See these carnival destinations using a map.

There are a lot of different people on this planet: different cultures, different religions, and different styles of life. But one of the things they have in common is that everyone likes a good Carnival celebration.

Perhaps the most famous celebration is the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, but it’s not the only one out there. In fact, there are carnivals in almost every place on earth, like the most famous carnivals in Salvador de Bahía and Olinda, in Brazil, Venice in Italy, New Orleans in the US, and Oruro in Bolivia.

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is the celebration that attracts most tourists in the whole Brazil. It is said that people take carnival so seriously that they begin planning next year’s parades just a couple of weeks after this year’s celebration ends.

The Carnival in Salvador de Bahía (also in Brazil), is mentioned in the Guinness book of World Records for being the largest carnival in the world, with 2.7 million people involved in the planning of the parades, music composition, costumes creation, and all the related activities.

Olinda’s Carnival, although much smaller than those carnivals mentioned above, is one of the most famous ones, because it is celebrated to highlight and respect the ancient African and Portuguese traditions. For this, the city of Olinda was declared “Historical and Cultural Patrimony of Mankind” by the UNESCO.

The carnival of Venice, in Italy, is considered one of the most beautiful celebrations. The quality of the costumes and the spectacular Venice channels create the perfect European carnival feeling.

In New Orleans, the celebration of the Mardi Gras attracts lots of young and not-so-young people every year, as it’s an excellent place to party all day and night long.

The Carnival of Oruro, in Bolivia, has much deeper religious connotations. This celebration is linked with the image of Virgin Mary, and there are several typical dances and costumes that celebrate “victory over the devil”. The most characteristic of these dances is the “diablada”. The Oruro’s Carnival was declared “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Tradition of Mankind” in 2001, by the UNESCO.

These are just a few hot carnivals. Although there are many more, we just mentioned a few of the most important ones, so you have an idea. Keep on coming back, as we’ll list more cool places soon!

Updated: See the routes of these men on Rrove sets.

Route - Hernán Cortés

Route - Francisco Pizarro

Route - Ferdinand Magellan

They say that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and certainly the Americas weren’t either. There were a lot of people that got into their ships and sailed off searching for glory, and our continent is what it is today thanks to the adventurers who got here from the old word.

While the English gave birth to what would later be the US, and Portuguese conquerors made their way into the land now known as Brazil, the Spanish conquerors (or conquistadors) were the ones that covered most terrain and conquered most lands in the continent. Santiago de Cuba, Mexico City, Cozumel, Lima, Macchu Picchu were all discovered by these conquistadors. Here are three of these adventurers and their contributions.

Hernán Cortés

Maybe the best-known conquistador was Hernán Cortés, who is remembered as the conqueror of the Aztec Empire. In fact he was in the Americas years before facing the Aztecs, as he was part of the expedition to Cuba and appointed the first Mayor of Santiago de Cuba, a beautiful Cuban city. Years later he effectively left Cuba as the Captain of the Armada, with the mission of exploring the whole Yucatan peninsula.

He first came in contact with the natives in the beautiful Island of Cozumel, which was an important Mayan city back then, and conquered it with words instead of swords. He and his troops continued their journeys gaining friends and enemies, and claiming cities like Tabasco and Veracruz for the Spanish crown, and after several military alliances with native tribes and many battles against the Aztecs, he and his men advanced over Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City, the capital and most important city of the Aztec Empire, finally gaining control of it after a long time. Cortés was also responsible for the discovery of the Baja California Peninsula, when one of his captains arrived there almost by accident.

Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro was an active explorer who was living in Panama when he offered himself for the journeys of conquest and colonization of the land of the Incas. He was given the privilege of leading the Spanish forces into Peru, and when he arrived there he found the Empire in the middle of a civil war: two brothers were fighting for the crown. Pizarro was clever, and soon forged an alliance with the most powerful faction. This made the conquest of Peru easy (and almost blood-less) for him. He took control of the city of Cusco, the capital of the Empire, and when the whole land was under Spanish control he began effective colonization, founding several cities, most notably the “City of Kings” later known as Lima, now the capital of Peru. Nowadays, there is a statue of Francisco Pizarro in Trujillo, Spain (where he was born), and there are two exact copies in the cities of Lima, in Peru, and in Buffalo, USA (the home place of the sculptor who made the statues, Charles Cary Rumsey).

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan started as a Portuguese explorer, but several problems left him without a job. He convinced the Kings of Spain that he was capable of finding a way to reach Asia from Europe without sailing around Africa (this was exclusive to the Portuguese, as stated by the Treaty of Tordesillas). Spain desperately needed a route to China and the “land of the spices” through the sea, so they agreed and soon Magellan was on his way.

He took five ships under his command, and departed from Spain. Magellan was an experienced sailor, and was able to avoid a Portuguese ship which was sent to prevent his mission from being accomplished. He made stops at the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, and finally set his course to South America.Short after crossing the equator, he arrived at Brazilian Waters, and anchored outside Rio de Janeiro. They resupplied the ship, but Magellan didn’t step on firm land because it was Portuguese territory. Then they set course to the south, and soon reached the Rio de la Plata harbor and Port St. Julian a little later. Here, the crew established a settlement. A few days later, they reached Cape Virgenes, and discovered a long canal that seemed to be a passage to the other side of the continent.

After exploring this passage, they found that it indeed was a crossing to the other side, so the mission was accomplished. This passage is known as the Strait of Magellan. Ferdinand Magellan is also who baptized the Pacific Ocean, when he found the vast waters calm and quiet enough to be called “mar pacífico”.