The long awaited time is finally upon us, and we arrive into Rio de Janeiro at about 2pm in the afternoon on the 15th February. My brother is already here at Bonita hostel, and as we check in they advise us he has gone for lunch, so we settle in and await his return. He arrives back a few moments later and we all catch up and head out for lunch again as we have not eaten, which does not stop him from eating again! We decide on what everyone wants to do here in Rio and try and get the tours done before the carnival starts on the 17th. In the evening we meet up with Paula, our Argentinian friend we met at Ilha Grande, at misti hostel where she is staying. She tells us they are doing a boat party cruise the next day, so we agree to join her and book ourselves on it before heading out to dinner in Copacabana.
The following day we make our way to misti hostel for the boat party. Our first taste of Rio party life!!! It was lovely cruising out into the bay and seeing all the sights around, enjoying the music and meeting new friends. It took ages to get drinks at the bar unless you wanted beer and i believe they ran out of that later! There was a BBQ but by then I was too wasted to remember to eat so I missed out on that! Apart from that the Caprihinias were flowing and I was as usual pretty wasted on those. I met an australian guy, Matt, who was travelling with a group of friends, and after the party finished I decided to go to his hostel for a while for some more drinks before heading out, as Zak was going back, Nicola was in a foul mood because she lost her shoe, and Paula had disappeared!
I stayed at the hostel for a while and chatted with one of the girls he was travelling with before we headed out to a bar for the night. I was too drunk to really enjoy it and after a while he helped me into a taxi and I went back to Bonita as we were doing some sightseeing the next day and I didn't want the others to worry about where I was.
After my hangover had calmed down, we made our way to sugarloaf mountain to see the views and ride the cable car. It was spectacular!! You could see everything around and we hung out there for a while before moving on to see Christ the redeemer, the most famous landmark in Brazil!
This was built to mark the centenary of brazil's independence. We took a load of pictures in many different poses and as the sun started setting we made our way back to start the celebrations for carnival!!!
That evening we just went down the road from the hostel in Ipanema to a bloco party where there was a gathering of people, with music playing and drinks flowing. Bloco is the name for a street party, where the band is playing and the parade of people follow and just walk along the street drinking, dancing, singing and generally just partying!! At some points it was so busy we just got crushed in the crowd and had to hold onto each others hands so we didn't get separated. It was crazy!!!!
The next day Zak had a run to do as he is in training for the london marathon in a few weeks time, so Nicola and I decided to go to the bloco at Santa Theresa with some of the girls from the hostel. We got dressed up in our carnival outfits we bought in India and headed off on the metro. It was crazy busy when we got there and the streets were narrow and full of people everywhere!!! The sun was scorching and the heat was unbearable!!!! We joined in the mass of people walking along and tried not to lose each other as we were pushed and pulled every which way, between being hosed down by people from the houses we were passing by, to cool us off! It was an experience for sure and after a few hours of this I was more than ready to head back and chill out for a while. One of the biggest issues you find is that there is hardly any toilets available, so I didn't drink a lot to avoid the need and got dehydrated. However the local girl with us from the hostel showed us the trick. You wear a skirt and just squat and pee in the street apparently but don't get caught or you will be arrested!!! The streets at this time are cleaned up every day but the smell of piss is overwhelming!
The rest of the week is much of same, we mainly stayed in Ipanema and enjoyed the blocos around there. Our hostel was in a prime location so we were never far from a party whenever we wanted to get out or come home. We did however seem to be slap bang in the middle of the gay area!!! Of course we did not mind as mostly they were a lot of fun to hang out with and always very scantily clad! Always nice to appreciate a bit of eye candy ha ha!!
On Monday morning we were up bright and early at 9am to do the tour of the Flavella, which is where the biggest slum is in Brazil, I guess you would call it that, although it wasn't as bad as India slums. It is run by various gangs and drug lords and there are bulletholes around the place from various conflicts. It is like a maze of narrow streets and alleyways, some of the houses are pushed over by trees growing near them and eventually collapse, sometimes with the occupants inside, but they have no choice but to stay. There are a number of projects going on trying to help the people who live there learn a skill to make money rather than sell drugs or beg on the streets. We met a couple there from Australia and were talking to them about the sambadrome and they are going to try and get tickets and join us tonight!!
