Amazon & Carnival Explorer Cruise - Day 28-29: Rio Carnival and the Sambadrome

Sunday Night, March 3 and Monday Morning, March 4

We are now back from the Sambadrome and it was an experience of a lifetime so I thought it deserved a blog post all by itself.  So WOW what a night!!!  Now to pick up from where I left off.

... As Bob, Carol, Val and I walked out into the now light rain, we were a bit envious as the buses for the ship tour were parked right outside the ship near the gangway.  Since we had purchased our Sambadrome and shuttle tickets through a local tour company called DoBrazilRight, we had to walk through the terminal and across the street to catch our bus.  There was a large crowd of people getting on the buses, all a little bit nervous, but all very excited about the evening ahead.

When the bus was full, we were on our way to the Sambadrome.  There was a lot of traffic and street closures for the street parties that pop up during Carnival, but after a forty-five-minute drive we were there.  As you approach the Sambadrome, it is like arriving at a big stadium with the banks of light towering above everything.

We have been told that inside the Sambadrome during Carnival is the safest place in South America and it certainly looked that way.  The bus parking was in a fenced area that surround the outside of the Sambadrome and there was security, both military and local, everywhere.

We exited the bus and entered the concourse area of the Sambadrome and made our way to the sector where we had our seats.  Just walking through the concourse, you could feel the excitement and anticipation.  There was Samba music blasting through speakers and it seemed like everyone was happy and dancing and very friendly even to us obvious tourists.

Carnival and the samba school judging is the biggest event of the year in Rio.  It is much like our own Super Bowl, but even bigger because everyone is involved, if not in the Sambadrome then at the numerous street parties that pop up continuously for the entire week of Carnival.

It was a bit overwhelming for the four of us, but the staff and vendors couldn’t have been friendlier and more helpful. When we found our section, we were led right to our seats.  There was a lady there drying off the wet seats, which was nice as things were pretty wet.  Since this would be a once in a lifetime experience for us, we opted for front row box seats.  There are six seats in a box and we knew that the other two people would be tourists like us, but from another ship.  They soon arrived and seemed very nice, and spoke English which made things a lot easier.

The Sambadrome is a specially built venue specifically for Carnival.  There are bleachers on both sides that go high up, and then five rows of boxes at the bottom.  There is also what I guess is equivalent to our stadium suites in between the boxes and the bleachers.  They are large and covered and look like they might have bars in the back.  The parade area is polished white concrete just over a half mile long and forty feet wide.  The Sambadrome has a capacity of 90,000 spectators.

Section 7 where we were sitting was at the midpoint of the 1/2 mile runway.  This picture was taken from our seats looking towards where the parade starts.

 

Bob and Carol

Here we are waiting for the start of the parade.  Val already has glitter on her face, which was applied by the two very nice Brazilian ladies in the box next to our.

If you booked your tour with the ship, you were seated in section 9 which is called the tourist section.  Since we booked it through DoBrazilRight, we were in section 7 and surrounded by Brazilians with a smattering of tourists.  We were a little nervous about this and thought we might be resented for “crashing” their party, but we couldn’t have been more wrong.  They were very welcoming and friendly, and happy that we were interested enough to attend their big party.

In the box next to us were a couple of young Brazilian women who spoke only a few words of English, but went out of their way to make us feel welcome and help us understand what was happening.  Of course, being in Brazil, all of the announcements were in Portuguese, but they helped us understand what was going on as best they could.

These are the ladies in the box next to us, they couldn't have been nicer to us.

It was still raining lightly and actually stopped for a while, but when we took off our rain gear it started up again.  The parade start was postponed from 9:00 to 10:00 so while we waited, we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Sambadrome.  There was loud samba music playing through the PA system and everyone was dancing and laughing.  A little bit of rain didn’t dampen the excitement and enthusiasm of the Brazilians, if anything it just heightened the anticipation.

