garden (close to her house). This was a bit of a disappointment as the bataria had stopped playing quite early and beers were nowhere to be found. Some people bring their own instruments and they got the party started, well at least for the people close to them.

Since the day was disappointing, we would hit Lapa that night to make up for it. There was just one small thing that we forgot to take into account. Carnaval was now in full swing with bloco's everywhere, making public transport VERY slow. A trip that would normally take 30-60min, took us 2.5 hours! By the time we met up with Andrea it was 11pm! The other girls had gone to another party and it seemed everyone wanted to do their own thing. So the party didn’t last very long. This was a bit of a blessing as I was going to join the girls tomorrow at 9am for a bloco in Santa Teresa.

Day 3:
We all overslept :) I got a call at 9:45am to meet the girls at 10am. I slapped some clothes on and off I went. On arrival in Santa Teresa…something was wrong. Where were all the people? We checked that we were in the right place…yes we were. But we got the time wrong, damn! The bloco was only starting at 3pm. Eish. Well we were there, so lets make the most of it.

Santa Teresa has a long road running through it with little centres (grouping of shops & bars) along it. We went to the next centre in search of an open bar. On the corner of the bar, a guy was dressed as a hooker…an ugly one. He was incredibly sharp and had a snappy comment for everyone…including me. He said I should leave the girls and take him. I hadn’t gotten my “Carnaval legs” yet so I didn’t play along. (Should’ve though) It was very entertaining to watch him dish out comments, with translation from Andrea. I’d say this was the highlight of my morning.

Afternoon was creeping up on us and we headed for the site of the bloco. More people had arrived and by the time the bataria started, the party was in full swing! The bataria doesn’t stay in one spot, it moves through the streets. In this case to the second centre where we had beers earlier. Wow it was really fun! Difficult to put into words.

The girls wanted to go to a show the night in Lapa and by the time it was dark, we headed for the ticket booth. It was quite a walk, but it helped get rid of the beer in our systems. Tickets in hand we headed home for a shower and food!

The concert was a famous Brazilian Samba band. The lead singer (who all the girls were gaga about) made me think about James Blunt. Great concert with another famous Brazilian singer (this time female) joining the band. Apparently her mother was a ridiculously good singer and even more famous. The band finished at 3am and there were 2 more acts to come. None of us had the energy to carry on, so we headed home.

Day 4:
The last day of Carnaval. No matter how tired I was, today was not a day for sleeping! Admittedly I did get up late & had an afternoon nap but as it is tradition in Rio, the party only gets started after dark. First a bloco in Ipanema (along the beach) then we went to a bar right around the corner of Adriana’s place…called Uncle Sam’s bar (yes like the American Uncle Sam). I had to chuckle.

Those of you that know me well, will know that I’m not the biggest party animal. By this time my batteries were running low, so I couldn’t work in another party…even if I tried. So my Carnaval ended as gently as it started, with pizza, beer and the company of a lovely lady. Without her (and her friends) I don’t think Carnaval would’ve been the spectacle that I had heard it should be.

 

For those of you always bugging me for photos, I didn’t take any as things like cameras have a way of disappearing out of you pockets during Carnaval. But Kassia did have her camera with her. Here are some crazy pics taken during Carnaval.