Rio de Janeiro III - Time For Carnaval

My very last stop of this absolutely amazing trip around the world brought me, once again, to Rio. More specifically, to Rio during Carnaval. The city was almost unrecognisable, as it was totally packed with people compared to 3.5 weeks ago when I came here the first time.

Even though there were a lot of people, the energy was electric. I met up with a few friends in the morning starting with some Caipirinhas and soon after we were finding ourselves in a blocco. A blocco is basically a street party that consists of funny or little-dressed dancers, a band and a truck that amplifies the music from the band, while slowly making its way through the streets. Around it are people in all sorts of costumes (or what looks like costumes as it is 35 degrees and people were not wearing much!) and lots of vendors selling everything from corn, drinks, caipirinhas, food, etc. It is an incredible atmosphere. Everybody is happy, dancing, celebrating life and just having a good time.

On some days, the Bloccos apparently start from 6am or 7am in the morning. Just imagine all the energy at this time of day. I wasn't there on the weekend, and so did not see an early-morning blacco, but it would've been amazing to see, to be honest.

Anyway, this was pretty much the plan for my last 3 days on the trip. Going to the beach in the mornings and checking out the bloccos around midday and in the afternoon. The first blocco was close to Ipanema beach and the vibe and atmosphere here was just amazing.
People were just happy, leaving all their worries behind for a few hours/days. While we waited for the blocco to start, we had a great time talking to street vendors, other party-goers, etc. I felt like this was the carnaval that I was looking for.

The next day, the plan was to go to two more bloccos, but in the city. So we took the underground and made it to the city around 11am. Each blocco has a theme and I think this one was 'the day of the dead', as the dancers were dressed accordingly. Again, we followed the same program, i.e. getting close to the music and dancers, getting drinks from the street vendors and then just partying as the blocco moves through the streets. While it is indeed packed, it is still a whole lot of fun dancing to the music, seeing happy people (not a frequent occurrence in public in Germany!) and just enjoying the vibe.

Then it was time for the last blocco that started at 4pm. We had a quick bite to eat before the last blocco started. Turned out, it was a 'weed' blocco. It was hilarious. The dancers, band and truck were all dressed in green outfits with the famous plant sign everywhere and the smell of weed accompanying the blocco all the way. It was a massive amount of fun, though (even without smoking). We stayed during the sunset and a bit after before heading back.

On the way back, however, we heard a loud noise coming from an alley. So we checked it out and saw a band practicing - there were a lot of drums and the noise was deafening, as the sound was trapped in that small alleyway.

Carnaval in Rio was an incredible experience. Even though I wasn't there for long (accommodation options are ridiculously expensive), the experience I had there was great and to feel the atmosphere and energy in Rio during that time is just fantastic. I have talked about Brazil and its people before and Carnaval is exactly that but on steroids.

Taking the opportunity to celebrate life, to love oneself (and others), to be happy, to dance, to laugh, more than to just BE in this life, but truly LIVE and LOVE it, even when times are tough sometimes. This is what Brazilians (and most people in Latin America) can do better than any other culture in my experience.

Then it was the day of my return. But since I had a couple of hours to spare in the morning, I made my way to the famous Copacabana beach for a beach walk to think back about the last 17 months. What an absolute banger of a trip that was. I couldn't believe I was going home. Strangely, it felt like it was the right moment to go home. The trip had come to an end.

With memories made to last me more than a lifetime! It was a lingering sadness to leave, but I was looking forward to seeing my family and friends. What a time to be alive!Read more