I am presenting my very own personal list of 10 moments lived in Brazil filled with emotion. They do not follow any particular order.

1. a huge turtle (up until then you had never stopped to think how large turtles can be) swimming placidly next to you, in complete silence; suddenly a shoal of fish swims by right in front of you while you approach a sunken ship where thousands of colourful fish rejoice. Diving in Noronha has to be one of the most intense experiences you can live in Brazil.
   
2. up to four or five dolphins jumping out of the water simultatenously, while dozens of them follow the small boat from where you contemplate the amazing display. Encountering dolphins in Noronha is joy at its purest.
3. in spite of the pushing and shoving; of the endless queue of tourists all waiting to take exactly the same snapshot in front of the statue, arms opened; in spite of the awful mood of the professional photographers; in spite of the street vendors; when you reach the balcony of the Corcovado mountain and the whole of Rio unfolds in front of your very own eyes, your heart and mind are transported somewhere else.
   
4. the ceaseless rhythm of the percussion, the tune you will not stop humming even after you’ve gone to sleep, the festival of colours and dazzling costumes, the bumba-meu-boi festival in São Luís is pure magic.
   
5. from the top of the sunset dune in Jericoacoara there is a terrific panoramic view of the sea and the dunes. When the moon is full, it will appear right at the same time as the sun goes down, turning the experience into an unforgettable moment.
   
6. think of the wildest rollercoaster your mind can imagine and then take all safety devices out of the picture. That’s what a buggy ride on the Genipabu dunes feels like. Your stomach will turn, you will bid farewell to friends an family endless times, you will swallow tons of sand, and your heart will be tested to the limit.
   
7. everything in the village is special, but watching the sun go down behind the Serra do Mar from the harbour in Paraty is an unforgettable moment that can open the door to never-ending passions.
   
8. an endless succession of dunes and green lagoons, absolutely no one around, the merciless sun being your only companion. A walk through the Lençóis Maranhenses is intense to the extreme.
   
9. there is something unreal about that intense red colour. Because of that, contemplating the scarlet ibises near the Baronesa beach in Alcântara is an activity where the notion of time quickly vanishes.
   
10. the roaring of the waters and its spray are felt from afar, but the real power of the place is only truly manifested when you reach the mighty Devil’s Throat at the Iguazu Falls. Don’t be surprised should you find yourself leaning dangerously towards, such is the power of the enchanment [the observation deck for the Devil's Throat is actually in Argentina, but most of what you see from there it's on Brazil].
    

I want to close my list with a very special emotion, that can be experienced anywhere on Brasil, but only once in a long while. In terms of strong emotions, few things can compare to the explosion of joy that follows the conquest by Brazil of a soccer World Cup. The last time it happened I was lucky to be here to witness it, it was 2002.

Here are all the Top 10 lists published in the blog so far.

Time does fly! It’s now a year since we went to Maranhão. I’d like to take the opportunity to leave here an index to the information published since then on São Luís do Maranhão and the Lençóis Maranhenses. It is June, after all, a very special month for the region, as it is now when the festas juninas and the bumba-meu-boi festival take place:

• Destination: São Luís
• Destination: Lençóis Maranhenses
• Destination: Caburé
• Bumba-meu-boi
• video: festas juninas in São Luís
• pictures of the Lençóis Maranhenses
• pictures of the ceramic tiles of São Luís
• pictures of Caburé
• pictures of bumba-meu-boi
• pictures of scarlet ibis in Alcântara
• restaurante da Luzia, Atins

This is the second video from the deviajeabrasil.com collection.

It’s longer than the previous one (5 minutes) as it portrays a Brazilian festival that is hardly known outside Brazil and even inside the Brazilian boundaries. I’m talking about the festas juninas -very popular all throughout Brazil- they way they are lived in São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão. The video presents three different folk displays:

• the tambor de crioula, an Afro-Brazilian dance practiced mainly by descendents of African slaves. Three drums, each one with a specific function, dictate the rhythm.
• the quadrilha, a dance of English origin, present in the festas juninas of all Brazil.
• and the bumba-meu-boi, of which I gave quite a lot of information a couple of days ago here.

