arguably the most celebrated holiday in brazil is carnaval, and paraty is no exception to this.

the carnaval here has retained some of the more traditional european carnaval customs - such as king and pauper costumes, skulls and paper-mache heads, along with a very distinctive tradition of its own: the bloco de lama, or mud block party.

it all started in the early 1990s when a group of friends was bathing in the purportedly medicinal mud at nearby jabaquara beach.

after noticing that each friend was unrecognizable to the other, they decided to wear this new 'costume' to the carnaval party that night, and a new phenomenon was born.