"Home
to a bewildering range of landscapes, the legendary Amazon jungle with it's diversity
of flora and fauna, the mighty Iguacu falls, some of the finest football, cuisine
and music, and you could call Brazil the country with everything definitely worth
exploring"
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WELCOME
TO TINA'S GUIDE TO BRAZIL
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Many
hide provocatively behind the famous Carnaval masks. Most of the performers, who
practice all year long, are from the sprawling favelas on the edge of the city.
Yet, as they dance and preen in their gorgeousness they throw off for a while
the grim reality of poverty. Not surprisingly, anything goes...
Beyond
the streets, are the magnificent masked balls or parties, which abound in the
clubs of Copacabana and Ipanema.
Inside,
exotic and colourfully dressed people move irresistibly to the upbeat rhythms
of Samba and the evocative strains of Jazz until the wee hours. If you're lucky,
you might even run into Carmen Miranda, Snow White or Wonder Woman! But be careful!
The chances are she's a drag queen!
Nowhere,
is the African heart of Brazilian Carnaval felt stronger though, than higher up
the coastline in Bahia, where turquoise waters lap palm-fringed beaches and the
partying is not only mainly on the streets. It's also free.
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At
any time of the year, night life in places like Salvador and Porto Segura starts
close to midnight, after a little early evening nap and a long and leisurely supper.
At Carnaval they take it to extremes. Dancers take the stage in street restaurants
and in minutes a dancing crowd has formed.
People
need no encouragement from the beautiful sales girls to dip into the wares of
the cocktail stalls, which line the beach parade, so elaborately decorated in
fruit and flowers. Music fills the night air and the streets are filled with dancing
shadows and laughter, until dawn and the smell of bread from the bakeries reminds
the revellers that the time for rest has come.
For
Brazilians, Carnaval is a time to awaken an old passion or find a new one. It's
a time to protest against corrupt politicians, to complain about the poverty and
to make the country better. For them, and for visitors, it's also a time to let
the hair down in a last explosive fling before the chocolate abstinence really
kicks in.
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