Pousada da Marquesa Paraty

... than anything else in the world was a penknife. After a morning spent asking in shops for a ´faca´(Portuguese for knife) we stumbled across a DIY "shop" down an unnamed alley that didn´t appear on any map. The shack which was on the brink of collapse and staffed exclusively by homicidal looking ex-cons who may or may not have officially released released. I rated my chances of survival as 50-50 at best as I took off my Ray-Bans and strode in wearing a ...

... a throwback to the 1800´s.<br><br>A quick fact i heard - police in Rio earn around R$800 per month, around 300 euro. No wonder so many as perceived as being liable to corruption (not that i saw any of this) and live in police favelas (where wild parties take place). I did hear a story that a couple of folk (travellers) out jogging were shot at in Ipanema by the police as they mistook them for someone else - shoot first, ask later!!

... guy that left with him from Ilha Grande playing card games like A**-hole and fooling a naive Brazilian girl in that Bernie could guess random card´s suite and number from the deck -- which is sort of amusing on both accounts as Bernie doesn´t know the name of the suites other than what they look like. It´s a Hosteling International (HI) hostel, which means its very clean and actually quite beautiful along the riverfront with various ...

... that she is did an Alf Stewart on it and put the rescue mission into action! We all know we can be high at times (connotations of substance abuse NOT intended), but for the majority of this night we had danced on the tables and off the rafters, higher then everyone else in the place! I suppose it was wise of Sarah to conduct the search for my glasses from a such raised platform. However, she didn´t get very far, the rafters obstructed her forehead on several ...

... walks and runs along the long stretch of sand. From the eastern-most point of the beach, I looked up and saw Pico de Papagaio. The water was that perfect azul color and calm on this end of the beach. While there were several other beaches we could have hiked to (minimum 4-6hr roundtrip), we liked the luxury of the cheap ferries and spent two full days at Lopes Mendes. The old fogues we are, we spent our evenings curled up in bed watching movies (Invincable, The ...

... some kayaks on sunday as we missed out on the boat trip we wanted to do. Went paddling around int he sea attempted to make it to the nearest island, but as always it was alot further away than we first thought! I think Katie found her forte in the kayak, where as I spent most of the time going round in circles!<br><br>Off to Florianopolis today, via Sao Paulo and are hopeful of some more sunshine at the other end. <br><br>Will write again soon... Xx

... but we soon attracted a croad of locals who came to see what the gringos were all about. We sambered with the owner, and laughed at one fruitcake of a hobo who thought he was Michael Jackson and shimmied up and down a pole on the stage and kept trying to stroke our hair. We had to get one of the guys to tell him to shove off. <br><br>We danced until 2.30am, went back to the food fair in our tippsiness getting churros and chocolate and dulce de leche, and played cards till 6am in the ...

... Stuurboord, bakboord, stuurboord, bakboord, ahhhh.... Zelfs achter de computer zitten we nog mee te bounchen. Wat een prachtige eilanden zeg; een wirwar aan bomen reikend tot in de zee, alle mogelijke kleuren groen en blauw, super. En kijk daar! Een schildpad! Waaaaaa....! Jammer dat we niet al in het water waren, anders hadden we een stuk samen gaan zwemmen. Misschien morgen dan. Op het eerste eiland waar we aan land gingen, stonden ...

... road abruptly ended with a chunk of it having been washed away by the rains and mudslides. This time however, a backhoe came to our rescue and filled in the missing portions of the road so that we could pass. All this effort turned out to be worth it, as the hotel was an amazing cabin set high in the mountains along a now-raging river. And we finally got to enjoy some time in Paraty, where they don´t allow cars and ironically all the roads are intact.

... I have done and encountered, it has just felt kind of 'right', like it has all meant to be and that it is all part of this journey that I have chosen to undertake, so I don't feel anxious, or scared or apprehensive just content and excited. Am also really excited to go to Rio, as Rio by Duran Duran is one of my favourite songs from the 80's when I was totally obsessed with DD and wanted desperately to marry John Taylor and still would, just in case you are ...