Heading North for Carnivals

Carnival is a major holiday in Brazil and they go all out for it. In fact, they have pre-Carnival events several weeks before Carnival! Every city has its version; some bigger and better than others. In the smaller towns, it is more of a community event with lots of music and dancing, some parading in costume, others in street clothes.

Our first encounter of pre-Carnival was in Salvador with music and body painting. We didn’t really participate as we had been warned about the cautions one must take at Carnival. We chose to sail north to Cabadelo, where we would stay for a couple of weeks. From there we could go to four different Carnivals.

Our sail up the east coast of Brazil was lovely. It was just the two of us for a change. In fact, it was the first time we had been without crew since last August when we left Mackay, Australia. I love crew for long passage, but enjoy the quieter time when it is just two of us. Of course, we don’t see much of each other as one is usually sleeping when the other is on watch. It works for me for 4-5 day passages. Longer than that is too tiring. 

The Marina Jacare lies up the Rio Paraiba (river) between Cabedelo on the north and JoAo Pessoa to the south. We had to arrive at the river’s mouth at the beginning of a rising tide to avoid the 3 knot current against us. The marina is owned by two French guys and fortunately, Nicholas speaks English. They have a nice restaurant and gathering place for the fleet to relax and use the Internet. The marina arranged for  the bus trips to the Carnivals in Recife and Olinda for the WARC plus to the local ones. 

Dennis waiting for cold drinks and food.

The first Carnival – actually, pre-Carnival – experience was in JoAo Pessoa, a twenty-minute bus ride from the marina. We went at night and tried to figure out what gringos do at Carnival. First, we walked the length of the street, passing huge entertainment trucks. It was like Pine Knob on wheels! I have never seen such large moving stages or heard such sound systems. I could feel the music vibrations in my chest!

People paraded in costume and carried banners.

There were all kinds of foods and beverages available on the street. Vendors were selling everything: cold water, plastic cups, head decorations, candy, beer and soft drinks, cotton candy, etc. We found a place to buy drinks and sit for a while. The parade did not start until 9 PM and we were at the lower end of it so it would take a while for it to reach us.

One of the many large sound stages on a semi truck

The one thing that was very noticeable was security: municipal police and military police. They were perched on high platforms every few yards and they continuously marched single file through the crowd. They made it clear that they would not tolerate any trouble. We saw them body frisk a number of young boys looking for drugs. The kids seemed to be used to it and were very compliant.

I can’t say we were impressed with the event. The music was too loud and we were not into street dancing. Maybe it is a sign of aging! The young people were so wound up and excited. It was like 10 New Year’s Eve parties in one.