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Carnival in Rio de Janeiro February 2005

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is one of the greatest partys on the planet so we went to Rio to participate in the event with pre booking of samba lessons and carnival outfit. Check out below how things worked out step by step…

(Click on picture to enlarge)

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Just arrived in Rio a few minutes ago. A big 3 weeks ahead of us. Wish we could do it all over again wit the same people. The guy with the glasses is a local friend of mine Jorge – he was the guy that arranged the carnival for us.

 

An initial check at the sambadroma a couple of days before, just to make sure and realize what we had coming (we had no idea). At the far end you can see the “g string” which is the end of the sambadroma. Its 14 samba schools competing for the title and besides best costumes and best floates, the drums, the dance and the time also play a role when the winner is found. We joined the samba school called Impratriz Leopoldonense which had a H.C. Anderson theme going on this year, due to his 200 years anneversary. What most people dont know is that people in Rio take this event very seriously and there is a big value and prestige in winning the big samba in Rio.

 

Us at the samba school just to coordinate the dance before shit hits the fan. At this point we were drunk and the lessons havent even started yet. Oh boy we had another thing coming.

 

Sitting, drinking, waiting for the lessons to begin. At this point we been waiting four hours at a semi favela for something to happen. Needless to mention that the vibe was awesome and everybody was in a great mude including the locals that easily outnumbered six crazy-eager tourists from Denmark with absolutly no clue of what was going to happen the day after – and a week ahead.

 

Finally! A truck pulled up and we were told to follow it. In no time people gathered behind the truck and started to imitate the instructor on the truck. We were told by our friend Jorge: ” monkey see, monkey do”. For more than an hour we were dancing to the drums while keeping an eye on the instructor as we did our best to move like him. Now we were ready for the big night. All we needed was our customes.

 

Finally got our costumes and ready at the sambadroma with big dreams and expectations for the night. We were as ready as ready can be.

 

Got my picture taken by a professional photographer. I remember I was very excited and did not know exactly what to expect as the samba lessons and costumes was very different from what I had in mind

 

A samba school dance their way thorugh the sambadroma

 

About 60.000 spectators on the ramps ready to dance and party all night

 

The mude on the bench is nothing but great. This is actually the first day. We were participating the second day

 

A nice overview of the sambadroma build only to host the carnival two days a year. This just shows how important the Carnival is for Rio

 

Whatever it is he is looking at I want in!

 

The paragliding team ready to fly from the top of Rio and 600 m down to Ipanema Beach

 

All thumps up before running out  from the ledge

 

Great view of Copacabana and Ipanema beach

 

Our guide in the favelas Gabriel. He got more and more drunk while showing us around as he had a drink at each place he was showing us (it was normally a local bar he was showing us). At the end he was so drunk that he could barely speak or even walk so I shot this picture of him.

 

In Rio poor people and super rich people lives back to back. They both have good view to each others lifes… 

 

Michel at the Botanical Garden in Rio

 

Buzios just six hours drive from Rio (the driver and his friend managed to talk non stop for the six hours amazing). A real summer holiday place for locals and foreingers. It has a great Cafe del Mar vibe; Good restaurants down to the water front, nice clubs and around 200 different beaches. 

 

Maracana stadium in Rio. Once the larges in the world. Now it can house around 80.000 people. Its being modernized for the up coming World Cup 2014

 

A real artist. An ex football player from Brazil

 

All the great Brasilians players foot print

 

Corocovado Christ The Redeemer

 

A perfect shot of Copacabana beach stretch a fantastic place to feel the Brasilien vibe and soak in some Brasilien beach culture

 

Ernest, Talo and Michael with Ipanema in the background

2 svar til “Carnival in Rio de Janeiro February 2005”

  1. superman 2. august 2013 at 23:26 #

    Great memories

  2. Michael Obeng 30. august 2013 at 17:31 #

    Let’s go again!! I wanna hang out with Gabriel once more…

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