Weather high 82, low 74 with scattered showers. Map of Parintins. ​

I have always been intrigued with Carnival in Rio but I know that I will never get there to experience it. Little did I know that Viking would give me an opportunity to get a glimpse of Carnival costumes, dancing, singing, drumming with Amazon, African and European rhythms. This is what our excursion into Parintins gave us. ​

Our ship anchored in the river at 8:00. We had the morning free on the ship for a leisurely breakfast and lunch and to play our Rummikubs game. Then we met at the Star Theater for our included excursion "Boi Bumbá Folkloric Performance". We marched with the other passengers to our tenders which took us to the dock in Parintins. After disembarking we were led a short distance to the convention center where the Boi Bumbá Festival singers and dancers recreate Parintins’ annual Boi Bumbá, or “Bull Festival.” We were in the first tender and were very early for the start so we got front-row seats. The stage was in the center and contained all of the singers and musicians. There were elaborate colorful backdrops facing us on each end of the floor. Once the performance started it was non-stop. The singing, the music and the drumming went on for the entire 2 1/2 hour show. Dancers rotated with their elaborate costumes. Bulls, dragons and other huge beasts were rolled in and out and usually had one of the performers in their mouths or riding on top of them. It was a fun performance. The videos and photos below will give you a flavor of it.

Boi Bamba

Boi Bamba

Boi Bamba

Boi Bamba

Boi Bamba

Boi Bamba

Boi Bamba

Boi Bamba

Boi Bamba

After the show, Ann, John, Lynne and Juan went back to the ship. Ellen and I wanted to see more of the town so we went on our little excursion. Parintins is a sleepy town of about 80,000 people. Our short walkaround saw only a small portion near the tender dock. The slideshow in the right shows highlights of the area we walked through. See it on "Full Screen" to get a better view. ​

After our walkaround, we went to the tender dock where we had to wait a few minutes to board the tender. It was tied to another boat which we had to walk through.