salvador carnival day one - masked blocco

the first night we ease ourselves in.  we head to the lighthouse to watch the carnival.  it's still relatively quiet, but is expected to get much busier by the weekend, this means that we get a good vantage point.  it becomes our look out point for the week.  the barra carnival parade starts here, but it's not until you walk around the corner a bit and look down the coastal road that you truly realise the size of this party.

the wide road is packed full of people, giant inflatable balloons emblazoned with advertising bop along with the crowd and music blares from the floats.

over the course of the next few days we will watch Timbalada, Ivete Sangalo, Parangole, Tomate, even Will I Am and David Guetta amongst others, from here.

tonight we are going to join the blocco mascarada, a free blocco with just one requirement.  wear a mask.  so we have bought our feathered face covers and are set for the party.

of course I didn't really know what to expect and what I was letting myself in for.  we had been told to meet at ten thirty, but of course this is Brazil and that means that the party didn't start until twelve.  this was going to be my first experience of carnival, an initiation if you will...

we get behind the rope and the energy is rising in anticipation for what is to come.  and we're off, the blocco starts to progress forwards, and the mood is high.  but as we get further around the parade route, in fact just around the corner, the crowd gets even more excited.  and rather than the overly polite progress one might expect in England, in this blocco the crowd starts to surge forward.

at times it feels a little like being in a mosh pit, albeit with much better music.  that being said I have never been in a mosh pit, but if it means people jumping all over you and you getting thrown around against your will, then this blocco slipped in and out of this.  all the while it continued to play the contagious beats that kept your spirits up.

there were moments when I was being crushed, but my legs couldn't keep up with my body.  there were other legs in the way, and I worried that I would topple right over and get crushed.  on several occasions we lost our friends, desperately trying to hold onto each others hands and not lose sight of each other.  we were even crushed up against the rear blocco rope as they tried to keep it moving, clear of the next truck fast approaching behind us.

I've got to be honest, this wasn't the most relaxing and enjoyable experiences of my life, but I came out alive and well to tell the tale!  so I'm pleased I experienced it.