Carnival in Paraty

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We headed off to the coast for Carnival in a town called Paraty. After flying to Sao Paulo, we were chauffeured on a three hour drive through Atlantic rainforest. We checked into our pousada (small hotel), which was in the historical center of the city. Jenn wanted to test out the pool, but we went for a walk around the harbor and through the cobbled streets.







The next day, we began our tour of the area, including hiking up to the old Portuguese fort when it was used in the early 1700s to ship gold from Minas Gerais to Rio (and eventually on to Europe). Although we were warned of a “high index of accdents with oystrs,” we followed a bedrock trail to the ocean, known as the “Praia do Forte” which was not really a beach. Afterwards, we walked along another beach and stopped for beer and agua de coco (coconut water served in the coconut with a straw that is delicious). That evening we attended a Brazilian cooking class and made soufflé, seafood moqueca (stew), caipirinhas, and coconut flan.







Carnival in Paraty kicks off with a parade of people covered in mud head-to-toe. After waiting for four hours, we gave up and returned to the hotel for swimsuits. Eventually, we saw a few mud covered stragglers making their way down the beach. On our way back from dinner, we saw a blocko organizing a parade with giant, papier mache costumes, worn on top of the shoulders to be around ten feet high, including a demonic clown, vampire, grim reaper, and skelton. While we were waiting, a gentleman next to us bent down, and we heard a huge sniff. We saw him stand up from a piece of cardboard with white powder lines and more powder piles, and as he turned around, the back of his shirt said Organizer, and he went on to lead the parade. After the creatures passed, we joined in the dancing behind the parade and our coked-up leader.







On Sunday morning, we headed down to the pier to join one of the schooner tours around the bay. Finding these to be a bit crowded, we rented a smaller boat just for the two of us and spent the day snorkeling and swimming.







The next day, we went with a small tour group (of which we were the only foreigners) to see some waterfalls, swimming holes, and a cachaca distillery.

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