As Monday evening arrives we prepare ourselves and go to mist hostel to meet up with the others and make our way to the Sambadrome. We almost did not go because of the price, but we managed to get tickets for about $40 so we dressed up once again and set off about 7pm on the metro with a small following of friends we had now met. We arrived about 8pm and had a bit of a walk. It is huge!!! We found our gate at section 12 where we were headed and managed to get some pretty good seats as we were early. It did not really get going until about 10pm, but that did not matter, we got some drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere which was electric!!!! People were singing and excitement filled the air all around us, it was buzzing. We were in the cheap seats with mostly locals so they are very passionate about carnival and wait all year for this!!! Finally it started with some fireworks and then the big screens showed the procession moving its way towards us, it took a while but the music was blaring out and we were dancing and singing and before long they were there!! Wow I cannot really describe the feeling, the crowd came alive and we became part of something so unique and special, I feel so lucky and happy to be here and be a part of this and am so glad we did not miss it, I would have regretted it forever!!!
It was truly a spectacular event with so much effort put in and so many people involved in making it all come together. I would have like to stay until the end but we were tired out and 2 people with us were sick and wanted to leave about 1am, so thankful to see what we had, we all left together to be safe and got the metro back. It was a night I will remember for the rest of my life!!!
On tuesday we met up with the swedish girls in the hostel, they were so much fun!! So young and full of life and just out to have a good time, and they truly were!!! We decided the theme was red indians, so we put on our war paint and hunted some feathers out for our hair and we were set!! We started in Ipanema and started to work our way to copacabana which is a short walk away, we picked up some american tourists along the way who joined us and then the weirdest thing happened, we bumped into Paula on the way out with her friend and said hi, what are the chances of that, and then literally 2 mins later we bumped into Andrea, the other girl we were sharing our room in Ilha Grande with. It was like a reunion!! Andrea joined us and convinced us to all go to lapa with her. It is a bit of a way, but we agreed as the party seemed to be ending here. We jumped in a minibus, and off we went, and I am so glad we did. It was crazy, busy, people were partying everywhere, the place was buzzing!! We got some drinks and got back in the party mood and made our way through the crowds, sharing a kiss and a laugh along the way. It is a tradition here for guys to grab a girl and demand a kiss for carnival!! Oh well who am I to stand in the way of tradition!! The guys here are all so fit!!! I often find myself wondering how so many good looking people can come from one place!!! Must be the lifestyle!
We continued to make our way down the side streets where the locals were partying, and found a stall selling vodka jelly shots!! We could not walk past that one, and a few shots later we moved on and met some more hot guys, shame hardly anyone can speak english, but with the music blaring and the party in full force there was no need for words, we just shared a kiss and danced the night away!! There was even some dirty dancing flashbacks coming out from one of our swedish friends and the american lad. Impressive!!! Reluctantly we decided to head back as it was getting late, I never wanted this night to be over, but all good things come to an end and as carnival was drawing to a close i felt this was going to be the last big night out in Rio!!
It was such a good time here and I am sad to leave as I say my farewells to my brother until vegas in September! Rio De Janeiro has definitely won a place in my heart and I would definitely come back if I have the chance!!!
The following day we make our way to misti hostel for the boat party. Our first taste of Rio party life!!! It was lovely cruising out into the bay and seeing all the sights around, enjoying the music and meeting new friends. It took ages to get drinks at the bar unless you wanted beer and i believe they ran out of that later! There was a BBQ but by then I was too wasted to remember to eat so I missed out on that! Apart from that the Caprihinias were flowing and I was as usual pretty wasted on those. I met an australian guy, Matt, who was travelling with a group of friends, and after the party finished I decided to go to his hostel for a while for some more drinks before heading out, as Zak was going back, Nicola was in a foul mood because she lost her shoe, and Paula had disappeared!
I stayed at the hostel for a while and chatted with one of the girls he was travelling with before we headed out to a bar for the night. I was too drunk to really enjoy it and after a while he helped me into a taxi and I went back to Bonita as we were doing some sightseeing the next day and I didn't want the others to worry about where I was.
After my hangover had calmed down, we made our way to sugarloaf mountain to see the views and ride the cable car. It was spectacular!! You could see everything around and we hung out there for a while before moving on to see Christ the redeemer, the most famous landmark in Brazil!
This was built to mark the centenary of brazil's independence. We took a load of pictures in many different poses and as the sun started setting we made our way back to start the celebrations for carnival!!!
That evening we just went down the road from the hostel in Ipanema to a bloco party where there was a gathering of people, with music playing and drinks flowing. Bloco is the name for a street party, where the band is playing and the parade of people follow and just walk along the street drinking, dancing, singing and generally just partying!! At some points it was so busy we just got crushed in the crowd and had to hold onto each others hands so we didn't get separated. It was crazy!!!!
