| Feb 27, 2006 - C*A*R*N*A*V*A*L in Salvador, Brazil
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 | | show all 58 | | Richie cutting limes for the Caipirinha | | Carmin, looking bewildered | | Me, looking at pictures on a camera | | |
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| | Internet Movie Clips: | Playback Requirements | | | (MOV - 11.32 MB)
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 | | Some (relatively) low key Pelourinho mid-day celbration
| | Kids on the same day in Pelourinho
| | Even the youngest enjoy Carnaval
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| Errr, hm. Hoo-boy. Um, I was wondering how I could possibly tackle this entry. Its a tough one. Ok, let me try to explain.
Caranval is absolutely crazy. You cannot describe it. Its insane, its dangerous, its fun, its a party, its a religious holiday, its totally touristy, its a great local cultural event, its intense. Damn, ok, I`ll back up again.
Carnaval is a major holiday all over South America, and celebrates the same time of year as Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Typically it lasts for the weekend before Ash Wednesday, as a way to get all your last sins out of you before sacrificing and repenting for the 40 days of lent. In Brazil, its an even bigger deal. There are carnavals in every part of the country celebrated in many different ways, the two most largest and most famous being in Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador. In Rio, Carnaval is much more of a competition between Samba schools, where immensley flashy floats get their time to parade around the Sambadromo and perform to the judges and to the masses. Therefore in Rio you typically watch Carnaval pass before you. In Salvador, you are the carnaval. There are a few different sections of town that have their own parade routes, and large floats with dancers and music, called "Blocos", rumble their way down the streets while hundreds of thousands of people jump, cheer, dance, sing, and revel in their wakes. For this more hands-on experience, we chose to experience Carnaval in Salvador.
Since prices of lodging skyrockets during Carnaval season, a group of us got together and rented an apartment for 10 days in Salvador so we could have our own private Carnaval base and cut costs at the same time. In the end we cut a lot of costs, because there ended up being 13 of us boys staying in the same medium-sized 2-bedroom apartment. But we made it work, and it was actually just large enough and just the right amount and type of people to function without real problems. The cast of characters: The same goup of 5 I had been travelling with (Me, Dan, Tanner, Carmin, Brain), Ash from Australia, Matt and Andrew (from Peru and the Love Parade among other places), Martin and Simon from Denmark, Rory and Richie from England, and Bo from Israel/US. Also, right next door to us in the same apartment building was another group of foreigners renting an apartment as well, so we got to know them too and it was nice to have an even larger group of people lounging around at any given time to hang out with. And of course, spread throughout all of Salvador were tons of other people we had met along the way who were staying in their own apartments and hostels, yet who we saw at various times throughout the week. We stayed in the Pelourinho area of Salvador, which is the historic center and oldest most famous/touristy part of downtown Salvador. Back in slavery times Salvador was the major gateway for the slave trade to South America, and Pelourinho was at the heart of it with its central square being the center of this old market. "Pelourinho" was actually the word for whipping post. A statue of a fallen and broken cross now stands in this area to commemorate the location`s darker past. It is also for this history that Salvador is seen as the capital of Afro-Brazil, a term referencing a large area of north-eastern Brazil where African and Carribean influences are much more prevalent than in the rest of the country with more latin and european ties.
Carnaval officially goes from Thursday night until the wee hours of Wednesday morning, with little break in between. All 13 of us arrived slowly throughout the day on Wednesday, got settled in to our place and acquainted with each other and the surroundings, and spent the night cruising around Pelourinho and soaking up the vibe of a people and a place about to explode in celebration for the next week. The rest of our days there were indescernible from one and another, and followed more or less the same daily routine with slight variations here and there. I`ll try to give a generic account of the activities, while still keeping this website clean and appropriate for the masses.
