Carnaval: No Naked Women, but Lots of Dancing
I’m not sure how often the debate comes up, but upon our arrival in Brazil we were forced to make the all-important decision- celebrate Carnaval in Rio or Salvador? Generally, Rio is flashier, fleshier, and more expensive; Salvador is more traditional, African-influenced, and democratic. So, because we were all somewhat broke (and because we had spent 5 straight days in the drizzle of Rio) we headed north– 30+ hours- to the sunshine of Salvador da Bahia.
Carnaval in Salvador is divided into a series of circuits that the bands and their loyal fans follow for hours every night. Some circuits are more family-oriented (one had children out celebrating at 2am), some are more party-oriented (one had a vendor selling shots every turn you made), and some are just a mess of people that make it hard to figure out exactly what they are oriented towards.
You can also celebrate Carnaval in a variety of ways. It appeared that with most tourists, they preferred to buy a week’s package at a club along a circuit, and enjoy an open bar and food buffet. Of course, this also cost a minimum of US$100/ night, so we did not indulge. A second option was to join a Carnaval troupe, and travel in a pack, dancing in the streets, surrounded by guards and a rope so no one could get in. Of course, you also had to pay, so we decided against this as well. The third (and free) option was to simply go out onto the street and wander around. We preferred this because we could see more floats and listen to more types of music, although it also put us in the path of pickpockets (both Preston and Zach had repeated- but unsuccessful- pickpocketing attempts), and mobs (one drunken mob rushed forward and we were pushed against a wall).
Our biggest challenge to get to the circuits was transportation. We stayed in a gorgeous apartment with a beach view, but it was in the suburb of Pituba, which is about 30 minutes from downtown as the crow flies, but took waaaayyy more time in both bus and taxi. This is likely because there are just a few roads going over the hills into town, because all the buses (hundreds and hundreds of buses take the same route), and because traffic was a mess during Carnaval. We tried dozens of combinations- more expensive mini-buses, normal buses, bus transfers, driving (we rented a car), and taxis. We never figured out an ideal route.
The street scene for Carnaval was lively and exciting. Some of the best food we had in Brazil we bought on the street- especially meat skewers we lovingly referred to as “street meat.” We would spend $5 a night for dinner because we would indulge in meat, vegetables, manioc, and desserts and we walked around and took in the atmosphere.
Of course, we can’t leave out a description of the parades. Every one was themed, and the participants would wear their costumes the entire week (even if they weren’t performing that day). So there would be women walking around in white hooped skirts, men dressed up as Roman soldiers, the ubiquitous “Sons of Gandhi” and Egyptian pharaohs. It was like a week-long Halloween, but with more dancing and samba music. The floats would drift down the street, with a band playing samba, reggae, or some version thereof, and a half-dozen dancing shaking on top of a car, and the in front and behind the float would be any number of costumed musicians and dancers grinding in unison to the music as well. All in all, while Rio may have the flash, Salvador has the soul of Carnaval.
