Rio Carnaval: The Last Hurrah

Posted Tuesday, February 12, 2008, 6:06 PM by Lonely Planet

I wake up at 5pm on Tuesday - Fat Tuesday, the Last Hurrah - having already missed Heaven on Earth. The bloco favored by Rio Bohemians, Heaven on Earth processes through the hilly cobblestone streets of Santa Teresa, above Rio's downtown. I kick myself for sleeping through it.

By the time coffee and aspirin are doing their work, it's dark again, and a chill rain has begun to fall. Carnival is over, I think, at least for me, though I can hear its still-general occurrence - yips and cheers, bursts of firecrackers, the boom of a dozen street parties warring over Copacabana's rooftops.

I descend to the streets, not to join in but simply to procure more fluids. Yet as soon as I step outside, the party is once again bearing down on me. This time it's the bloco of Leme, my own neighborhood. It's named, appropriately enough, Dry Mouth. The fifty-strong drum section instantly raises the flesh on my arms. It's followed by a truck bearing singers, banjo players, and speakers of unpardonable size.

Then comes the hundreds-strong mass of revelers. They represent every social and racial hue of our little neighborhood, from its million-dollar oceanfront condos to its discreet, hillside slum. A pair of barefoot twins, not yet six, samba furiously in tiny, glittering bikinis. Old ladies watch from the safety of their windows, those that still can throwing their arms up in delight.

Heaven, it seems, isn't limited to Bohemian heights. I get a taste right here at my doorstep. As I laugh at the irony, a middle-aged woman dances by in a T-shirt that reads, "Samba e Amor." Samba is love. She's happy. Really, there's no need to further complicate matters.

- Robert Landon is co-author of Lonely Planet's Brazil guide.

Labels: Festivals and events, The Americas

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