Arica, Chile - Pt 2

When we left for our excursion this morning, our guide apologized that the streets were so messy explaining that the Carnival had gone on all night last night until 7 a.m. this morning. I thought to myself that it would have been fun to see that and that there would have been lots of good photo ops. Later on our way back to the port, we started seeing people dressed in colorful costumes and when we got off the bus, we could hear a lot of noise and commotion. Come to find out, the carnival lasts 3 days/nights so after freshening up a bit and eating some lunch on the ship, we decided to catch the shuttle go into town and see what all the hoopla was about.

party atmosphere in early afternoon

The second day of Arica’s Carnaval Andino Con la Fuerza del Sol (“Carnival with the power of the Sun?”) was in full swing. Who doesn’t love a good parade? It was fun and interesting to watch, although it was very hot for the spectators, many of whom were under colorful umbrellas) and even hotter for the participants. It was also very crowded. I had been warned by several to hang on to my purse, hang my camera around my neck (not on my shoulder), remove my phone from my back pocket and keep it out of sight. I appreciated the warnings, but it was a tricky balance of parade watching, taking photos and being on guard for anyone who might want to take advantage of me, being the obvious tourist that I am. But I managed to do it and returned to the ship with my purse, phone, camera and lots of photos.

 

If you know me, you know that I love taking pictures. I also love to travel. Combine those two (travel photography) and I’m in “hog” heaven. Additionally, my favorite genre of photography is “people” photography. And my favorite way to photograph people is when they are unaware of the camera and thereby behaving in a natural way. The best way to accomplish this is to use a telephoto lens. In other words, one doesn’t have to be close to their “subject” and that always results in a more candid shot.

I wish I could have captured the sounds as well as the sights, because there was plenty of noise taking place as well. I uploaded a short video just to give you the idea. There was much more than this small sampling but this is what I could get from my vantage point in the limited amount of time I had there.

Anyway, if you enjoy a good parade, then hopefully you will enjoy seeing some of the magnificent costuming. Tons of glitter and beads adorned the costumes and the intense sun made them sparkle even more. The participants must have felt like they were burning up in those heavy, elaborate costumes. But they all looked like they were having a great time. I was standing next to a table where young girls were handing out cups of water for the parade participants. I noticed one gal pouring water in her shoes so I guess even her feet were hot! By the way, the majority of participants were youngish but there were a few children and plenty of older folks as well.

 

 

As always, I took too many photos but I’ll share some of my favorites. I just discovered that they actually have a FaceBook page, so if anyone is interested in seeing more, you can search for them there.

streets filled with confetti

seating and performance area ahead