Encarnación

For budget tips & compact place-specific travel info... Download my FREE Budget Fact Sheets. You're welcome.

Download Steph's ENCARNACION Quick Budget Fact Sheet
File Size:	486 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

“Move over Rio, there is a new carnaval in town!”, shouted the British Daily Mail header to me. Quite a strong statement, but it has to be based on something right? Maybe I should just travel down to this place called Encarnación and judge for myself…

… a boisterous carnaval celebration with glitters, feathers and oiled fit bodies isn’t the worst way to give some extra flavor to my travel itinerary anyway.

The hitchhike trip to get here was pretty much unbearable though, as during daytime it’s basically impossible to be outside a 2-meter-radius of an airconditioning in this fraction of the world. Let me explain it to you: You have planet Earth, you have our sun and then in between there’s some country independently floating in space which is Paraguay, almost touching the burning fires of our brightest star. Here, I mapped it out for you, this is an actual representation of the current situation of Paraguayan summer:

This incomprehensible heat, and also the apparent lack of any other cultural recreation opportunities like museums or theatres, complicates any sightseeing-ambitions a dynamic citizen-of-the-world-backpacker like me might have. This is not a place for exploration, this is a place to just sit back with alcoholic refreshment and chill around until the first club opens when it’s finally cooled down just enough to dance again. Therefore, the carnaval parade didn’t start until almost midnight, going on until the wee hours of the morning.

Well, at least I practiced a bit with that screwed up rhythm… I had followed my charming host Iván and his friends to the bars the night before...

…to only return a few moments before sunrise, blending my night-rest with a never-ending siesta to sleep out the alcohol-induced-injury-time that comes with an age of 25+. I was a trained soldier. Pumped up with a bottle of really bad Brazilian wine we marched to the parade, the vapor of excitement steaming up from the stadium. I knew it, Iván knew it, his friends knew it… this was going to be good. Unforgettable memories trembled in the air.

The shouting swelled up the closer we got to the action. The chanting, screaming and laughter intensified, luring us to our short-term destination with a growing eagerness.

A moment of silence, a security check-up, the echo of footsteps into a hallway.

And then, SLAM!

Colors, smells, foam squirting into my direction. People climbing on each other’s shoulders, singing from the top of their voices, swinging more than their bodies are even capable of, kissing the person next to them while jumping in tight passionate group hugs.

High spirits, shared merriness and faces of ecstatic excitement. Dancers showing every scrap of their talent and even more, legs moving faster than a heartbeat, flesh trembling inexhaustibly. A cellulite rate of absolute zero, voluptuous bodies shining in all their flawlessness. How is this even possible? Where are these perfect people hiding in daily life, where is that cave concealing all these physical human wonders

Nakedness wasn’t optional, only almost entirely exposed bodies can reveal the professionalism of the movements these artists are sharing with the public. They worked all year towards it, now it’s their supreme moment to shine. Literally, with glitters, oil and the sweat pouring out of their well-shaped torsos on the rhythm of the sounds rising up from the live bands, feverishly producing the beats the audience is craving for.

This is the time. For them, for us, for everybody.

Carnaval in Paraguay. This is where we live for.

In order to support the travelers’ community, I spend many hours per week to adequately document all information and advices for prospective visitors, accompanied by a (hopefully) entertaining insight into my personal observations and experiences. This service is and will remain free. However, if you voluntarily want to make a contribution and support my travels and thus the creation of new stories and information supply, here is the button you’re looking for:

Donate