I arrived to the town at 1pm and pre-arranged the taxi service with the hotel...but the taxi driver could not advance past the thousands of party people on the streets. So he left me literally at the bottom of the hill and I had to make my way through the crowds with my backpacks (weighing a conservative 60 lbs combined) for what would normally be a 5-10 minute walk. But with the crowds at hand it took me about an hour to make it finally to the "pousada" or inn.
Thank goodness the place was an absolute gem. My room had gorgeous thick planked wooden floors, old school wood ceilings, a four post bed, an outdoor patio with tub and roof cut-out for street view. A truly pleasant place with great service too (Pousada do Amparo it's called if you are ever going to Olinda).
Despite the lack of sleep the previous night + traveling all day, I could not rest even for a minute. That's because the parade of carnival was going on directly outside of room (the Carnival in Olinda just takes over the entire city) blaring with music, fireworks and people screaming. So, I decided to join the fun and after a few whiskeys and beers I was right there with everyone else celebrating life.
The following day I met some really cool people who are British and American but live in Sao Paolo. When I mentioned my travel plans they were wowed by the fact that I was doing 3 different carnival celebrations in the same week! I didn't think it was such a big deal, but now realize that it is pretty unique to have experienced all three in the same year. So, here's my quick breakdown of the differences between them:
1. Rio -- now, I didn't get to see one of the famous street parades because I left a bit too early, but I think the crown jewel of Rio is the costumes and outfits of the bloco...but you are just a spectator. Of the event that I did participate in, the crowd was super young (like HS and college kids age) but definitely animated. The music was good but very simple as the blocos are organized by times and neighborhoods. Overall, definitely fun, but in terms of participatory parties, it paled in comparison to the next two destinations.
2. Salvador -- Salvador is essentially divided into two celebration areas...one being the more traditional "downtown" area (Poli) and the other being the street along the beach (Barra). The Poli celebration was much more African with both the people and the music/dancing. People essentially danced all over the streets and for a couple of days the "Sons of Gandhi" take over the area (over 8,000 sons of Gandhi who represent a group that promotes peaceful celebration of Carnival -- historically they didn't drink but we definitely saw the Gandhis throwing down!). The Barra area was much more organized with big trucks playing live music and roped off areas of crowds following their particular "bloco" with everyone dressed in the same tshirt. Also, on both sides of the streets there are "camarotes" which are like VIP areas where more people watch the passing crowds and celebrate. The crowd was noticeably full of foreigners and seemingly a bit of an older crowd. I think the fact that the abadas (tshirts) are so expensive probably prices a lot of the locals out of the market and they end up watching from the curbside.
3. Olinda -- Similar to the Poli celebration, this one is completely disorganized with music and people moving both directions on small cobble-stoned streets. It is very participatory as there are much fewer organized blocos. People are much more local and I hardly saw any foreigners in the crowds. The celebrations start early in the morning and end early in the morning with the crowd moving at about 10pm to various stages set up throughout the city to see bands play.
In all of the three places, the streets are packed with folks and everyone is drinking, dancing and having fun (of course there were a few fights, a few pocketpickers and some general mayhem). It reminded me of Fiesta week in San Antonio, but would be like a combination of the parades with NIOSA at the same time since people are performing on the streets but everyone is participating.
Hopefully some of the pics give you an idea but it is definitely one of those experiences that you have to live through to truly grasp the extent of it.
PS - can you spot "where's waldo" in the photo below? i loved his outfit