The next day Zak had a run to do as he is in training for the london marathon in a few weeks time, so Nicola and I decided to go to the bloco at Santa Theresa with some of the girls from the hostel. We got dressed up in our carnival outfits we bought in India and headed off on the metro. It was crazy busy when we got there and the streets were narrow and full of people everywhere!!! The sun was scorching and the heat was unbearable!!!! We joined in the mass of people walking along and tried not to lose each other as we were pushed and pulled every which way, between being hosed down by people from the houses we were passing by, to cool us off! It was an experience for sure and after a few hours of this I was more than ready to head back and chill out for a while. One of the biggest issues you find is that there is hardly any toilets available, so I didn't drink a lot to avoid the need and got dehydrated. However the local girl with us from the hostel showed us the trick. You wear a skirt and just squat and pee in the street apparently but don't get caught or you will be arrested!!! The streets at this time are cleaned up every day but the smell of piss is overwhelming!
The rest of the week is much of same, we mainly stayed in Ipanema and enjoyed the blocos around there. Our hostel was in a prime location so we were never far from a party whenever we wanted to get out or come home. We did however seem to be slap bang in the middle of the gay area!!! Of course we did not mind as mostly they were a lot of fun to hang out with and always very scantily clad! Always nice to appreciate a bit of eye candy ha ha!!
On Monday morning we were up bright and early at 9am to do the tour of the Flavella, which is where the biggest slum is in Brazil, I guess you would call it that, although it wasn't as bad as India slums. It is run by various gangs and drug lords and there are bulletholes around the place from various conflicts. It is like a maze of narrow streets and alleyways, some of the houses are pushed over by trees growing near them and eventually collapse, sometimes with the occupants inside, but they have no choice but to stay. There are a number of projects going on trying to help the people who live there learn a skill to make money rather than sell drugs or beg on the streets. We met a couple there from Australia and were talking to them about the sambadrome and they are going to try and get tickets and join us tonight!!
As Monday evening arrives we prepare ourselves and go to mist hostel to meet up with the others and make our way to the Sambadrome. We almost did not go because of the price, but we managed to get tickets for about $40 so we dressed up once again and set off about 7pm on the metro with a small following of friends we had now met. We arrived about 8pm and had a bit of a walk. It is huge!!! We found our gate at section 12 where we were headed and managed to get some pretty good seats as we were early. It did not really get going until about 10pm, but that did not matter, we got some drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere which was electric!!!! People were singing and excitement filled the air all around us, it was buzzing. We were in the cheap seats with mostly locals so they are very passionate about carnival and wait all year for this!!! Finally it started with some fireworks and then the big screens showed the procession moving its way towards us, it took a while but the music was blaring out and we were dancing and singing and before long they were there!! Wow I cannot really describe the feeling, the crowd came alive and we became part of something so unique and special, I feel so lucky and happy to be here and be a part of this and am so glad we did not miss it, I would have regretted it forever!!!
It was truly a spectacular event with so much effort put in and so many people involved in making it all come together. I would have like to stay until the end but we were tired out and 2 people with us were sick and wanted to leave about 1am, so thankful to see what we had, we all left together to be safe and got the metro back. It was a night I will remember for the rest of my life!!!
On tuesday we met up with the swedish girls in the hostel, they were so much fun!! So young and full of life and just out to have a good time, and they truly were!!! We decided the theme was red indians, so we put on our war paint and hunted some feathers out for our hair and we were set!! We started in Ipanema and started to work our way to copacabana which is a short walk away, we picked up some american tourists along the way who joined us and then the weirdest thing happened, we bumped into Paula on the way out with her friend and said hi, what are the chances of that, and then literally 2 mins later we bumped into Andrea, the other girl we were sharing our room in Ilha Grande with. It was like a reunion!! Andrea joined us and convinced us to all go to lapa with her. It is a bit of a way, but we agreed as the party seemed to be ending here. We jumped in a minibus, and off we went, and I am so glad we did. It was crazy, busy, people were partying everywhere, the place was buzzing!! We got some drinks and got back in the party mood and made our way through the crowds, sharing a kiss and a laugh along the way. It is a tradition here for guys to grab a girl and demand a kiss for carnival!! Oh well who am I to stand in the way of tradition!! The guys here are all so fit!!! I often find myself wondering how so many good looking people can come from one place!!! Must be the lifestyle!
We continued to make our way down the side streets where the locals were partying, and found a stall selling vodka jelly shots!! We could not walk past that one, and a few shots later we moved on and met some more hot guys, shame hardly anyone can speak english, but with the music blaring and the party in full force there was no need for words, we just shared a kiss and danced the night away!! There was even some dirty dancing flashbacks coming out from one of our swedish friends and the american lad. Impressive!!! Reluctantly we decided to head back as it was getting late, I never wanted this night to be over, but all good things come to an end and as carnival was drawing to a close i felt this was going to be the last big night out in Rio!!
It was such a good time here and I am sad to leave as I say my farewells to my brother until vegas in September! Rio De Janeiro has definitely won a place in my heart and I would definitely come back if I have the chance!!!
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