Carnaval

C A R N A V A L  ! ! ! ! !  !

In February, the small "city" of Kourou turns upside down and transforms into a bustling colourful pandemonium. My experience of the Touloulou was just the beginning. 'Carnaval' time brings en explosion of different hues and noises that is completely riveting, especially in such a small town as Kourou. It is wholly impossible not to move your booty and join the other loonies in the fan-fair as the parade moves by. There were between 40 and 50 groups included in the parade, all showcasing something unique. Everybody is included, from young to old. The idea seemed to be: Let everybody be, whatever it is that they want to be. Point. Full stop. And then just to ride with it.

The carnaval, to me, seemed to be not only a place where people could exhibit their dances, music and costumes (which were fantastic!) but also, it seemed to be a sort of release of sorts; where one could let their mind run wild and play with whatever fantasy it liked, without inhibition. The spirit and atmosphere during this particular afternoon made you come alive. I felt like my brain was doing the cha-cha whilst my eyes were feasting on the various costumes and dances. A completely exhilarating experience.

The parade kicked off with a motorcycle gang composed of about 40ish bikers, flaming whatever motor they were sitting on. Whether is was a  Harley Davidson or a Vespa, let it roar/bark.

 We even managed to spot this duo. The dog is not only wearing specially designed sunglasses, but it is also sitting on a snazzy motorbike, casually enjoying the view. I had to go over and talk to her. She told me that her dog loves the bike and has a habit of joining her on her rides. Naturally.

When I say everybody is included, I mean EVERYBODY is included. Right after the bikers these gents and ladies came rolling in on their wheelies too.

And those who were not able to be wheeled, well, they got to ride in on a bungalow jungle truck.

She threw paper-shavings at the audience with vivacious vigor and looked as though she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

Their costumes were simply amazing.

A hat made out of palm-tree leaves. I was totally jealous.

This man made me cry. He was literally beaming with happiness, and when he wasn't busy smiling, he was rocking out his harmonica. Over the drums and speakers and all the other hullabaloo, I'm not actually sure his music reached all that many ears, but away he tooted nonetheless!

The parade included everything and anything. From Chinese-new year dragons followed by this truck...

... to a Touloulou Prevention Society (because of the nature of the Touloulou dances, 9 months after the season a lot of babies magically pop into the world). They handed out dozens of free condoms. Britain would approve, health & safety first!

Their costumes were mostly guys dressed up as Touloulous.

Of course, there was plenty of Brazilian influence. Love all around.

There was also quite a funny group with meticulous Touloulous accompanied by three monkeys on stilts who walked around harassing by passers. Anthony, naturally, enjoyed these guys.

Hello..? - "Uhh, has anybody seen this giant monkey? OK, somebody help me"

One of my favourite aspects of the entire carnaval was that older people joined in just as much as the young. The carnaval is for everybody.

Some very beautiful Touloulou and Tololo costumes were presented. Again, imagine the heat; this parade took place in broad daylight. Hats off to this pair!

A very stylish Tololo.

No parade is complete without CLOWNS!

Some of the costumes were extremely inventive, half-man / half-woman.

This was also a fantastic group: Natural Tribal showcased animals and insects made mostly from natural materials.

The juggling jungle-man.

A meat eating (walking, man-) plant!

A praying mantis I believe, with a palm-tree back.

The sea was also a prevailing theme.

Yes, there was a person in there rolling forwards at a timely pace.

The detail on these costumes were just magnificent.

Here fishy! fishy!

Costumes made from coffee beans and coffee sacks.

Maracas, drums and coffee beans!

So great. So so so great.

The weird and the wonderful were also displayed. Like this box of french fries.

This Amerindian family.

This group with all completely natural costumes.

There was also a random group of gorilla warriors. Don't ask, I have no idea. But there they were.

And the mosquitos... my favourite part of the South American mainland... not.

So far, this experience has been one of the most memorable in Kourou so far. An invigorating spectacle of human creativity and liberation. Absolutely fanfabulously fliptastic!

Carnaval: Touloulou Dancing

Hello!

So I've experienced something rather particular; namely, the Guyanese Carnival!

Now, when you hear carnival you usually think something along the lines of sexy bikini-wearing Brazilians, right? – WRONG! Ok, so erase that image. In Guiana, since it's extremely cold most of the time (ha!) instead of wearing bikini's at the carnival, you cover up every inch of skin, if not with one layer then with two. And I mean everything, hands, face, neck, feet... all of it! So what is it covered by you may ask. If your imagination is vivacious enough you may be able to conjure up a vague image of what a Touloulou looks like. My best aid would be to think of the word 'dress' together with glitter, colour, bright, exuberant and just-go-for-it, and put it all in a blender. Result:  Touloulou.

Covered means, covered. And 'flashy' has taken on a whole new level of meaning for me.

So, together with some of Anthony's lady-colleagues, we set out to conquer Polina, the Touloulou specialized club in Cayenne. This is what we mustered up. With my very modest knowledge of Touloulou-ing, I think we look pretty fantastic!

I am second from the left in the blue and green Chinese-inspired mish-mash of a dress. I really did enjoy my very elegant hat. Rather fabulous. However, this dress should come with a huge warning-tag if you are planning on wearing it in Guyane. It gets ridiculously hot under there. Soaking hot.

Not an inch of skin can be shown, because ... the point of the Touloulou is to be and remain completely unknown throughout the night. Now, here is where it gets interesting. You literally have to re-invent yourself in order to go completely incognito. You ought to change your voice, the way you walk, how you behave and generally try to remain unknown to the rest of your male company. Their challenge is to recognize the ladies – not such an easy task considering we even covered the skin next to our eyes in black make-up so our skin colour wouldn't show.

It is also rather interesting to note that the Touloulou's are to be considered as Queens for the night – which, of course, I relished in. If for example, you get thirsty you may say 'Touloulou soif!' (Touloulou thirsty!) where your genteel cavalier is then obliged to provide you with a refreshment. However, I actually spent the night pretty much mute because I didn't want to make myself known at all, not to mention my French not being top-notch yet. Because we are queens for the night, the men are actually not allowed to touch you before you touch them. This means that the guys have to wait to be selected by a Touloulou in order to dance. He is also not allowed to deny a Touloulou. If she takes him by the hand and leads him to the dance floor, he must simply... get his groove on.

So, the dancing is the point of the night. It is an extremely close-contact type of affair and whilst it is not hugely complicated, the moves are very repetitive (and sensuous.. if you can master them). Your top half of the body is not meant to move, whereas your hips are meant to do either a three-beat or four-beat eight-shape, depending on the song tempo. So, it really is all in the hips! Now, I like to think I'm a pretty good dancer and I've got the booty for this type of thing, but sheesh! It was actually really difficult. No joke. Also, add the fact that you feel as if you're about 100 degrees celsius and so is the person trying desperately to get even closer to you. Like I said, QUITE the experience. The picture below is a picture from the club we went to.

The fun thing about this night was of course being completely unrecognizable. You can stand looking at the dance floor and be just a meter away from your man when he has no idea you are even in the room. Simply thrilling!