Ok, so there are 3 main Carnaval routes in Salvador. One of them is in Pelourinho where we stayed. However Carnaval here is much more concentrated in the daytime, and is primarily for kids and families. It sees more action during the daytime than night, but despite large masses of people throughout the streets at any given hour, is still a relatively tame and uneventful Carnaval comparitively. The biggest and main Carnaval takes place in a neigborhood called Barra. There is a long and wide beachfront avenue that hosts this raucous carnaval every night, which always recieves the most people, the most blocos, the longest hours. The final Carnaval route is in the area called Campo Grande. This Carnaval is typically more for the locals, is still much more nightime party oriented like Barra, but is a bit smaller and enclosed, and is seen as a more dangerous option for tourists than Barra. In general though, as you can imagine, Carnaval is not a very safe place, and you always have to watch yourself. Without going into too much detail and scaring anyone, all 13 of us got to experienc the shadier side of Carnaval at one time or other, yet all of us came out of it alright and relatively safe and unharmed. You can particiapte in Carnaval by buying a T-shirt to any specific bloco, which gains you access inside the ropes surrounding that float and you can travel along with the same group all night in a slightly safer situation. Or you can just hang out on the sides, hopping from one bloco to the next, or just stand aside and let them pass you by. This is how the majority of people pass the night, being referred to as "popcorn" for the densly concentrated constantly bouncng and swaying quality of the masses. Despite much talk about doing so, we never once bought the bloco shirts and thus were popcorn every night.
So, our 6 days of Carnaval in Salvador were excessively slow-moving and tranquil, at least until nightfall. Typically we would sit around the apartment, venturing out in different-sized groups to wander around Pelourninho in the daytime, get some food at the local "pay-by-weight" places, watch the sunset from a great location in the square, take naps, and in general just chill and hang out. By the evenings our pre-carnaval ritual had usually begun, and almost always included a bucket of Caiparinhas. Caiparinha is the local national drink of Brazil, made with a strong sugarcane alcohol that is served with lots of ice, crushed limes, and even more sugar. In the scorchng heat of northern Brazil, after a day of sitting around and sweating, and while preparing to go out for the night, these drinks can be quite refreshing, and quite effective as well.
Each of the first 3 nights of Carnaval we went to Barra, transforming into Carnaval creatures with the rest of the masses until well after sunrise. One of these nights Bono and The Edge from U2 actually appeared on one of the balconies that line the avenue overlooking the whole spectacle. Bono took the mic from the passing bloco and greeted the crowd with some kind words and a horribly embarassing sing along to Bob Marley`s No Woman No Cry. Sunday night we decided to change things up and headed to Campo Grande, and understood where this different carnaval gets its different reputation from. That was the one night I ended up heading back to Pelourinho slightly early, and catching the sunrise from these historic old steps leading to a famous church right up the street from our apartment. The final 2 nights we then decided to go back to Barra and celebrate there. The central focus of the final night in Barra, and headliner of the entire Salvador Carnaval, was one bloco featuring Fat Boy Slim. At one point in this night, as his bloco was approaching the central area and my whole group along with everyone was walking down the street to greet him, the skies opened up and it started to rain hard on us for a while. But people either didn`t care, were to focused on the party at hand to be distracted, or were relieved with the refreshing rinse and cool down that it granted us. Either way, it all seemed to make sense and was a fitting culminating surreal moment. Just a short while later fireworks were lit off from the beachfront. And there I found myself: splashing around in the soaking rain bouncing to the electronic beats of Fat Boy Slim punctuated by intermittent blasts of fireworks utilizing every last minute of joyous festivity with the rest of the Carnaval zombies who had somehow made it to Wednesday`s sunrise.
Our apartment rental actually lasted until that Friday, so the remaining time on Wednesday and Thrusday was dedicated solely to resting, recuperating, and relaxation, with little to nothing else happening. On Friday it was time to move on, and the 13 of us (actually there was only 11 by that time) split up. Some actually finishing their trips in South America and returning home (Matt), some heading out to different locations, and a group of 8 of us continuing on together.
All in all Carnaval in Salvador was a once in a lifetime, completely unforgettable (at least in terms of the things I remember in the first place), wild and intense experience. Everyone in the apartment was great and it was a cool group of guys to share this experience with. And I think thats about as much justice as I can do Carnaval 2006 here on this website. |
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