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Recharging the batteries
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Leaving the hectic scene of Rio de Janeiro behind, we headed for a small little town along the coast; Paraty (pronounced Pa-ra-chy). During the high season, this little town is a mecca for Brazilian tourists that are trying to escape the crowds on Copacabana beach and I can really see why. This place was recommended to us by a fellow traveller we met in Iguazu, otherwise it is a place I am sure we would have skipped right past without even realising. The lonely planet (usually the bible to backpackers) mentions this town in a paragraph and I think that is a massive oversight on their part.
After a winding journey around hills and jungle along the coastline of the State of Rio, we arrived at a tiny bus station some 5 hours later and awaited our hostel contact. We then heard an English voice call my name and turned around to greet our English hostel owner Simon and his Brazilian wife Helena. Simon filled us in on the history of the town and drove us back to his hostel which was on the edge of the small village. Paraty has 2 parts to it; the old town and the new town. The old town has quaint cobbled streets that cars are prohibited to drive on, old churches and little colonial buildings. I think the rough boulders of the old city streets would quickly destroy the shocks of most cars anyway! The town used to be a stop-over for travellers from Rio to Sao Paulo in the 18th Century until another direct road was opened. This caused Paraty to be forgotten, stalled in time, away from disfiguration and helped it to preserve its old city as it was in the past. It was only really rediscovered as a popular tourist destination in the last 30 years. The new town is built around the old town with roads making it easy to get around.
Since this was winter, the town was quiet and the beaches deserted. During the day, it was nice and sunny but the temperatures only reached about 30 degrees - what a rubbish winter time (!!!!). The shore is backed by steep jungle covered mountains and the coast line has breathtaking coves, emerald-green shallow warm waters filled with islands. There is some 300 islands in total in the area, so you really can find your own personal beach if the mainline is too busy for you! In the mornings, we frequently had walks along the beach. With high tide, the water became so shallow that you could walk knee deep to an island not far from the shore! We were going to attempt this one morning but as soon as I stepped out from the firmer sand, I lost a flip-flop and my foot in a strong sinking mud. Nick of course found this hilarious while I frantically dug to find my flip-flop and asked for help. I did however get revenge and had my turn to laugh when he cockily stepped forward and managed to sink all the way up past his knees! I nearly fell over I was laughing so much. So we gave that a miss and decided to visit the islands the conventional way; by boat.
Taking advantage of the weather, we booked on a boat trip around the bay for the next morning. It was a glorious day as we disembarked on a big sailing yacht, complete with onboard live entertainment. We sailed around stopping every now and then to swim among the fishes and walk along on the private deserted beaches. The scenery was stunning. There are a few very posey pictures of Nick and myself on the boat trying to be sun gods/goddesses - maybe if we held the guts in a little more this would be better! Back on terra firma after a long day of sun bathing, we explored the old town. Horses were wandering around, children were playing and people were selling their wares. I can imagine this place is very busy in the high season as it is full of charm and character and such a lovely place to be. I could just feel my batteries recharging. Our hostel was also a great place to stay. Being on the corner of town, it was quiet and peaceful and the view over the bay was beautiful (plus the breakfast is probably the best breakfast I have had since we left over 8 months ago!)
This was the perfect stop before our next journey. I hadn`t told you our plans yet Mum but we are heading to the Brazilian Pantanal for a 4 day jungle camping trip. Surprise! The Pantanal is said to be the place to go for spotting wildlife rivaling the Amazon. And I am VERY EXCITED! It is going to take us over 24 hours and 3 buses to get there and we are both a bit dubious about what to expect. At least in the Pantanal they don't have that fish that can swim up your wee so Nick can feel safe in going to the toilet - we just have to watch out for them piranhas! More thumbnails ...
Where I stayed:
Praia Serena
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