Another Random Salvador carnaval Memory

A short fat man, aged around 40, dancing in the rain, barefooted and wearing nothing but tiny white speedo style swim trunks.

Cheesed off

I spent about 45 minutes earlier updating my blog. It didnt save. I´m cheesed off. Oh well, I guess things could be worse. Will do it another time.

Salvador Carnaval-A Retrospective

I really want to try and explain Salvador carnaval but its pretty difficult, its one of those "you had to be there" moments. I´m going to list a few things below to at least try and get this off my chest, its called blog therapy I think. This list is going to be random and may not make sense, you had to be there you see. BTW as i havent got fotos (yet) of carnaval i have included links to pictures (courtesy of those good people at google images)

good music-once you had had enough to drink and lost your dancing inhibitions, carnavalmusic is totally different to what i know, the beats just didnt make sense

weird music- its like they have their own little world down here in brasil, most of the music is so different to everywhere else, a unique mix of influences, the people here go wild to it and sometimes i was stood watching rather than taking part, thinking to myself "what the f@#$ are you lot doing?"

weird dancing- they have so many dances for the different music, varying from jumping up and down, to remarkably intricate pagode funk dancing

the rock- we adopted a rock one night, it was quite large and became part of our group (myself, Daniel San, Mike, Jesse, Trevor, random Australian girls, random Brasilians). we even bought the rock a beer

the lighthouse (el farol)- our meeting point and a reprieve from the madness of being in the crowd

street food- warm cheese on a stick, meat (cat) on a stick, chicken (piegeon) on a stick, pastels (deep fried cornish pasties filled with chicken and cheese) each roughly 2 reals

street beer- served as cold as possible, preferably skol (2 reals for a large can-bargain)

antarctica guarana- a delicious canned beverage and an excellent mixer with a very cheap random spirit mike and i chose to drink most nights

never ending crowds- its the biggest in the world according to Guiness Book Of Records (RIP Norris McWhirter and Roy Castle) (you can see the lighthouse in the foto at the link as well)

singers who look like pirates- this guy is in a band called chicle do banana or something and they are incredibly popular for some reason

men in drag- alot of them, brasil is quite a gay country

filhos do gandhi- they dress up like this, no idea why

people snogging- the men who arent gay are really aggessive with the girls, its some kind of macho competition to snog as many as possible. yuk, the germs.

the smell of wee- was definitely the smell of carnaval, you just cant provide enough portaloos for that many people

psirico- a band, i actually liked thes guys they were pretty cool

bloco- a roped off area that follows the floats, ropes carried by people and you kind of become part of the procession, dancing your way along. no less manic than on the streets, but alot more expensive. you get a t shirt that is your ticket. expensive

camarote- kind of VIP booths that line the streets where you can watch carnaval without having to worry about the crowds, pickpockets, fights etc. very expensive and looked to be totally boring, no atmosphere

pipoca- "pop corn" what they call the crowds, best place to be, watch your pockets, try not to get punched by coked up favela hoods, have a great time

eric morillo- followed his bloco, occasionally sneaking into it, and then gettting thrown out, cheesy house anthems but enjoyable. the skol float features western house djs each night, fat boy slim had played the last few year but unfortunately not his year

well that´ll do for now. going to the beach now, weather permitting. oh yeh, iticare is cool, nice and quiet with gorgeous beaches. waiting for my mate from ibiza, benja, to get here.

ciao

Keep On Moving

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Time to leave town again, leaving Salvador for Iticare, a small town 9 hours south that should be a nice relaxing contrast to the carnage of the worlds biggest Carnaval.

Brasil and the Biggest, Baddest, Hottest Party On the Planet

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Salvador Carnaval. AKA Madness. AKA millions of people going bonkers on the street, dancing to music until 6am, drinking, groping each other, picking pockets, fighting, pissing wherever they can, wearing mad outfits, losing your friends, finding new friends, the list goes on.

No fotos unfortunately, taking a nice expensive digital camera to carnaval is not a good idea, you have hands all over you, your pockets will get picked so dont take anything you dont want to lose. All money you keep in your shoes and take out when you need it, ie to buy beer or street food. Last night we followed the Eric Morillo float for a few hours, not neccesarily my favourite DJ (bit cheesy) but he played a great crowd pleasing set with a bunch of classics thrown in, it was awesome fun, dancing your way along the street, bumping into people, drinking and generally being rather jolly.

I hope to have some photos of the madness soon, boutght a disposable camera and took about 12 pics last night, will take it again tonight and hope it doesnt get taxed, although it draws attention, last night when taking a photo of my friends one of them had a bottle of booze taken from his pocket! You have to really keep an eye for the thiefs who are looking for gringos to rob,theres alot of cops around but they are there more to break up fights, which do happen, some of the favela youths go there specifically to get loaded, rob and fight.

So. its a case of P-A-R-T-Y. And only 4 more nights to go (if i can keep it up that long!)

I Heart Brasil

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Having a grrrreeeeeaaaatttt time in Brasil basically! Its my favourite country since Colombia, people are great, beaches gorgeous, food great and the parties are unreal! Had a great 4 days in Rio, stayed in a really cool hostel with some great people there, made alot of friends and had some great times. We had a cool night out in Lapa, a delapidated old district with colonial houses falling to pieces, cobbled streets and a wicked atmosphere (and smell) where Cariocas come to party and dance samba until the early hours and beyond. Went to see a great game at the Maracana with some die hard fans, banging the drums and waving flags for Botafogo, the game ended 1-1.

