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Published: July 17th 2008
Sunset on the Amazon
On our way to the festival, enjoying the beautiful sunsetI have to say that our entry into Brazil was one of the most pleasant and welcoming experiences we have had on our trip so far. The trip across the Venezuelan border down to Manaus was really long. First we traveled from Cuidad Bolivar to Boa Vista in Brazil, then another overnight bus from Boa Vista to Manaus. On the first bus we were kind-of adopted by a Brazilian family! The shared family photos with us (all of which were random family members standing behind a birthday cake!), they helped us purchase food, ushered us to sit with them, share their drinks, etc... and before leaving took lots of photos of us :-)
After almost 2 days of traveling we arrived tired and yet again smelly to Manaus. We booked into our hostel and had some lovely breakfast....some of the best water melon I´ve ever tasted. After a quick shower we headed down to the port area to try to purchase some boat tickets for the journey on the Amazon river to the Parintins in order to see the Boi-Bumba festival. The Parintins is located on Tupinambarana island on the Amazon river. And Boi-Bumba is a popular folklore festival (Festival
Any space for one more hammock
Mike finding it difficult to get into his hammock. A little cramped!! Folclórico de Parintins) that takes place there on the last weekend of June each year. Two teams participate in a 3 day dance-off style competition in a stadium of over 10,000 people! The red team are called the Garantidos and the blue team are called the Caprichosos. For 3 nights each team puts on an amazing 2 and a half hour show of dancing, singing and parade floats. At the end of the 3 days a committee of judges picks a winner. It´s supposed to be the 2nd biggest festival in Brazil next to Carnival so we really wanted to see it for ourselves.
When we arrived at the port we bumped into a local tour leader who helped us purchase our tickets. We were shown around the boat (turns out the showers are in the toilets!!), given keys to our cabin (which we bought for a bit of extra security during the festival) and told we could stay on the boat for the duration of the festival. Luckily we arrived to Manaus early because it turns out the boat to the festival leaves a day earlier than we thought! After buying the tickets we ventured out in Manaus
Party in the Jungle
Was a large stage just behind us. Everybody here is dancing and getting really drunk. It was such a good laugh!! to buy our hammocks. After hanging our hammocks later that evening on the boat we had dinner and an early night.
The following morning we checked out early and headed straight for the boat. When we boarded the boat we had to present our passports and somehow my passport was dropped on the floor accidentally which is fine but then a guy walking past accidentally kicked it and it landed in the Amazon!!!! The same guy dived in and managed to retrieve the passport. I was blessed although the passport looks a little warped and all my stamps have ran together :-) But I get to say that my passport has been blessed with a little of the Amazon river!
Once on the boat we took it in turns to head out to pick up supplies for the boat trip - water, food and cachaca of course!. The boat which was due to leave at 7pm ended up leaving closer to 11pm but the atmosphere on the boat was electric. Despite hanging our hammocks early we were quickly enclosed with lots of locals to our left, right and even above us :-) Everyone on the boat was so
Takin' it easy
Karen relaxed in her hammock. She says they are the next best thing to sliced bread!! :) friendly. Our only problem was that we don´t speak Portuguese and everyone on board wanted to chat and find out about us. Music was played all night long on the top deck and after a few cachacas we were all up there attempting to samba... all in all we head a great night.
The following day on the boat we got to know the locals even more and despite the language barrier by the end of the evening I was having my nails painted by one of the ladies next to us :-) We arrived to Parintins about 7pm the following evening and the place was really buzzing. We were expecting something a lot smaller but I suppose this is Brazil!!! We headed out for a few beers and had some dinner.
The following day was the first day of the festival.....opening night. We started our morning with an amazing breakfast. We thought we ordered rice and some meat (they don´t really have breakfast here...just dinners) but we ended up receiving a local fish from the amazon river that had been seasoned in a salted batter and cooked whole. It was gorgeous! We spent the day wandering around
Mario & Andreas
Mario made the strongest Caipifrutas we have ever tasted. They were good!! :) in absolute awe. Brazilians are crazy. While we were eating breakfast most of them were sipping beers - at 10 AM!!! The weather was really hot... in the mid 30s so there was very little clothing on anyone, especially the men! I´ve ever seen so many speedos in all my life :-) We decided to head to the festival early that evening to try to get a good standing spot. On the way to the stadium we found a small drinks stand that sold Caipirinhas and Caipifrutas so we decided to have a couple of drinks on the way. The stand was run my a Brazilian man called Mario and his younger assistant Andreas. They were so nice and again wanted to know all about us. I think it was because they don´t really get many tourists coming to the festival, i.e. most people who visit the festival are Brazilian.
