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Published: April 20th 2013
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After catching a surprisingly cheap flight from Iguazu to Rio de Janeiro it was time to get ready for the biggest party in the world - Carnival. I met Tamara and the other people we'd be sharing our rented apartment with a few days before the official festivities kicked off, but there was already a party atmosphere in the air, and the streets.
Our apartment was nice and extremely well located, a few blocks back from Copacabana beach. The prices as you can imagine skyrocket at this time, and minimum stays were 7 nights. Ours was booked and paid for more than 9 months in advance. Some of the hostel prices were just ridiculous. I saw one hostel offering a bunk bed in a 16 person dorm for $1200 for the week! Sharing an apartment is definitely the way to go should you ever plan to partake in Carnival. It will end up cheaper and more convenient.
We managed to fit in some sightseeing around the festivities as I wasn't sure I'd be heading back to Rio again. The main sights I saw were Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Sugar Loaf mountain and Christ the Redeemer, aka the big famous
Jesus statue on the hill. Back in 2007 it was voted one of the new 7 wonders of the world, a title that frankly it does not deserve. That said, the views from up there were stupendous. Rio has to have one of the best panoramas in the world. It was funny/perplexing watching everyone making their best Jesus pose in front of the statue for their photos. What was not so funny was the extreme heat and being squished onto a small platform with hundreds of other humans.
Down on the beaches it was much more relaxing. They were busy but you could find your own spot easily enough. The beaches and water weren't exactly pristine. I often spotted rubbish and other items washing up in the water and I'd read some people advising not to even swim there. That's a shame because the locals are fiercerly proud of their beaches and yet they seem to show little regard for them. It was very strange.
I spied some locals playing a bat and ball game which piqued my interest. It would later become a small mission of mine to obtain said bats and ball. Basically the game involves
two people standing opposite each other hitting a hard rubber ball between them, trying not to let it hit the ground. This is a popular beach past-time for Brazilians and even the older people get into it.
During the festivities most sections of the city had their own street parties, called Bloco's. Some were big, some small, and they began at times ranging from 8am to all through the day and evening. There didn't seem to be much organisation to them other than everyone dresses up in whatever costume they think appropriate and follow the music around the streets. Guys really seemed to enjoy dressing up as women I noticed.
The highlight for me was the Samba parade at the Sambodrome. This is where all the Samba schools send their big floats down the runaway and have all their members dancing along in tow in their costumes. Each school has 82 minutes to complete the short journey and impress the judges. This sounds like a long time, but a couple only finished with a minute or two to spare. The parade goes all night, from 9pm to 4am and we got there at 6pm in order to get
a good seat. When I say seat I mean concrete block. There was no allocated seating. We bought these little foam cushions from a street vendor while waiting at the gate, but within 30 minutes they were flat as a tack. However when the parade is in action everyone stood the whole time anyway.
The parade was simply amazing. The amount of detail in the costumes was unreal. Unsurprisingly they spend all year and much money on them. The floats were ridiculous. Some had moving mechanical parts, such as a huge white tiger with moving head and paws. One had a swinging boat like a showground ride. Another contained a 50m waterslide with people sliding down into a pool of water - all while the float is driving along the runway.
The cherry on the cake for the week was not getting robbed. One of the girls from our apartment did, and judging from some of the stories we'd heard, we got lucky. That said, the vibe during Carnival was really cool and people were really friendly and ready to have a good time. As I rode in the cab to the airport I noticed a lot of
construction going on around the city in preparation for the World Cup and Olympics. It will be interesting to see how they go as hosts that's for sure.
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