New Year in Rio Page Content Page Name (for URL) Page Title Breadcrumb Text We interrupt our report on Bolivia and Peru to bring you some photos from New Year's Eve celebration in Rio de Janeiro. To tell the truth, after working hard in November and then doing a rather intensive trip, partying wasn't on my mind since we've gotten back to Rio, especially since I caught a cold on the plane back from Lima. However, we did go to check our offerings to Iemanjá, which got moved to Dec. 29 out of fear that the beach would be too crowded on the 31st. (It was - Copacabana was estimated to have 2 million people.) <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-29-yemanja/20051229_037_9022 A chain of shrines 2005-12-29-yemanja/20051229_036_8722 The more serious practitioners 2005-12-29-yemanja/20051229_003_4846 The crowd on the beach ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-29-yemanja/20051229_013_4444 Check out the woman in the back 2005-12-29-yemanja/20051229_014_9532 2005-12-29-yemanja/20051229_015_4727 2005-12-29-yemanja/20051229_024_6108 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> On the 31st we went for a walk on the beach to check out the preparations. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-31-a-before/20051231_018_2889 2005-12-31-a-before/20051231_005_1385 Portable toilets ready for the crowds 2005-12-31-a-before/20051231_019_3713 An offering to Iemanjá ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-31-a-before/20051231_011_7509 2005-12-31-a-before/20051231_012_2721 A policeman? 2005-12-31-a-before/20051231_013_3897 Always good time to sell stuff 2005-12-31-a-before/20051231_016_8831 People camping on the beach ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Close to midnight we headed out to see the fireworks. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-31-new-year/20051231_060_7230 The crowd waiting for the fireworks 2005-12-31-new-year/20051231_083_8293 2005-12-31-new-year/20051231_080_0070 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-31-new-year/20051231_071_7654 2005-12-31-new-year/20051231_073_6964 2005-12-31-new-year/20051231_087_7197 2005-12-31-new-year/20051231_089_3044 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Last year's fireworks in Copacabana were officially declared a failure (the mayor appologized to the city), and the city did everything to make up for it this year. Today's newspaper's announced that Copacabana "bombed." ("Copacabana bombou!" - that's a _good_ thing here.) This might not be obvious from the pictures, however, if you've seen [last year's photos](http://www.freewisdom.org/en/rio/entries/2005/01/05/fireworks_in_rio_de). So let me explain: The mistakes made during last year's firework's were actually great for photos. The fireworks were too far, which, however, put them closer to the horizon and made it easier to get both the firework's and their reflections in the water in the same shot. On top of that, a cloud of smoke that obscured the fireworks created amazing visual effects that could be captured on camera. Yesterday's fireworks, by comparison, were too high to be photographed from the beach (though I've seen nice photos in the newspapers made from hotel windows). They looked spectacular, however. A mere 30 minutes after the fireworks it rained. Don't put anything here Advanced Fields Category 2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014E. AsiaE. EuropeL's FamilyL's FriendsN. AmericaN. EuropeS. AmericaS. AsiaW. EuropeY & LY's FamilyY's Friends Prototype Redirect Permissions0 Actions Config Markup Module HTML/Meta/Keywords HTML/Meta/Description Save Hook HTML Fields Main Head Body Header Menu Logo Page Content Template Sidebar Footer Tags Allowed for XSSFilter HTTP Fields Cache-Control Expires Guru Fields Templates Translations Fields Edit UI Admin Edit UI Don't put anything here A summary of your changes Edit Summary Don't put anything here Don't put anything here Don't put anything here Don't put anything here save preview cancel