A Rollercoaster beginning to Brazil


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Published: March 28th 2011
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The phenomenally big country of Brazil was on our itinery for many reasons; beautiful beaches, exciting cities... but most of all because of it's world famous Carnaval celebrations, a party not to be missed. As we were in the area at the right time of year it would've been rude not to! 

The tough decision was deciding where to be for this special time. Rio was too expensive and Salvador too far to travel in the time we had. We had read about some super-clubs with world class DJs performing special Carnaval sets in southern Brazil. So with this in mind a circuitous route brought us to the Ilha de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis. A dip in fortunes and dodgy bus routes left us stranded on an empty road, knocking on doors searching for an illusive guesthouse. It was 11.30pm at this point and had it not been for the kindness of the guesthouse proprietor (whose rooms were all full) we would have been sleeping on the streets. As it was she invited us to sleep on their kitchen floor, furnished it with a mattress and refused any payment the next morning. What a genuinely nice lady. 

So things were looking up, we'd had a great encounter with a local resident, a free nights accommodation, caught a bus to Lagoa de Conceicao where we found a shady campsite in the garden of a lakeside property. So we were all set, just in time for the first night of Carnaval that evening.

Things weren't looking quite so rosy a week ago...

I had been sitting in the cafe for two hours unable to pay for the coffees we'd drunk at 7am that morning. Having just got off a sleepless thirteen hour overnight journey from Paraguay coffee was crucial. Once we had had a caffeine hit we felt much better, so Lewi went to get some cash out, and this was where the troubles began. The ATM's in the bus station weren't letting us withdraw and so, leaving me holding the fort with the confused cafe staff, Lewi began a marathon trek around Curitiba town trying any ATM he could find. Now Brazilian banks are notorious for not accepting foreign cards but after two hours and still no money this was getting ridiculous! We finally figured this wasn't Brazils fault and so called our banks who put the situation right in seconds, you can't blame the fraud department, they were trying to be helpful. 

Next on the rollercoaster we took an upwards turn, jumped on a bus into town and had a gigantic buffet of tasty Brazilian delights served by a big Brazilian mamma. 

Then came the biggest dip in the track, our stomachs flipped...Lewi's wallet had been stolen. It was so annoying, seventeen months of travel and no issues and on our first day in Brazil we get pickpocketed. It must've happened on the busy, noisy, bus. Cursing the cheeky bastard who'd done it we made a second call to Natwest to cancel my card, and thanked our lucky stars that we'd split the money so they only got half of our recent withdrawal. Damn. 

The day wasn't a total loss though, we managed to purchase our tickets for the biggest Carnaval club night. With Axwell, Booker Shade and Trentmoller on the line-up Lewi was psyched! 

The weather wasn't turning out quite as we'd hoped when we planned for a few days at the beach before Carnaval began. So instead of taking a trip to Ilha do Mel (Honey Island) we stayed in pretty port town Paranagua, dodging the rainstorms as we ventured from our Chinese guesthouse to the waterside cafes. 

Every distance in Brazil is huge and although the shiny new coaches make the journey softer on your bottom, your pockets pay the price for the luxury. What with the rainy weather and our indecision for a Carnaval location we had spent a lot of time and money on buses, making friends at bus stations and staring at the lush green jungle out of the window.

And now here we were...the 4th of March and our first experience of the Brazilian Carnaval. The drummers began their entrancing rhythm as the twenty grass skirt clad ladies filtered out of the church, whooping and a' hollering as they did so. It had begun. Cow bells chimed, maracas were shaken and multi-tonal drums created an amazing and complex beat to which the synchronized dancing troop flung themselves around as if they were possessed. We followed them into the street where traffic was halted as the parade of jumping percussion passed them by. For three hours these wonderfully talented musicians and althetes entranced the crowds that danced along with them. The performance was inspired and inspiring, and we returned to our tent buzzing with how brilliant it had been. 

Ilha de Santa Catarina turned out to be a perfect base for Carnaval, we could relax beside the lagoon or beach during the day and easily access the local towns or Floripa city by night. Our first dip in the Atlantic Brazilian ocean was refreshing and very powerful, the waves were strong enough to knock you over if the beauty of the bay hadn't already done so. I felt decidedly conservative in my beachwear in comparison to all the ladies in their minuscule bikinis that hardly covered them. Indian men would not know what to make of this place! But this was Brazil...and just to keep us on our toes after an hour of sunbathing black clouds appeared all around us and we had to walk the 2km back to our campsite in the rain. 

Saturday night was a feverish affair in Floripa, cross dressing guys flocked the streets, the whole city was dancing in costume with their own Bloca's (neighbourhoods), bass boomed from the bands and spray foam and glitter hung in the air. Everyone was having such a great time at this crazy festival and it was hilarious to be a part of it. The genteel colonial streets were rioting with colours and gaudy attire. 

The night became even more Carnaval crazed as we watched literally thousands of people samba and shake along the sambadromo avenue, clothing  and floats even more attention grabbing and dramatic than their Paraguayan equivalent. Then the multicoloured confetti became mixed with the tropical rain and the sky was swirling, we were soaked in seconds and so we left our lucky free stand and elbowed our way onto the bus back.

The next day we took it easy back at the lagoon, chatting with our fellow campers, climbing the sand dunes and sipping caipirinhas. It had been a crazy week and a half, we'd been rained on, robbed and bus ridden and yet all of these things were easily outweighed by the friendly people we'd met while celebrating the most fantastical and frivolous of festivals...Carnaval!!!!


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