Spent a couple of nights hanging out with an old Brasilian friend Antonio, undoubtedly the craziest guy I have ever known, and we had a great time catching up on some of our nights out from my last time in Rio in 2002.

Anyway, asm in Salvador now with another old friend, Daniel, a mate from school who has lived here for 8 years. Staying with him during Carnaval, which started last night. ALOT of Brasilians dancing, singing and generally going crackers in the street. Gotta rush now, more soon.....

Rock In Rio

OK so been here since, can´t remember right now but a few days. Its awesome. And hot, although was pouring when we arrived. Have been to the Sambodrom to watch rehearsals for Carnaval, quite an experience, its 8 blocks long and rammed with people dancing and singing manically. Went out in Lapa, a bohemian street party full of all walks of life. Yesterday was a big game at the Maracana, Botafogo against Flamengo, a 1-1 thriller, we sat with the liveliest fans a group called BottaChopp who bang drums and wave flags non stop for 90 minutes. I didnt know the words to their songs so just sung Coventry City songs instead. Quite an experience, again. Last night caught up with some old Carioca friends at their appartment, good times indeed. Photos coming soon, as long as my camera doesnt get ripped off.

Floripa

Still chilling in Floripa, BBQ every night, training kung fu on the terrace, very very nice. Went out last night to El Divino for a hip hop and house night. It was FULL of beautiful local princesses who thought they were far too special to talk to anyone, despite this fact it was wonderfulto be in a club that was probably 65% good looking girls, as Flori is a bit of a dude fest, its a surf town so more guys than girls in general.

The other day we hired a car between 6 of us and squeezed in for a trip round the island, stopping off for a huge lunch of oysters and squid in a little quiet fishing village, and then slept it off on a quiet beach.

We are heading to Rio on Friday, will be going to see Botafogo play Flamengo at the Maracana on Sunday, very excited about that. Leave Rio on the 18th to arrive in Salvador on the 19th in time for Carnaval where I will be staying with an old school friend who has lived there for years, really looking forward to that too.

Language here is a funny one. People can understand me fine because I can speak Spanish to them, but when they reply i understand at most half of what they say, if they speak S-L-O-W! Very odd but better than nothing i guess.
Anyways, check out time, fight the power.

Foz do Iguazu

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It would be pretty unfair to not write anything about the falls at Iguazu. They are thebiggest collection of waterfalls in the world, its hard to describe the sheer powe and impressiveness of them, you kind of have to be there to get just how huge these things are. What is even cooler is how close you can get to them, they have built these very cool walkways that allow you to get up close, safely, although you do get wet! These falls in the background are the mos impressive, you can get right up close and you have in front of you a 180 degee panorama of water cascading very very fast, the sound, sight and mist created by the falls is great, and in the heat also very refreshing.

Hawaiian Burger

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Made these beasts on the BBQ the other night......yum

House of the Rising Sun

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View from our appartment on the lake in Florianoplis. I got up at 530AM to get this set of photos.

Can´t describe how wonderful it is to be here for the next 10 days, no packing rucksack, carryin rucksack, getting to bus station, sleeping on bus, moving hostel, sleeping in a dorm full of sweaty people farting, sharing skanky kitchen with people.

None of that for me for the next 10 days. We really landed on our feet and have rented out a furnished appartment with an awesome view, massive terrace, 2 double bedrooms and most importantly BBQ! All that for a tenner a night each. I actually feel like I am on holiday!

I Woke Up Bloody Early To Get This Shot

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5.30 AM to be precise. Its a shot of the sun rising as seen from the terrace of our appartment in Florianopolis that we are renting. We hit the jackpot to be honest. The appartment is on the 1st floor of a house, we basically have half the house, including a huge terrace and an amazing view of the lake, which the house is on. We´ve had a BBQ every night since we got here!

Cat DJing

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Saw some pretty cool street art in BA, I liked this one particuarly. Its a cat, DJing. Of course.

Wheels Of Steel

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Theres a really good antiques market in San Telmo. I bought an amzing pair of retro sunglasses for 30 pesos (about 6 quid), I look REALLY cool wearing them, hope I dont lose them anytime soon..........

Outside Boca Juniors, on My bike

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Pulling a weird face for some reason

The Two Ronnies

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Buenos Aires

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A rather delayed look back at the ´Paris of South America´. Spent my first few days there miserable and suffering from a very upset gut. This no doubt equally disturbed the fellow travellers in my hostel, which to be honest wass a little bit too noisy and PARTY focussed for my liking anyway. Maybe I´m finally getting old.
Anyway, BA, seemed more like a cross between Barcelona, and I iamagine, somewhere like Rome, than Paris, although it is definitely more like being in Europe than South America. The food is amazing, very much influenced by the Italian immigrants, the ice cream is incrediblee! The women are beautiful although the city itself not as pretty aas its European counterparts.
We were there for a week, about half of this I was ill. The other half was spent enjoying a bike ride through the South of the city, including the port area, San Telmo and Boca (home of Boca Juniors FC). There is a great vibe/pace of life in BA, very relaxed with a focus on good living and good food. We checked out a drum and bass club one night too, my one bit of partying there.
I enjoyed it, although not as much aas people had raved on about it, maybe because I didnt have enough time or maybe because it seemed like a pale version of a great European city.

So, ater all that, we hit the road again to Puerto de Iguazu, the Argentinian side of the most impressive collection of water falls in the world. A not too shabby 24 hour coach journey......