Carnival

Months earlier, we had planned our route to land in Trinidad for Carnival.  Although Rio de Janiero is best known for its famous Carnival celebration, after doing a little searching, we decided Trinidad would be a better place for us.  Less crowds, cheaper, safer, English-speaking… and (they say) the festivities are just as crazy as Brazil.  We had an absolute blast in our few days here… truly a sight to be seen! 

J’Ouvert Festival 

Upon arriving at the hotel, we found out about something called the J’Ouvert Festival (pronounced joo-VAY).  J’Ouvert is a long tradition in the Caribbean islands and always take place in the early morning of the Monday preceding Fat Tuesday (Carnival).  Its origins go back to the time of emancipation in Trinidad, when the freed slaves first started celebrating Carnival. (More on wikipedia here.)  To participate in J’Ouvert, you have to align yourself with one of the local groups, or “bands”.  Each band has a platform truck playing calypso music and a second truck close behind serving drinks.  The bands start at different locations throughout the city and wind their way through the streets marching, dancing and throwing mud and paint on one another.  As you can imagine (and see from the pictures below), it’s an incredibly fun time!  We were able to join on to a band called “Bamboo Patch” and met our group at about 3:00 AM.  The event goes on through sunrise and into the early morning, and signifies the official start of Carnival!

 

   

  

 

   

Finally, at about 9 AM, we arrive back where we started.  We head back to the hotel, shower off all the mud and paint and go straight to bed!  It’s time to rest up for the next couple days of Carnival !

Fat Tuesday (Carnival)

A big part of the celebration takes place in the parade that winds its way through the streets and leads up to the main stage.

Because we couldn’t easily carry around the big camera we could only get some pictures/ videos from our small pocket camera… a bit blurry but enough to give you a flavor of the festivities!!

 

 

       

      

The main stage

Finally, each Carnival group gets their big moment on the main stage where they are at TV, judged and cheered on by everyone in the crowd.

  

 

  

   

 

 

Next and final stop, Curacao!