Rio de Janeiro Carnival 23 Feb - 1 Mar
23 Feb: Met up with Errol (Pom form Hostel in BA) and we headed out to a street party in Lapa. All sorts of dancing in the streets and we had our first experience of caprinhas from the street vendors. Franz Ferdinand were playing at a venue there and we could hear it pretty clearly from outside.
24 Feb: We went to see a local act called Monobloco in Lapa. About 6 dudes on stage singing and playing guitar with about 80 percussionist dancing out in front. They went for hours playing crazy Brazilian samba type music.
25 Feb: Embarked on an organised tour of a favella. We learned all about how the favellas are run by drug lords who provide better social welfare for the inhabitants than people receive in the cities. The girl running hte tour recommended a beach party at Ipanaema, so we headed there for the night.
26 Feb: Went to a Baile (Ball) in Lapa with a fairly posh crowd (largely from Sao Paulo). Tried to dance some some very crap imitation tango!
27 Feb: Carnival Parde at the Sambadrome. We hooked up with Lou and Rob from Saquarema and our first stop in Rio and headed to the Sambadrome. Pretty incredible but stamina was definately required to make it through the whole night. It starts at 9pm and goes through till about 7am. After a few stomach issues I was spent by about 3am and we bailed.
28 Feb: Recovery. The Brazilian food an caprinhas had taken its toll.
1 Mar: Bus/Boat to Isla Grande
