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The drums...never...stop...

Carnaval is Bonkers

2/27/2009 11:54:41 AM - Day 348 - Salvador, Brazil

Carnaval in the old city area or "Pelourino" was full of wandering samba groups.

Carnaval (Carnival to us Gringos) is fucking insanity. I have never been to a party on this scale in my life and I have been to some fucking huge parties. Seven days of complete mayhem on a magnitude I didn't even know was possible. Imagine a four lane freeway back home packed to the brim as far as the eye can see with people, big rig trucks with bands playing from stages set on top of the back of them and cheap alcohol being sold everywhere and you got Carnaval.

Going to Carnaval has been something my friends and I have talked about for years. We would always see shows about it on the television back home, see how much fun everyone was having and how crazy it was and we would all always come to the same assertion. "Someday, we have to all go to Carnaval". Talk is cheap though, and being the poor young adults we were, getting to Carnaval was a pipe dream at best. As we all got better paying jobs however, it became more and more of a reality. Months in advance we began planning (I was already on the road at this point) and for one reason or another, when there was supposed to be a big group of us it ended up being only one of my best friends Reece and myself. Once again, it ended up being only the two of us who were able to hit the open road to rock it for this adventure, and rock it we did!

Most people think about Rio de Janeiro when they think about Carnaval, as did I before heading off on this trip. Traveling, you meet people from all over the world and I met a fair share of Brazilians. Each and every single one said that if I really wanted to party, I should skip Rio and go to Salvador (Salvador, Brazil Review and Travel Information) for Carnaval. The reasoning is that in Rio, the main event is watching the Carnaval parade in the Samba Dome, but not actually participating in it. In Salvador, you actually join in the parade and walk the entire circuit partying like a rock star the whole way thru.

In Salvador they have three Carnaval circuits or areas. There is what many people consider the best one, which is the "Barra" circuit which runs right alongside the beach. The oldest circuit in the city is the "Campo Grande" circuit which is a bit more central. Then there is the "Pelourino" circuit, which is in the old town of the city. This one is very different from the others because it doesn't have the big "Trio Electricos" and isn't as wild as the others with a fewer amount of people. It is still a lot of fun though allowing you to wander around the old city never knowing if you are going to run into a marching group of Samba dancers with accompanying band with a group of Carnaval goers dancing behind them. Reece and I were actually staying in the Pelourino area so I got quite familiar to the sound of the drums from the marching groups from my hotel "Pousada Pais Tropical" (Pousada Pais Tropical Review in Salvador, Brazil). If you really want to get crazy and see the big part of Carnaval, you need to head to the Barra or Campo Grande circuits.

The way it works is that for the nights you want to join the Carnaval parade, you buy what is called a "Bloco" or "Abada", which is a special shirt that identifies the Carnaval group that you are with. Then, the day that your group is headed out, you go to where everyone in your group is setting up at the start of the Carnaval circuit before heading out. Included with the Bloco is a "Trio Electrico" which is a huge big rig truck pulling a giant stage behind it with some type of performer blaring music that everyone in the Bloco dances to. Also, there is a HUGE security detail (I'm talking hundreds and hundreds of people) that has a giant rope that surrounds the entire Bloco (which can be a couple thousand people and a few big rigs) and they keep out anyone who doesn't have on the correct Bloco shirt for the group including a lot of riff-raff which makes for a safer time. You can also be what are called "Popcorn" which is the people who follow along the sides of the Bloco but don't ever join in since they didn't buy a shirt. They are called popcorn since they are jumping around all over the place like cooking popcorn. I was a piece of popcorn one night and it definitely isn't as fun as actually joining in.

