CLICK. We took another tram to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain to see the beautiful views. It was quite the noisy crowd!
Vultures are common birds in the area.
Orchids grow in trees!
Our tour guide Carlos was very excited to show me that John Kennedy his mother and sister Rosemary had their photo taken by their brother when John was in his early twenties right in front of Sugarloaf Mountain. And he insisted I get the same exact picture in front of the mountain so here it is.
A Catholic Church we visited shaped like a pyramid. You could see the reflection of that church in the new modern building across the street.
I guess I was enchanted with the reflections in glass this day. You can see the whole city in the back of this little car.
We went to one of the biggest salsa schools in the area. It means there were 12 separate groups working in this area. They work all year long building floats, writing music, getting plots, getting dancers for the Big Show in February. Many of the dancers dance for free because of their love of Carnival and they practice evenings after their real jobs. Our tour guide for the day was one of those dancers who did it for the love of entertaining.
CLICK.
We saw where all the floats were being built and the huge faces made out of Styrofoam and then covered in paper mache. But because companies fund each float, all their pictures are part of their repertoire and if we took pictures and sent them out over the Internet we would be doing something illegal. Phones had to be put in a felt bag.
After a tour through the area to see them building floats, we were taken into a room and dressed up like one of the dancers. Then the dancers came in and we all danced like crazy.
Peasant girl gypsy, I guess.
CLICK.
CLICK.
That evening five of us took an Uber to this jazz club, an enjoyable highlight of the trip.
CLICK.