Chased by a truck…

Day 2 of Carnaval in Salvador started off with the after effects of Day 1 still hanging over our heads. Having gone to bed at 4am, a 9am wake up for breakfast didn’t seem too bad due to jet lag still being in full effect (although I’d soon be feeling it later in the day)

After a quick breakfast (waking up in time to have the hostel still making scrambled eggs is a bonus) a couple of trips were planned between ourselves and some others from the hostel; nothing groundbreaking, get cash from the ATM, ice cream from the shopping centre and a cold bottle of water. And while we were there, figured we may as well check what time our first bloco for the trip, Timbalada, started.

The acquisition of ice cream and water went off without a hitch, however the news that our bloco started at 3pm, half an hour away, instead of the expected evening time set us into a bit of a rush back to the hostel to get some sunscreen on and then out to the streets again. Unfortunately this meant missing a Brazillian BBQ cooked by Dani who runs the hostel.

Once we got down to the Avenida Oceania, the road along which the electrico trios start, we saw that the first two trucks, amongst which ours was the 2nd, were still getting ready to go. A couple of drinks and some pizza was a great way to pass the time with some impromptu Portugese lessons from a guy on a food stall.

Once the trio finally got under way though, it was the start of a hot, sweaty, slimy day that was all kinds of awesome. Whilst the speed of the truck remained to be the same, the crowds would alternate between allowing some space to dance along or simply break out into a crazed rush which would result in having absolutely no say in whether or not we moved forward. Whilst I have photos this time, my Bloggie seemed to have some issues capturing videos and would intermittently turn off.

Although I did get some footage, one I regret not capturing is a momnent during a song where the entire crowd would stop, create a gap of about 5 metres and for 2 distinct groups….followed by going absolutely mental and rushing each other into a big sweaty mess once again.

Our night ended around 1030pm at which point some people were yet to even head out, but after the day we’d had in the sun and the sheer amount of walking, bed was a welcome sight at 11pm to contemplate the past day/night and consider how to deal with the next day, a camarote with people from the hostel.

Definitions

Electrico Trio– A lareg semi-trailer loaded with audio gear to the hilt with a performer on top, slowly crawling along the circuit
Bloco– A roped off area behind the trio that allows revellers some degree of security from theft. There are also facilities such as a bar and toilets on a supporting truck within the bloco
Camarote– Grandstand style areas along the main striop from where a top down view can be had of the paradaes, comes with complimentary food and drink in some cases.
Abada– a tshirt/singlet that allows the wearer access to a certain abada or camarote.