Pousada Villa del Rey Paraty

... the hostel to use the internet and phone to work out what was going on with our cards. We finally managed to get it sorted but still didn have any money to pay for the internet cost and had to rush to catch our bus. The woman at reception lost it when we said we had to pay by visa (which we knew we could as we paid for the room on it) and started moaning about the 3p commission she would be charged, and said we ...

... is the 100% humidity causing mold/mildew to almost instantaneously start growing on anything that remains damp. My 5-yo leather flip-flops unfortunately succumbed for the first time to that sweet, yet disturbing smell of mildew. But more surprising and VERY frustrating to clean was that my electric shaver had also had mildew growing amidst the fine shavings in its head.<br><br> There are about 3 different beaches all walking/hiking ...

... and party will take place. The first night it was a fish BBQ and a superb singer/guitarist covering everything from Jack Johnson to The Eagles -- Hotel California of course. The following night I'm impressed to hear another awesome guy covering reggae greats like Bob Marley. All-in-all a great time with ice cold cervacies and strong Caipirinies -- cuacharas (a spirit distilled from sugarcane), lime, <br>sugar, and ice -- which has been the ...

... floating restaurant. $14 for fries! enough said. We were the poor Americans here and ordered beans and rice. It was delicious. Because of the bad weather, our charter boat ended up leaving 3 hours early. Thank God. We got back to Ilha Grande, got some food and wandered the streets. Our ferry to the mainland was early the next day so unfortunately for Katie, we could not go to the All-Night-Reggae-Party on the Beach. We also had a Marathon to do.<br>

... day. We were due to cook first and were a bit daunted at the thought of cooking for 35 people. Nat&#8217;s had been to the local markets and bought back a feast for us to prepare, a HUGE barbeque with potato and pumpkin mash and giant stir fry. It was awesome! Here beef fillet costs less than buying chicken, apparently Brazil has one cow per person (fact!), so we had some of the best beef I&#8217;ve ever tasted in huge quantities. On top of that we had ribs and ...

... coconut juice on the first morning after arrival. Unfortunately prices here remained expensive, so we had to work out which restaurants were carrying out deals and exploit them to eat at reasonable prices. The town has a colonial feel to it, with white-walled and painted doors and windows - and a harbour overlooking a lake around it. It used to be a major port for the gold-trading route to Portugal. You could also feel safe here, as the cobbled ...

... leaves of the trees and become even bigger blobs then fall straight down the back of your neck! It was becoming a lot tougher to walk back cos you couldnt work out if the rocks were covered in slippery slime and hence you coulf pick another, or if it was just wet therefore the right one to chose.. Reem made the wrong choice on one and slipped landing right on her coccyx with a sickening crunch. Thank thank thankfully she was able to walk- no ideas how we ...

... little atmosphere. I was only here for one day but spent that going around the bay in a boat to visit the islands and beaches there which was very nice. Even got to see a big school of dolphins swimming close to the boat which was good. Really amazing coastline leading up to Rio with lots of spectacular beaches everywhere and huge forest-clad hills behind, quite a lot like southern Thailand.

This year´s Christmas was very different to usual, our first away from family and the UK. We spent Christmas on Ihla Grande, an island about 80 minutes boat ride off a coastal town called Angra Dos Reis, itself about about 2h from Rio. It has been a pirates haven, a leper colony and more recently a penal colony and the last prison was closed and demolished in 1994. Since then the island has become a tourist ...

... in the town. Apparently Ze used to run a bar here. It was all local fare and very filling washed down with potent homemade caprinha's that burnt your throat, you needed a glass of water to help it all along. This guy's house was amazing, a local artist who has a lot of his works all around the place and gave us a flavour to how the Paraty locals live, they seem to be doing quite well for themselves. The living room has some ...