Parintins, Brazil

Almost everywhere we go in Brazil, the dominant thing on everyone's mind is carnival. Rio may grab the spotlight, but lots of other places put on carnivals throughout the year. Parintins is a sleepy little village on the Amazon that is home to about 30,000 residents. But every June, the population swells to over 300,000 as people from all over the world travel here to attend the annual Boi Bumba festival. Considering the fact that the town only has 2 hotels, most revelers have to find accommodation on a riverboat hammock!

We got there on a Sunday so nearly everything was closed and the place looked like a ghost town. The only people around were a few boy scouts, who graciously helped us 'old people' off the boat.

The rest of the town was either relaxing at home or working at the Bumbadrome – a building designed to give visiting cruise passengers a taste of the festival. The actual carnival takes place in a 35,000 seat arena, but visitors can get a small sample of the show at the 1000 seat Bumbadrome. As you can see, the 100 singers, dancers and float organizers put on a wonderful show for us.