Carnival in Brazil - An Experience of a Lifetime

I just spent the last week contemplating what to write about Carnival in Salvador and came upon the only logical decision. There is literally no way that I could describe it. It's just one of those things that if I tried to explain it to someone and filled them in on every last detail, it still wouldn't come close to capturing the experience. I always believed that a great writer (and I'm not saying that I'm one of those people!) could describe anything and make the reader really feel everything about the moment. However, this is just one of those things that you could only fully understand if you experienced it in person. I've never seen so much ENERGY, passion, and enjoyment of life in one place. It is literally overwhelming. Try to imagine an entire street (and I mean a looooooooong one) with the hundreds of thousands of joyous people in the world all singing and dancing to one incredible rhythm non-stop for a week straight. Add all of the lights, the production and, most importantly, the surrounding beauty and you have one unbelievable scene. I can honestly say that I got the chills several times. And to be honest, the first night I was there I really didn't like it at all. I had no idea what to do, it was really dirty, and basically I was clueless. However, by night number two I decided that I just needed to go for it (you definitely need to try hard to ignore all of the trash and the overwhelming smell of urine) and make the best of the experience, and that's exactly what I did. It helped a lot that I was with a great group of people. Everyone who gave me advice on Salvador said to just stay in the camarote (VIP area) the whole time. That would have been a huge mistake because the action is definitely down on the street. We followed the trio electricos (the huge semis where the bands play), hung out in the pipoca (which means popcorn but in this case it means the people on the sides of the street who are not in the trios), and basically got ourselves in the mix as much as possible. It was just an overall unbelievable experience, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with a little taste for fun.

We were fortunate to have a local, Diego, from Salvador in our crew. He was the greatest host of all time, and the coolest thing he did was take us to Liberade. Liberade was the first neighborhood in Salvador and is 100% black. He took us there to see how this little neighborhood celebrates Carnaval and, most specifically, to see the incredible drummers who cruise through. It was really, really special. There is a group of about 100 drummers just walking the neighborhood and playing incredible music. The whole place was jamming to this rhythm. We were the only white people that I saw the whole time (with the one exception of a BBC camera crew), and it was a special deal because without Diego we would have never had the idea or the balls to make this happen. Thank you bro!!!! That was insane!

After Carnaval was over and we finally got some sleep (not to mention getting back to a normal eating schedule), we headed out of town to visit some other places. The beaches in the Northeast of Brazil are beautiful. I felt like I was in Hawaii with all of the palm trees, white sand, and turquoise/warm water. We stayed overnight in Praia do Forte, which is not only incredibly gorgeous but also happens to be one of the best surf spots in Northeast Brazil. We had a long session followed by a cool dinner in a little area with tons of shops, restaurants, and bars. I wish I had more time there because it is a very beautiful place. I will definitely return there in the future. After waking up on Friday and regurgitating some of the week's tasty treats, I finally made it back to Floripa the next day. I will never forget my first Carnival in Brazil. It was one of the best times of my life, and the only thing that I can say is just trust me on this one. Go! You will not be disappointed!