While we waited, the ladies passed out glitter for any of us that wanted to get in the spirit and put it on our faces.  One of the ladies’ husband was on one of the floats so she was very excited.  As we approached the start time, fireworks started going off at one end of the Sambadrome and the crowd became even more excited if that was possible – it meant that the parade was ready to start.

The fireworks started and we knew the parade was soon to start.

The timing was perfect as the rain had stopped and the temperature was very pleasant.  As the first samba school started down the parade area, the music  for their particular samba school came blasting over the speakers and you couldn’t help but being caught up in rhythm and singing as it seemed to just sweep you away.  The crowd was dancing and clapping and singing along.  Our small group of tourists weren’t quite as carefree, but the feeling of excitement, energy and pure joy was infectious.

As the parade went by, the sound, color and dancing just overwhelmed the senses and you were swept away by the excitement of it all.  Each samba school takes about forty-five minutes to parade the length of the Sambadrome and then after a fifteen minute break, the next one starts.  I had no idea how many participants and floats there are in each school and at first thought they were running all the schools one after the other, but it was all just the first samba school.

This is a picture I found that shows the immensity of the parade.  We were seated in the front row on the right, just beyond the light blue paraders.

There are four or five different, elaborate floats interspersed with colorfully costumed groups of school members dancing and singing.  Each samba school has their own music and theme, and the costumes and floats reflect and interpret the theme.  Each school is judged on ten categories overall including their enthusiasm and ability to engage the crowd, and they obviously work very hard at it. As I’ve said before, their enthusiasm and the reactions of the crowd are infectious.  For more information about the samba schools and the judging, follow this link.

Our box seats were right on the edge of the parade with only a railing separating us from the dancers and floats, you could literally reach out and touch them.  They all loved to be photographed and mugged for the cameras.  The number of dancers and people on the floats runs from about 3,000 to 5,000 participants for each club.  You multiply that by the seven samba schools that perform over the course of the night and you get an idea of the size and scope of parade.

The best way to describe the parade is through some of the many pictures we took. We were totally immersed in the color, music and dancing, and I'm afraid pictures won’t do our experience justice, but hopefully you'll get an idea of what we're talking about.  A note on the pictures below; despite the bright lights, it was low light photography and there was lots of motion so many of the pictures aren't as sharp as should be, but they do capture the spirit.

 

The third samba school parade ended about 2:00 AM and the rest of our group wanted to leave.  Val and I didn’t really want to go. We wanted to stay at least for the fifth parade and see the husband of the woman in the next box, but we decided to stick with the group and leave with them, so we said our good-byes to our new friends and we were off to find the shuttle back to the port.

As we walked through the concourse and back to the bus exit, it looked like everyone from the various ships in port decided it was time to leave too as it was packed with people.  Besides our group, there were the excursion shuttles from our ship and the other ships, as well as other private tours, it was like a zoo, but finally our shuttle arrived and we were on our way back to the ship.  It took a long time to get back because when we neared the port, the streets were blocked due to a street party going on so we had to take a roundabout way.  We finally got to the port and we were back in our room just after 3:00 AM.  Neither of us could really get to sleep as we were still full of the excitement of the evening, but I think we finally dozed off by 4:00.

If you haven’t noticed already, we loved our night at the Sambadrome!!  It is one of those experiences of a lifetime that you never forget.  Our retirement travels have taken us to many wonderful places and given us the opportunity to have many experiences of a lifetime, but this one will rank up there with the most unforgettable ones.  When we booked this cruise, we did so because we thought that being in Rio during Carnival was something we couldn’t pass up.  I didn’t even know whether I would even enjoy it as the thought of listening to samba music for hours on end didn’t really sound appealing, but I was as wrong as I could be.

First off, I could have listened to the music all night, and along with the color, excitement, energy and obvious joy and excitement of the Brazilians, it made it a truly awe-inspiring experience.  I will stop trying to convey my excitement about this and just suggest that if anyone who reads this has the opportunity to be in Rio for Carnival and attend the Samba Parade in the Sambadrome, don't pass it up.