After finishing a few Caipifrutas (gorgeous but very strong!) we headed to the stadium for around 6.30pm. The show wasn´t due to start until 8pm but it was already jammed packed. The stadium was huge and divided in two parts. The blue supporters on one side and the red
Takin' the.............
At the festival we decided to go with the blues. Luckely they won!! supporters on the other side. We had met a lovely Brazilian guy called Gabriel on the boat who supported the blue team and he really wanted us to follow in his footsteps so we decided to head to the blue section that night. We received various props, masks and hats on the way in and when we arrived we were amazed. The place was pumping. Everyone was singing and dancing. We ended up standing beside a group of local guys who were delighted to have us in the blue section. The red team started first and did there 2 and a half hour show. Lots of samba and folklore dancing and songs. It was so strange that when the red team were on, not one of the blue team´s supporters made a sound. They just stood and watched in silence. That is until the blue team was on!!!!
Once our team started the entire blue half of the stadium came to life. Everyone knew all the words to the songs and even the routines to some of the dances. All the props we were given at the start of the night... flags, pompoms, etc... were all in full swing.
Our new buddies
These guys adopted up the first night and taught us all the Parintins festival rules!! :) Thankfully the locals who adopted us were there to teach us what to move and when :-) It was a fantastic night. And that was just night number 1 :-)
On the second night (after our quick visit to the Caipirinha stand) the stadium seemed even more packed and we ended up standing in a section where we couldn´t really see. Plus the red team got to start again so we only stayed for a couple of hours (think the 5 hours the night before were the killer!).
On the final day the heat was unbelievable... close to 40 degrees Celsius.... melting weather. I was understanding the whole speedo thing now but Paul decided against wearing his! While wandering around the streets after lunch we bumped into Gabriel and his girlfriend and found out that the blues were on first tonight. Turns out it´s done on a draw basis (name out of a hat type thing). So since it was out last night we visited the Caipirinha stand for one last time to say our goodbyes to Mario and Andreas (and of course to taste one last Caipifruta!). This evening we headed to the stadium early but there
Kick-off!!
The reds get the party started were no seats and we ended up standing in a lower section but this time we could see. The atmosphere was really cool and everyone was in great form. And when the blues started our side exploded into more singing, dancing, etc. The floats were really impressive and the whole show complete with fireworks was unbelievable. Unfortunately Paul´s wallet was robbed that night complete with our cabin key so when we realised we had to leave early to see if we could get back into our cabin!
The following day was our last day in the Parintins and the celebrations continued. In the morning it was announced that the blue team won (WooHoo) and again the streets were filled with Brazilians either celebrating or drowning their sorrows!!! Brazilians are absolutely mad. They love to sing, dance, party.... I don´t know where they get their energy from! Paul and I spent the morning trying to call our bank and cancel the credit card that had been in Paul´s wallet (it was our own fault..... I think we were getting a bit too relaxed!) We spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing on the boat. Later that night we
The Blues!
The blue side get things moving. NB: Brazilians are crazy!! :) headed out for dinner and then had some rum back on the boat together.
The following morning the boat was due to set off at around 11am but once again it was late. We finally left around 1pm and thought we´d be there by the following lunch time or so. But we obviously didn´t factor in enough up river time... because we didn´t get back to Manaus until 2am so it took over 36 hours to get back to Manaus!! The whole Amazon river boat was definitely a great experience and the Parintins festival was amazing but I don´t think we´ll be doing it again any time soon. Both Paul and I was sick to death of boats and hammocks by the end of it!!
Our next stop is Salvador which we´re really looking forward too...... it´s on dry land!!
- By Karen and Paul
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