My buddy Reece and I joined a Bloco for two of the nights during Carnaval. Both of them were on the Barra circuit (since we heard it was the best) and the one we did the first time was probably the best. Reece wouldn't stop complaining about how much he thought it was going to suck since the night before we went out to the Campo Grande circuit with a group of Aussies and saw some of the crapiest Blocos on the circuit giving him the wrong idea about it. By the end of the night of our first Bloco he changed his tune saying it was "fucking awesome", and awesome it was! Our Bloco was huge! Thousands of people. This Bloco had some Brazilian group we had never heard about as the performers and the only reason we picked it was because the price was in the range we were looking for. The color of our shirts for this Bloco was baby blue so soon a sea of baby blue shirts was parading down the Barra circuit surrounded by a mini army of security guards. Right off the bat, everyone in the Bloco got into the swing of things dancing all over the place and drinking their hearts out picking up drinks from vendors who would follow alongside the Bloco selling drinks at crazy cheap prices. Reece and I didn't get into it right away because this type of Brazilian music really wasn't our thing, but we were soon swept up in the Carnaval fervor and dancing right alongside the Brazilians. The energy in the air is palpable making for an electric atmosphere for everyone inside the Bloco causing one's limbs to inadvertently start rhythmically shaking to the beats blaring from the Trio Electrico. Our Bloco was one of the better ones, everyone was rocking out and plenty of "Popcorn" wanted in causing a couple spectacles of would be trespassers getting their asses beat by security and the hordes of Police that were also patrolling the Carnaval circuit (the police and security don't fuck around). The highlight of the night was when it started pouring rain and nobody in the Bloco skipped a step. The music kept pumping and everyone put their arms in the air as we all danced down the circuit to the cheers of onlookers from the streets and "Camarotes" that line the circuit.

The other Bloco we joined was also fucking awesome, but not as good as the first one. It was two huge techno DJs named Armin van Buuren and David Guetta. I love listening to these two back home and was stoked to see them at Carnaval in a Bloco. The Bloco was almost all foreigners however. It seems that Brazilians aren't as fond of techno as they are of other types of music. They also needed to get a bigger rope because the place was so packed you couldn't even dance, only jump up and down or sway back and forth with the masses of people. Also, my fucking Camera was pick-pocketed! I was so fucking pissed off! Not only was that an awesome little camera but it also had a humongous amount of sentimental value to me. To say I was bummed out would be an understatement and it put a cloud over the whole night (I'm still bothered by it to this day). Add insult to injury because I was pick-pocketed again later in the night for some cash. I was even wearing these special shorts I have that have secret pockets, but in the end, it didn't matter. The next day I heard numerous stories about how other people had been pick-pocketed. If you are going to be in a Bloco make sure to use a money belt of something to hold you money on your body and not in your pockets. I learned that the hard way.

I did see one strange phenomenon at the Blocos and around the parades. I remember all my Brazilian friends telling me how I was going to the "kissing party" when I told them I was headed to Salvador for Carnaval. I didn't really know what they meant and when we went to our first Bloco I remember thinking "I haven't really seen anyone kissing so I wonder what the fuck those Brazilians were talking about?" Then just as the Bloco started heading down the Carnaval route some young Brazilian guy lunged for a girl, put his face right up to hers and started to forcefully try and kiss her (he wasn't restraining her though). She immediately moved her head, pushed him away and stormed off. I stood there in complete shock. "Did I just see what I thought I saw? Why didn't anyone near this guy stop him? What a fucking asshole." A big "WTF" (what the fuck) was still in my mind when the mother fucker tried to do it again! This time I barged over there and knocked him off the girl and told him to get the fuck out of here. The girl was super thankful and soon walked off. I looked around though and a lot of the Brazilian guys had confused looks on their faces, probably similar to what I had the first time I saw the douchey guy try to kiss the girl, except they were all looking at me! "Am I the only sane mother fucker in here!? Is this the 'sexual assault' Bloco? 'WTF' What the fuck?!" Reece told them all to relax and pulled me aside and told me this was what all the Brazilian people we met were talking about when they said we were going to the "kissing party". It seems that it is traditional for guys to simply walk around the Blocos and around the parade shoving their faces into girl's faces or necks trying to force a kiss. As the night went on I noticed that most guys weren't as nearly as aggressive as the first douche bag that I knocked earlier that night, but it was still really strange to behold. All the girls would just push the guys off and keep walking. It seems though that if a girl does let a guy kiss them, then that is the guy that she wants to be with for the whole night. Therefore the guys walk around trying to kiss everything in sight and the girls push off all the contenders waiting for the one special guy she wants to spend all her time with. The whole spectacle was really strange to behold and I know if guys tried to do that kind of shit back home they would get a good ole' fashioned ass whooping. However, it's tradition here during Carnaval in Salvador, and in general, most guys are much more respectful about it then the first guy I saw.