The soundtrack for each of the three blocks corresponds to the music played during the events.

You can watch the video on the YouTube screen provided below. This time I haven’t been able to make a high-resolution version available, as the file is too big and I haven’t found a provider that will host the file for free. A pity as the version hosted by YouTube leaves quite a lot to be desired in terms of quality.It is an audiovisual presentation, so make sure your computer speakers are on! Hope you enjoy it.

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I’m putting the final touches on a presentation on the festas juninas in São Luís (update: the video is already here) and found it appropriate to give some background information before I upload the presentation. The bumba-meu-boi from Maranhão is one of the most wonderful cultural manifestations of all Brazil – you can read more about it on the following Wikipedia article in Portuguese. I’m more concerned here with practical information.

COULD YOU DESCRIBE IN A FEW WORDS WHAT’S THE BUMBA-MEU-BOI?: an artistic display that combines dance, music and theatre. The central character of the performance is the ox - or rather, a figure of an ox carried by a person.

IS IT THE SAME AS THE BOI-BUMBÁ?: no, it’s not. Although both share the same origin, the boi-bumbá es is typical from the states of Amazonas and Pará and differs greatly from the bumba-meu-boi.

WHAT ARE SOTAQUES?: if you want to make the most of festivals in São Luís you need to know that sotaques are different forms of performing the bumba-meu-boi. Each sotaque has its own characteristics, and is associated to different characters, rhythms, musical instruments and music. There is a sotaque de orquestra, sotaque da baixada, sotaque de zabumba, sotaque de matraca, sotaque de pindaré, and so on. On the very same night you can see performances of groups belonging to different sotaques. After two nights partying in São Luís you will be able to recognize right away the different sotaques!

WHERE?: an easy question: in São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão. Bumba-meu-boi is a truly popular festival, and performances take place at the end of the day, in public spaces such as squares, or at an arraial, a kind of fairground where the different traditional groups perform. All performances are free, which gives an idea of how popular the festival really is.

WHEN?: though many places (including blogs and websites) will tell you that the festivities begin on 13 June, the truth is that hardly anything goes on until June 23, when the ox is baptized. The festival goes on until 30 June. It is worth staying in São Luís until the 30th (São Marçal) as all the different folk groups gather together that day.

I’ve read in quite a few places that there is now bumba-meu-boi in São Luís during July. This is only partially true. Only recently the authorities realized how unfortunate they were, as their main festivities ended up in June, just a few days before the beginning of the July holiday period in Brazil. Many tourists arrived in São Luís in July only to find out that the party had just finished. The idea was born: let’s have an “out-of-season” bumba-meu-boi for those who can’t be in São Luís in June. Performances take place during weekends at the Convento das Mercés in the historical part of the city. But make no mistake, it’s a bumba-meu-boi for tourists – I’m not implying you shouldn’t go and see it should you find yourself in São Luís in July. But if the bumba-meu-boi is the main purpose of your trip, you have to find time in the second half of June. The “out-of-season” bumba-meu-boi is no substitute.

ANY OTHER ADVICE?: as there are performances every night running simultaneously at different venues, you need to get hold of a programme of events ASAP. In the programme you will find listings with information on who is appearing where and when. There are usually six performances per venue per night. There are a handful of important venues in São Luís and you can visit a couple of them on the same night. Last year the City Council of São Luís and the government of the state of Maranhão were in opposing political hands, so there were two different programmes of events…

The festas juninas in São Luís are not restricted to the bumba-meu-boi. There are also folk performances in the afternoons in museus, cultural centres and public squares, featuring quadrilhas, tambor de crioula and other forms of folklore. Don’t miss them!

WHERE CAN I SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE BUMBA-MEU-BOI?: That’s easy, check out my Flickr album of the bumba-meu-boi.

Don’t forget I’ve already published an entry on São Luís here.

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Bumba-meu-boi, a kind of street carnival that takes places in the state of Maranhão, is one of the Brazilian popular celebrations that has managed to keep intact the popular character of the party. The prettiest girls of the place parade in the groups that dance following the rhythm of the sotaque de orquestra.

More pictures of the festival on my bumba-meu-boi album.