Gulliver's Travels 10/09/2023

Not Dale Sievert

Dale Sievert

   I had an itch, a big one, for perhaps 50 years--to go to Carnaval (or Mardi Gras) in Brazil.  I finally scratched that itch in February when I attended Carnaval in the Brazilian city of Salvador, reputedly the best city in Brazil to experience it.  I started by flying to Curitiba, the hometown of my Brazilian friend that I had been traveling with since early 2022.  After touring Curitiba we flew to Salvador to attend Carnaval, then drove seven hours to a beautiful national park, Chapsada Diamantina Parque Nacional, before heading home.

Brazil

Curitiba
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   Founded in 1693, Curitiba is one of the richer large cities of Brazil.  It currently has about two million inhabitants, but it was far smaller when I passed through it in June 1977, on my way to Rio de Janeiro.  

A street mural in central Curitiba

The beginning of Carnaval in central Curitiba

Curitiba Cathedral

Another interesting mural

Museum of Oscar Niemeyer, the designer of Brasilia, the capital

Salvador

   Salvador, a city of 2.9 people on the Atlantic Ocean, is reputed to be the biggest and best place for Carnaval, or Mardi Gras.  We experienced that tumultuous event for five days, which was quite exhausting, but certainly lively and fun.  The main street was filled with "band trucks" from 5 PM until 3 AM, every thousand feet or so, crawling through massive crowds of revelers.  Unfortunately, neither my Brazilian friend nor I took any cameras along, as she said it is so dangerous that they would likely be stolen.  So, I brought back primarily memories.

Scenes of Salvador

Street scene in central Salvador

Another sign

A incredible dessert made of tapioca, which is actually the root of the manioc tree that is ground up and mixed with sugar

Another street scene

Chapsada Diamantina National Park

   A seven-hour drive southwest of Salvador took us to a national park with numerous great rock formations.  The word "diamantina" means diamond in English, as there used to be many diamond-mining operations in the area.

Church in the small town of Mucuge

Shops in Mucuge

Forested hills

Rock formations were great to view.

Even more

A most unusual spider nest that has a trap door to capture prey

A mural in a small village

Cemetery in Mucuge

Cemetery in Mucuge

Epilogue


   Well, I made it home after seeing many sights I would never see in America.  And I came home without one incident of theft or assault, supposedly so common in Brazil.  However, I WAS assaulted by their highways, as I drove most of the way to the park and back.  Most exciting, with MASSIVE potholes, EXCESSIVE numbers of speed bumps, and HORRIBLE drivers.  But, don't let the negatives scare you, Brazil is a phenomenal country to visit.