Blogs from Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 11

So four hour bus journey from Rio and we land in the quaintest little town...cobble streets and the lot (ruck sack was carried and not wheeled...boy is it heavy!!). Stayed in a cool little hostel in the historic centre. Only had one full day here so we spent it on a day trip on a boat around the coast line. Really enjoyed it, swam with loads of fish (we even got ed into the water), visited beaches,, the usual. First time to get some colour but red wasn´t the colour I was aiming for...we´ve now moved to factor 50!! Spent the evenings wandering around the town, cool littel sopt would have liked to spend more time there....but onto Florinaopolis we went. ... read more

After the craziness of Rio at Carnaval, Tracy and I headed inland to the cooler, calmer highland town of Ouro Preto. This old mining town was once the richest place in the New World, but when the gold dried up all that were left was the beautiful buildings and the deliciously cooler climate. We spent 2 wonderful days wondering the cobbled streets and visiting the old baroque churches built with gold money and suitably decorated. With our batteries recharged, laundry done and overnight bus tickets in hand, we headed back to Rio and down the coast to a tropical island full of beaches and forested hills. Ilha Grande's beaches were stunning and visiting them all the more rewarding given that the best are only accessible by hiking over the lushly forested hills. The beaches were all ... read more

So we eventually left Beunos Aires. At one point it looked like we never would, especially when we forgot to book our bus to Sao Paulo and got delayed by a day! You must be wondering what a 32 hour bus ride was like, we had no idea what to expect. Well luckily the buses here are really good, teh seats go back pretty far and you get fed aeroplane food. Its a bit like a good seat on an aeroplane I guess. We even got a glass of champagne! Kind of wish we hadn´t though, the bottle had a picture of a bus on and it tasted horrible! The first 24 hours were fine, we watched a few of the films they showed and just slept. Then it started to get boring but without too ... read more

After 32 hours of travelling, involving 5 buses, many bus stations and many road side cafes, eating too many empanadas (or pastels are they are called here), we finally arrived in the town of Paraty. Paraty is different to other Brazilian towns. It is only a few hours from Rio, making it a popular holiday spot. It is a bustling, small, quaint village with cobbled streets and a picturesque harbour. It has many beautiful beaches within 20 km. We had booked ahead into the Paraty B+B, and were very grateful for this when stepping off the bus as it was a cool 36 degrees, with the kind of humidity that causes sweating instantly. As you can imagine after such a long journey, our tempers were very much in need of a shower and some space to ... read more

This blog should be another series of photos showing a South American country as a hot bed of football. I know this is a difficult concept to visualise after those shots of an overflowing Estadio Centenario, but at least the games went ahead as planned. A lesson to those planning a Rio footballing experience - give yourself options. Flamengo would surely play a big home at the Maracana, wouldn’t they? Well not necessarily, in a country that has been known to switch a kick off so as not to clash with their version of East Enders. Flamengo switched their game ……. and played it in the jungle city of Manaus to get a crowd ….. the sort of stunt that Juventus would pull in Italy for a meaningless Champions League game if they could persuade UEFA ... read more