I managed to take this one picture that gave the impression that our carnival was something like the one in Rio, but in reality there were only five floats, separated by groups of ordinary people in T-shirts sort of shuffling along to various different drum rhythms.
A section of the Cinta Costera, that part of the Panamanian highway which skirts the Bay of Panama, was cordoned off, with tight security for entrance (full body pat-down as well as thorough searches of bags). Inside, there were countless stalls selling coca cola and beer, a few barbecue stands, large speakers belting out Latin music (I admit that I still can't tell the difference between salsa, merengue and bachata) and lots of Panamanian families milling about. Everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves, so perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood that day as I thought it was rather boring!
There were also a number of people in red-and-black devil costumes wandering about and posing for photos. I wasn't sure of their significance so googled them, and it seems that their origin is unknown but they generally represent evil (colonial conquistadors or perhaps slave masters), and that the colour of their costume reveals their seniority as a devil, with the beginners in red and the more senior devils with more black in their costumes. Here in Panama they weren't really doing anything, they were just wandering about, but it seems that in some of the provincial towns they have far more defined and interesting roles. Very clearly there are many provincial carnivals which are better than the one in the capital. Maybe next year I will have the opportunity to attend one of those, so I shan't post a devil photo this time but instead the one I took of a costume lying ready on the ground, an hour or so before the parade started - coincidentally, it appears to be the same costume as in the photo above.
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