Prices during Rio Carnaval ... just out of this world!

Carnaval in Rio is not a cheap party, but it is one of those once in a lifetime things you gotta do..like pay the USD500 per hour to go see mountain gorillas in Rwanda's Parc Nacional des Volcan, well its was USD250 when I was there. Well between shelling out hundreds to go see Madonna I rather go see the parade. It is unbelievable what it cost to get a seat in the Sambadrome. Cheapest I seen is USD149 all the way to USD2200+ !! The 149 is not even a seat, it is in the bleachers. To get a decent seat to view the parade one has to shell out about 400-700 bucks. And the better view bleachers even cost 400+. Crazy! I know. The costumes cost around 300. But if you parade you can't take pics during your march. They don't let you hang bags or cameras on your body while u r in costume and out there. So?! It will be interesting to learn my samba school song when I don't even speak Portuguese, well a little now ("agora"). Not the same as Spanish. I have one thing to say, Brazil is not cheap. Compare to Argentina, which is cheaper. Ask a Brazilian in Phoenix, they will tell you the same thing. I got confirmation today.