Carnaval!
Trip Start
Jul 22, 2008
1
14
26
Trip End
Jun 20, 2009
Barranquilla,
Colombia
Friday, February 20, 2009
So far I've had an absolutely AMAZING time!I'm sure the one in Brazil is bigger and in some ways better, but when you see people you actually know in the parade and can wave to them and have all your friends there at the same time, it's a lot better!
A group of us rented a "mini-palco" (basically a small set of bleachers) for the grand price of 50,000 pesos (about 11 quid) for the 3 days. We started out in style on the Saturday, armed with suncream, a stripy hat (a gift from Pedro) and a little shot glass which you can wear around your neck (so you're always ready for the next drink) which I bought from a wee man in the street. After a quick stop at the supermarket for some booze, we were on our way!The sheer amount of people who gather here for Carnaval is impressive. It took us a long time to actually make it to our mini palco through the throngs of people dressed in a variety of costumes, drunk people (and it was only 11am by this point!), kids, vendors and various police barriers.
The parade was spectacular - so many colours and costumes, different cumbia dresses and other traditional Colombian attire. We perservered to the end of the parade (all 8 hours of it!) under one of the hottest suns known to man. By the end my head was busting - drinking rum all day in that heat probably wasn't the best idea, but on the other hand the dehydration negated my need to brave the dodgy public toilets (imagine the Glastonbury port-a-bogs, but in 35 degree heat). So the solution? Follow Tom to one of the local Mexican restaurants to indulge in some of their speciality Jumbo Margaritas. I am now in posession of some comedy footage of Tom singing along to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" in a pitch only dogs could hear.
Sunday was spent relaxing as I couldn't face another day in the hot sun and the more traditional parade was set to last about 10 hours. So instead I relaxed before going to Angie and Marci's Oscars Party to watch the Academy Awards. Excellent fun was had, which somehow ended up with us partying on down in what appeared to be Barranquilla's red light district in a bar full of prostitutes (which we happened to stumble upon in our search for an open watering hole). Needless to say I woke up the next morning in Angie and Marci's spare room in desperate need of a Mackky D's!
Since I'd already promised Machelle I'd go to the Monday parade with her, I decided the best thing to do would be to just keep drinking and hope for the best. It didn't work, and as I forced myself to sit through the whole parade, clutching at every greasy snack that came my way, I wished I could just lie down on the dirty floor and go to sleep instead of sitting on a chair. Lesson learnt!
I must have slept about 12 hours that night, but woke up refreshed enough on Tuesday to go to Cartagena for the day. I was happy to finally be going to Cartagena, since I have been meaning to go for the best part of the last 6 months but never actually made it. Since we only had the morning and most of the afternoon, we decided to spend our time in the old historic centre (which is the nicest part anyway), the old part of Cartagena, an old walled town dating back to the time of the spanish conquistadors. This was where they'd stash all the gold they'd raided from the interior, ready for transport back to Spain. The fortressed walls were frequently bombarded by pirates and have somehow managed to last from the 1600s. It's a beautiful part of the city, filled with brightly coloured houses, big flowers hanging from the upper balconies and little parks where you can hide from the afternoon sun. Hopefully I'll be able to go back and explore the modern part of the city before I leave.
Pics to follow soon I promise!
