informage

Last night was my big Carnaval extravaganza experience. I'd already been through the other traditional Carnaval activities: a samba school Saturday night warm-up; traditional 'bloco' parades by night and by day; and the venerable carioca tradition of leaving the city for a beautiful weekend retreat over carnaval weekend itself (last friday - tuesday). One of the blocos was in the wonderfully characterful neighbourhood of Santa Teresa (pictured above). This was a friendly low-key affair. Well, as low-key as Rio's carnaval celebrations get. It was still pretty busy with the occassional random act of passion. Santa Teresa was a surprise, an authentic Rio worlds apart from the ostentatious and overdeveloped beach areas of Ipanema and Copacabana. The cost is that Santa Teresa is also regarded as one of the least safe areas for us gringos.

Rio gets so hectic with visitors over carnaval weekend that it is common for locals to leave, and we were lucky enough to be offered a wealthy friend's waterside house in a gated community in Angra dos Reis for a few days whilst the family skiied in Italy. We got a ride there in a small yacht from another friend and spent a few days living in the lap of luxury with our own personal cook in a scenic setting. I could write a whole long piece on the contradictions of this experience, and the contrast between this almost sterile luxury and the raw scratchy beauty of our previous trip to Ilha Grande, but this isn't it.

The peak of carnaval took place whilst we were in Angra, and so all we saw of the competitive parades of the various samba schools was on television. I would have been disappointed to have left without any direct experience of the grand spectacle that is carnaval in the Rio sambadrome, and so last night we went late to see part of the champions' parades. It lived up to its spectacular reputation, and watching a continuum of surreal and ornate costumes and unfeasibly pert bodies is surprisingly entrancing. Each parade has a theme, and the Rio Grande school's parade that we watched was all about Brazil beaneath the earth. Floats ranged in theme from the steam trains and ore carriers of Brazil's mining history to a representation of the spirit of nature.

Now I'm helping Shannon package up her apartment for tomorrow's journey back to Cape Town so hopefully later we'll be able to say 'Pad Packed: Beyond the Sambadrome'. Ouch.