Festivals in South America

Carnaval can be smelt and breathed in the air of Rio de Janeiro. Everywhere you look at Carnaval time you can see a Carnaval smile, you can hear a Carnaval samba beat and you can feel the Carnaval spirit.

To really enjoy Manaus, you need to step outside of the typical tourist mode and experience the spirit of the people and possibly a "festa" (festival or party) or three. Outside of "Carnaval", which is a big festival throughout Brazil (not just Rio) just before the start of the Catholic Lenten season, Boi Bumba is the region's largest and most famous festival.

The boxing competition is the highlight of the Summer Festival and runs every day for a week. The competitors (mostly boys in their teens) come from as far afield as the Indonesian islands of Papua and Kalimentan and the whole event is taken very seriously by those involved

Music, parades, dressing up, beauty contests, dancing in the streets, drinking, feasting, bull fighting, cock fighting, firecrackers - the Ecuadorians love a good party and there's nothing like a fiesta to generate the right mood.

As the jungle road wound its way from Salta, vegetation seemed more and more exhausted the higher we got, changing from moist greenery to brushy shrubs until only cacti survived around the commanding heights of the Andes cordillera. What was lost in flora was gained in colour, as a rocky rainbow of ochre, violet, grey, olive and amber replaced the green of the leaves.

As the 25th approaches, the men start trickling back into the village from the myriad creeks they've been panning. The general store becomes a hub of activity. The ancient scales come out of their box and preside over the once-blue table outside.

Down by the sea, the drums call. The villages of Barlovento spring from their sleepy states for the Fiesta de San Juan Bautista (St John the Baptist) in late June.