Photo: Simon Robinson

Maria and I have spent the last week in Corumbá – a Brazilian boarder town in the Pantanal in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Now that I have come back to São Paulo I am able to show you some photos of what has to be Brazil’s great carnival secret – the carnival of Corumbá.

Photo: Simon Robinson

Back in the 1940s, this carnival was the third biggest in Brazil, coming after Rio and Bahia. Nowadays the carnival still attracts people from far and wide across Brazil, including many from Rop de janeiro looking for a more relaxed, less crowded family event, although very few foreign tourists come. Hence me describing this amazing gem of a carnival as one of Brazil’s secrets, which as far as I could see gets no national television coverage.

Photo: Simon Robinson

As you can see, visitors get a huge…