Where is the carnival? We get to Rio late in the morning (after a 20hr bus ride) and we're ready to party, but there's no sign of the famous fiesta. We walk up and down Copacabana beach and nothing, but scantily-clad people lounging on the beach.
Because we've done no research at all, it's difficult to know how Carnaval actually works. Are there many parties on at the same time? We guess there must be. But how do you know what's on? And where? And when????
We text our amigo Aldri, who lives in Rio but has gone to his home town of Salvador for Carnaval. He texts back with a list of parades and parties for tonight. Sweet.
Where to dump our bags?
Our plans of where to stay in Rio durning Carnaval have changed a number of times over the last week, but it is finally decided that we will stay with Michele. Michele's working tomorrow though so she's arranged for us to spend the day with Kelita and Leo. They're planning on going to a Carnaval parade in Santa Theresa. Should be cool. Also Kelita and Leo speak some English which will make life so much easier for us.
Wait a minute, who are all these people? Well, Leo is Kelita's boyfriend, Kelita is Michele's neighbour, Michele is Ricardo's cousin, Ricardo is Aldri's friend, and Aldri is the guy we stayed with on our first trip to Rio - we met him through Jason (and Jason is the guy we met on our flight from Jo'burg to Sao Paulo). It makes sense, trust me.
So anyway, Michele lives in Botofogo which is the next area of Rio along from Copacabana. It's not as close to the beach but it's still central and there are plenty of Carnaval parties going on so we're happy.
Tonight we arrange to meet up with one of Alicia's friends from London. Natalie is here for Carnaval with her husband and four other friends, so we go to a bar in Ipanema for a night of Caiproskas (Caiprinhas, but with vodka instead of Cachaca). Bizarrely, Natalie lives only 10mins away from us in London but this is the first time we have seen her in two years. Typical for Londoners.
Despite the addictiveness of the drinks, the evening ends at a reasonable time. We're keen to get a good night's sleep before our first taste of Rio Carnaval in Santa Theresa tomorrow. Can't wait!
