Gualeguaychu: Argentine Carnival

I have been so fortunate to be in Argentina absorbing culture and life at every possible opportunity.  Traveling for the last 10 days has refreshed my love for adventures in a foreign land and sparked my excitement for the months ahead.  I just came back from a camping trip in Gualeguaychu (pronounced like wall-A-why-chu) located 3 hours north of BsAs by bus.  Most people that visit Argentina have never been or even heard of this place.  It is the first truly Argentine spot that I've been to.   Being part of something off the beaten path in truly where genuine experiences lye.  I will always remember hiking in the mountains of south eastern Poland with my Polish friends and singing Polish sailor songs by the fire at night.  This past weekend will be one that I remember forever.       

My friend Barnaby has been spending his 2 month holiday camping in Patagonia and traveling all over Argentina.  We have been planning on doing some camping together since last year and it finally happened on Wednesday where Adam, Barney and I traveled to Gualeguaychu.  None of us really had any idea of what to expect.  One of Barney's students said that the town has a carnival celebration every weekend in January and February and that it is worth checking out.     
We arrived on Wednesday night and set up our tents in a prime location by a grill with trees providing nice shade in the day time.  The campsite was one of the nicest I've been to lifetime and it also had a beach on the river with volleyball, a canopy restaurant/ chill zone, a stage and much more.  

The beach was the place to be during the day and from morning til night it was packed, especially on the weekends.  The stage hosted DJ's and performers all weekend playing music to get the beach goers dancing.  The weather was mostly perfect, on Thursday it rained all day but during the weekend I didn't see a single cloud.  I would guess the temperature was in the high 80's low 90's everyday.  

At one point on Friday these giant machines dumped foam into the crowd for hours while industrial techno blared from the stage.  I can safely say I've never been part of anything like that.  Argentines love to party all day and all night (on the weekends young Argentines typically will have a late dinner, say between 10 and midnight, then hang out at a bar til about 3 or 4am before dancing til morning at a club).  Gualeguaychu never stopped going, not for morning, not for sleep, not for anything.  Mate was crucial and at the campsite everyone I saw in the morning was passing gourds.  

Carnival

The whole weekend was leading up to Saturday night which was the Carnival parade.  This celebration is the biggest thing in the town all year and I wouldn't be surprised if the town quadruples in size on parade day.  The parade is comprised of 3 sections that signify different images and symbols referring to culture, politics and the history of the Argentine people.  Barney's Argentine girlfriend Maru was explaining the importance and the history of each section during the parade.  In each section there were enormous and elaborate floats pushed by tractors filled with people in costumes dancing.  As you can see the creativity of the floats and costumes were so amazing.  People in the town work on these floats for 10 months out of the year and I think the best floats receive nice dinero.    

      
The whole parade was set up on a path about 30 feet wide and about a half mile long with grandstands filled with people down the whole way.  The place was packed and everyone was dancing and singing from 11pm until about 4am when the parade ended.  Time completely flew and by the end I couldn't believe what time it was.  I stood with the rest of the crowd and danced from start til finish.  The last of the parade was dressed up percussionists and we managed to get on the path and followed them with hundreds of others dancing til the police stopped us.  We left the parade and continued the celebration, when the sun came up our night was over.  

Here are some more pics from the parade.

  

All in all the trip was probably the funniest experience that i've come to know here in Argentina.  I suggest anyone who is in the country during January and February to check it out.  I promise you won't be disappointed.