2. Salvador-Bahia: The historical initial landing beach of the Portuguese in South America

3. The beautiful baroque Portuguese church of Sao Francisco, created by artisan slaves.

4. A typical street in the old city of Salvador-Bahia (the Pelourinho).

5. Salvador-Bahia: a typical ethnical outfit.

7. In the old city : Hairdressing on the street in preparation for the Carnival

9. Genuine Carnival joy on the street at the old city center

10. At the old city center, not necessarily on a schedule of a planned parade

12. In the old city, a band emerging from a side alley into the center

13. The tail end of an apparent spontaneously formed parade

17. At the old city center, local people enjoy the Carnival day

18. A Carnival day at the old city center: playing and dancing, not necessarily a parade

20. A Carnival-time love, a part of the culture

21. Salvador-Bahia: The view from the upper city (that includes the old city) down to the lower city, and the 19th century elevator connecting them (modernized)

22. Carnival day on the island in the Bahia bay.

23. Rio de Janeiro: The beautiful cove and beach at the foot of Sugar Loaf Mountain

24. Rio de Janeiro: Climbing the Sugar Loaf Mountain

25. Rio de Janeiro: The breathtaking view from Corcovado Mountain. (Sugar Loaf Mountain is seen standing upright out of the water.)

26. The monumental statue of Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcovado Mountain

28. Rio de Janeiro, Carnival night: The spectators’ entrance to the Sambadrome just before the beginning of a parade

29. Rio de Janeiro, the Sambadrome, at the conclusion of the Carnival week, the night of the winner’s parade. - Featuring the “Samba School” that won the competition this year and the next 6 ones going up. Each “Samba School” has an allocated 80 minutes to parade along the Sambadrome with all its thousands of participants, its percussion section (“Bateria”) and a number of huge floats .

41. AND, the winning Samba School for 2007 had as its chosen theme for this year what other than simply “AFRICA” … that clearly shows in their lovely costumes. The joy of the winners is very noticeable, too.

47. Rio de Janeiro: The “Carnival of the Streets” is run by local neighborhoods (blocos) and meant to bring the Carnival back to the people, here on the beach of Copacabana.

49. This is how the slums of Rio look like

50. And this is how the slums look in their beautiful geographical setting