Reece and I also hit up a Camarote one night which is where you go to and hangout at a club on the Carnaval Route and watch the Carnaval Parade pass by. Just like the Blocos, you get a special shirt signifying that you are in that Camarote. A lot of them are "all inclusive" with all drinks and food included. We ended up going to an all inclusive one ourselves. Our Camarote was very nice, had any kind of drink you could want and tons of good food. They even had a couple Sushi chefs preparing hand rolls all night long. It was nice. The only problem was that Reece caught some type of sickness on our last day in Rio after he went out on a wild party and being cooped up with him in a tiny attic of a room in Salvador, I also caught whatever he had and was hit hard on the night of the Camarote. It definitely made the night a lot less enjoyable, but that's how the cookie crumbles. We still had a decent time, however I found the Blocos to be more enjoyable. Camarotes are good if you want to relax a night of Carnival but still go out. One funny thing in the Camarote just like the Bloco with the big DJs, the Brazilians in general were not feeling any music but Samba.

When the two of us weren't partying all over Brazil, we were recovering in our hotel, visiting the local internet café or eating crappy Brazilian food. I love a lot of things about Brazil. The people are amazing, weather is good, there are some amazing beaches and the nightlife is tops. However the food fucking sucks. At first glance the idea of burgers, steakhouses and beer sounds awesome right? However I don't know what they put in the food down here but after a couple of days you feel as if you've been eating at McDonald's Fast Food for a month! That uneasy feeling of "shittyness" one gets after eating too much fast food. Reece was on the same page. In all honesty, we may have simply had bad luck and eaten at the wrong places, but in my personal experience, what I ate wasn't very good. They do have some great fresh fruit juice though and meat kabobs (some of the best I ever had).

I have to say having one of my best friends Reece around for Carnaval definitely made it a better experience. Being on the road alone for so long it gets hard being away from your friends and family. Besides having someone there to watch your back (in case you get in a fight with a forceful kisser and his friends) it's great having someone there to bullshit and joke around with. I'm definitely glad he came and we couldn't stop talking about how cool it would have been to have our entire group of friends with us.

After seven days and nights of hearing the never-ending sound of beating drums ("drums…drums in the deep.") drinking tons of cheap beer, eating shitty food, partying with amazing people, meeting some awesome locals and feeling perpetually hung-over, I am ready to leave. To be honest, I am very happy to be leaving at this point. The Carnaval experience is insanely fun but by the end of it, anyone who parties like we do is going to feel worn and ready to call it a day. I had a blast at Carnaval and now when I see specials on it back home on the television, I'll replace saying "I should do that someday" with "I did it, and it was fucking awesome".

Now I am here in the airport of Sao Paulo (flew here from Salvador) waiting for my connecting flight to Mexico City where I will spend one weekend before I head home. To say I am excited to go home would be an understatement. Some people may not understand why anyone would want to go home from traveling, but that's a topic for a later BLOG. It's not easy being on the open road for close to a year.

P.S. 100 BLOGS NOW! WOOHOO!!!

This video gives a first hand overview of your options in Salvador for the week long party of Carnaval. Carnaval (or Carnival) in Salvador, Brazil is considered the largest party on the planet. Given this, you have plenty of choices of what to do, which Carnaval circuit to go to (Barra, Campo Grande or the Pelourino) and whether or not to buy a Bloco to join in the parade, stay at a Camarote or simply be "Popcorn" on the sidelines.

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