Carnaval: en Baranquilla se baile asi

Before it was known for Shakira and her truth telling hips, Baranquilla has been hosting Colombia's biggest (and South America's second biggest after Rio) Carnaval celebrations for over one hundred years.

 

Before you go to Carnaval, you have to dress for Carnaval, so I headed into town with a couple of European guys to shop the night before. The streets were packed with makeshift stalls and shoppers. Everywhere you looked there were neon wigs, funny hats, crazy oversized sunglasses, and ridiculous looking clothes for men and women.

(Sorry, ladies, this guy was taken!)

 

Carnaval was a great day. My hostel in Santa Marta had organized a bus to make the day trip to to see La Batalla de Los Flores (the battle of the flowers) which is the parade that traditionally marks the beginning of Carnaval. The hostel staff succeeded in sweet talking the cops into letting our group of international travelers enter into the sectioned off seating areas that are supposed to be reserved only for paying spectators! So we spent the day mingling among new Colombian friends, getting sprayed with foam, roasting in the sun, dancing to live music, and watching the performers in total awe of both their costumes and dance skills!

 

Some of the most common sights were:

Drag queens

 

Decapitation

 

La marimonda (not sure of the history, but they look like scary elephant people to me and they're the mascot of Baranquilla's Carnaval)

 

Exhausted performers

 

Spectators covered in foam

 

Costumes that were totally inappropriate, like Osama Bin Laden with George Bush and Hitler

 

Elaborate and massive floats

 

Spectators receiving swift medical attention

 

Young kids dancing better than I can ever hope to

 

So who wants to join me in Rio next year?