Carnival

The 2nd Feb is the official start of the carnival and things started to get really busy. We went back into Lapa the following night for a free outside concert. It has rained pretty much every day so far, if only for a few minutes, so we found some shelter under a street bar and waited for the rain to stop. About an hour later, the rain still hadnt stopped but a lot more liquid had passed our lips (the cocktails here are over 50% spirits) and we were in the mood for dancing. Somehow the rain didnt seem to bother anyone and it was hot anyway, so it was kind of refreshing. We danced till about 4am until we were completely drenched. Even my underpants were soaking. On the way home we got thrown out of a taxi because we had caused massive puddles on the back seat.

You can see my nipples through my drenched t-shirt.

The next day we were feeling pretty rough so didnt do much during the day. We had to leave early for the carnival anyway and knew we had a long night ahead of us. We got to the carnival at about 6.30 (it starts at 9) to get our seats. Everyone from our tour was there so we were in a group of over 100 people. The atmosphere was amazing - we didnt really know what to expect, but when we saw the processions it completely blew us away. We were in sector 13, which are the cheapest seats, right at the end of the procession, so all the dancers were knackered by the time they got to us. It takes about 45mins to get from the start to the end, so we could really see the relief in the dancers faces when they crossed over the finish line. The parade has to be seen to be believed.

Here are some photos - Ive got a few videos as well, but my camera ran out of batteries at the internet cafe, so check back here in a couple of days.