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Published: January 14th 2009
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Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas! Yeah okay we´re writing this on the 14th of January, so it doesn´t really work now I know. For those of you we haven´t had a chance to speak to or write to, Happy Christmas, hope it was a splendid one and you got what you wished for.
So, onto the selfish point of this whole thing, to tell you about us. We spent 6 nights before over and after Christmas in the small coastal town of Paraty in Brazil. We arrived on the 23rd and the sun was shining and it was hot, daaaaaaaaaamn hot. We had arrived via three planes, three taxis and two buses, taking 23 hours from Ecuador. We were also therefore daaaaaaaamn hot and rather sticky, so we gratefully checked in, showered and set the fan going full blast. I don´t know if one of us moaned about the sun or the heat and caused it, but within a few hours it started to rain and it hardly stopped for the next 5 days, until the morning we got the bus to leave.
Our original plan was to spend the five days over Christmas lazing on the bays´ 30+
beaches, taking photos of ourselves to put on here and annoy you all while it´s minus five at home. Instead we spent the 23rd and 24th hiding from the rain in the hostels outdoor covered bar area, drinking caipirinhas (like Mojitos but with Caçhaca a Brazilian spirit) for Matt and white wine for the lady and chatting to our fellow guests about the unfairness of it all. Further entertainment was provided by John the English owner of the hostel. A 60 year old former builder from rural Norfolk, he moved to Paraty 3 years ago. He is best described as that old man that every local pub is full of that is miserable about everything and you know it´s the misery that keeps him happy. Secretly he´d never have it any other way, but of course he´ll damn well moan that it´s not. I will never forget him telling us that he´s always been a listener not a talker. We´d have responded, but as for the past 2 hours no-one could get a word in edgeways. We both agreed that having a grumpy old man around at Christmas made us feel right at home!
On Christmas day, the hostel
emptied as people headed for the sea on the big Schooners that did day long tours of the local beaches and islands. We had booked this for Boxing Day hoping the weather would improve and had decided that we´d have a quiet Christmas Day to ourselves. We got up at our leisure, breakfasted and opened our presents, which considering our tight budget and weight restrictions were smashing (Matt especially enjoyed his Kinder Egg - Chocolate, a toy and a surprise, life gets no better my friends!). The rain had briefly stopped and it was warm so we hot footed it to the beach. We managed to grab a beer each and get a photo taken of us celebrating Christmas on the beach before the rain came back and we headed back to the hostel. We then phoned home over a bottle of Brazil´s finest champagne.
Christmas dinner had its challenges to overcome. Brazilian supermarkets don´t cater for vegetarians, but we scraped together enough ingredients to get a meal together. Matt worked solidly in the kitchen and eventually we settled down to a vegemetarian feast.......with a bottle of wine of course. Family and friends were certainly missed by both of
us over Christmas, it´s not the easiest time to be travelling, but despite this and the weather, we had a lovely day and it won´t be a Christmas we soon forget.
Boxing Day we went on the schooner and our hope that the weather would improve was shot to pieces. It rained so hard that we didn´t want to get in the sea for fear of getting wet! It was a shame, but we made the most of it and when we were able we got in the sea and had a float and a swim. The beaches were beautiful and the water clear and on a sunny day it would have been paradise.
The day after we had a lazy morning and then visited a fort in the afternoon while the rain held off for a couple of hours. Braving the moody weather we even managed a beer and a sit down on the beach, before the rain came in and forced us to hurry for home.
On our last day before heading to Rio for New Year we took a bus to the beaches of Trindade nearby. The weather was still cloudy, but the rain
stayed away for the day. The beaches were packed, but we squeezed in for a sit down. Following our guide we then went off to a natural pool which he told us was about 30 minutes walk and could be a little slippery. This was quite an understatement, it took over an hour and involved walking barefoot (or in flip flops if you had a deathwish) along a thin cliff wall path that was pure mud and slippery as an eel in swarfega. The pool itself was nice and the swim well deserved and needed. Matt even managed to get a snorkel on and see a few fish.
To sum up the Christmas period - Sun would have been brilliant and made it perfect, but we certainly managed to have a merry old time and we´ll remember this christmas forever. That said, it has made us realise that we rather enjoy christmas in England too. The parties, the shopping, the presents, the dinner and the friends and family were among so many things we missed immensely. Oh and Vicki, we can´t wait for our belated Christmas dinner when we get home!
Love
Matt and Chrissie
x x x
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Olivia
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Sounds like you have had a blast. It's bringing back all our memories of South America...