Add a little wildness to your winter, at Carnival Bahia (Jan 31 - Feb 5), the biggest street festival in the world.

Brazil is a variety pack of carnivals, but Salvador is more participatory than samba-centric Rio, more varied than Olinda, bigger than Belem, and - crucially - lasts longer than just about anywhere else. This is not nubile women in feathers atop floats à la Carnival Rio. It's you out there on the streets doing it ‘til you drop.

Determinedly unsanitized, it is led by the Trio Electrico - around 50 giant trucks, all wired for ear-splitting sound. Each one features a live band pumping out a slightly different beat as they wind their way through the streets of Salvador. And they all showcase Brazil's finest proponents of frevo, the addictive Latino music of the Bahia.

Afterwards, wind down by the beach or beside the 17th-century pastel buildings of Pelourinho, the historic heart of Brazil's oldest city.

While in town, sleep at the retro-futuristic Hotel Cocoon, twenty minutes from the city center.

And this year, watch out! Carnival 2008 overlaps the date of yet another big and important festival in Brazil...the Festa de Yemanjá (Feb 2). The last time this happened was 1913!