Pousada dos Contos Paraty

... eat and DJ! VERY GOOD!! We stopped off at three places to jump in and swim!! The second place had a nice beach you had to swim to!! There was a bar there and some old Ozzie man insisted on buying me and some other people beer! Im fine with that!! The captain of the boat insisted they do a head count and never leave without everyone, so we were all a bit alarmed when we saw our boat sail away!! Yeah! But it ...

... of meat, steamed veges, and the obligatory rice and beans. A few of the guys had bought some of that cheap pinga, "51", and lime to make some caiparinis for everyone. It actually taste quite good; I think it wasn´t his first time making it. Eventually people start to head to bed after sitting around drinking and chatting about various subjects. The next day after a lazy start, I head out on my day long journey to get to the Pantanal.<br><br>Ciao -- Barry

... self-service restaurant Bier Garten (German-owned, again). I love these buffets and am addicted to Guarana. Unfortunately, the first night as the rains began to fall my roommate and I both skipped dinner and called it a night as we both had terrible colds (I probably gave her mine). We did get to see some funny Brazilian versions of TV shows such as Supernanny and Wheel of Fortune. Most of the game shows are hosted by the same guy who I guess owns the TV network. He is the ...

... Back on track... I get a later than planned start to my first full day on the island and realize I must plan some activity before all the boats depart to their respective destinations. I settle on a snorkeling trip to the Blue Lagoon -- isn´t this the name to some cheesy, 80s, scandalous film? I decided the diving may not be anything too special for what they wanted. I´m informed I should run, not walk the relatively short distance from our ...

... barbeque with local fish, prawns and calamari from the port in town. This is pretty much as far away from what I expected as you can get, I thought we&#8217;d be roughing it on super noodles every night.<br><br>If you&#8217;re feeling a bit jealous though don&#8217;t worry it&#8217;s not all as wonderful as it sounds, there are insects a plenty. We&#8217;ve both been munched a considerable amount and my legs in particular have been savaged! The worst was when I was ...

... of Minas Gerais for 9 days to here and onto Paraty itself. We then visited a cachaca distillery, whereby we sampled (and bought) some interesting liqueurs. We were caught in a tourist trap by being taken to a restaurant in the middle of nowhere for lunch - a well-known ploy, though we ate only a little and ensured that they wouldn't be able to rip us off. Next stop - more waterfalls and an opportunity to take running jumps into them. We passed ...

... waar we na een enerverende busrit de grote koepel van binnen hebben bekeken.Wel oke kerk, veel glas in lood en lekker koel. Buiten bleek het alleen een verzamelplaats van de minder-bedeelden op deze wereld te zijn, de een stond uitgebreid tegen iedereen te schreeuwen die maar wilde luisteren, terwijl een ander probeerde nieuwe zieltjes te winnen voor zijn beweging. Het laatste verbod van Felipe hadden we nog niet gebroken, dus hop de metro in om over Avenua Paulista te ...

... have got her out of there if she had done some real damage. Made it back to the boat sopping wet to the core and had lunch. The rest of our time on the boat was a bit overcast - at times a down right soggy affair! My tummy thing was getting worse and so I wasnt eating much (still having the occasional Caiprinha though!) and the boat was getting quite rocky! We managed to fit some snorkelling in in one of the lagoons with some gorgeous black and white ...

... which took in a natural pool at the foot of a small waterfall, the ruins of one of the islands former prisons and a couple of beaches. We had thought that the shops and restaurants might be closed on Christmas day but the beachfront was packed with people wanting something to do and it was business as usual! On Boxing Day (Foy´s Birthday!), the rain was heavier but we took advantage of a gap in the ...

... a half later, having braved a visit to the loos, we arrive in Abrao, the main village on Ilha Grande. It is a very unusual place, meant in the best possible sense. The island is covered by dense lush vegetation, jungles descend into the sea and mist floats down from the clouds above to meet spray shooting back up off the rocks. We are taken to our pousada which translates as guesthouse, normally small family run lodgings - a little ...