Our Schedule was visiting Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain). We had to take the cable car from one mountain top to another mountain top, and we supposed to see the whole Rio de Janeiro city along its beautiful beaches. However, we were very unlucky and ran into foggy weather. We did get on top of the Sugar Loaf Mountain; however we could not see anything.
We lunched at Procao Gourmet, and then we went back to hotel for a nap to prepare for the all night Rio Carnaval 2013 party, one of the main attractions of this trip. Before we headed back to hotel, they gave us some time to wonder around the Copacabana Beach again for either beach walking or jewelry shopping. Some of us were able to enjoy the coconut juicy of the fresh coconut by the beach. Some members of our large group did purchase some nice jewelry.
Again, we were warned about the safety. However, the ticketed seats we had in Sambadrome (Sambadrome Marques de Sapucai which is a purposed built parade area in downtown Rtio de Janeiro where samba schools parade competitively each year during the Rio Carnival) was heavily guarded by security and there was really no safety concern.
There were 10 schools performing for this evening’s Rio Carnival 2013 Samba competition. Each school has around 2000-5000 dancers with colorful costumes dancing for about 1 full hour. It was a little bit different than the details told by either local tour guide or the main representative from APF. As planned, they should provide return bus stating at 1AM for ever hour till 6AM. When we got on the bus to Sambadrome, the plan was changed and the return bus was on 1AM, 2AM and 3AM only. Again, there was inconsistency. The last group left at 3AM has 21 peoples who saw performances from 6 Samba schools.
The show was impressive by a variety costumes and number of dancers. Most of the team dancers are not real Samba dancers. Only the leading dancers are really doing Samba dance. BTW, their Samba is different than our International Latin Samba. When you viewed the Carnaval in close distance in the Sambadrome, then you noticed that the costumes were made in plastic, colorful but not in quality. The dances were not as young and beautiful as you have seen on video clips or photos. After a while, we were able to choose the pretty ones from the crowd for our photos. However, it is definitely a worthy experience of seeing such grand dancing parade.
The show was impressive by a variety costumes and number of dancers. Most of the team dancers are not real Samba dancers. Only the leading dancers are really doing Samba dance. BTW, their Samba is different than our International Latin Samba. When you viewed the Carnaval in close distance in the Sambadrome, then you noticed that the costumes were made in plastic, colorful but not in quality. The dances were not as young and beautiful as you have seen on video clips or photos. After a while, we were able to choose the pretty ones from the crowd for our photos. However, it is definitely a worthy experience of seeing such grand dancing parade.
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