Blogs from Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 7

We came to the end of our time in Ilha Grande and knew we had 3 nights before we needed to be in Sao Paulo for carnival. After some debating and searching through the lonely planet guide it became clear Paraty was the only town between the two places worth seeing. The decision was made easier for our love of the little coast town, the hostel Backpacker's House and its manager Pablo. So off back to Paraty we went! We quickly began talking with other travellers staying in the hostel and decided to go to the anniversary celebrations in the centre. At 10pm in tripping rain we ventured with 3 German boys, one Australian and 3 English girls to the stage where Danny the singer entertained us. Think Ricky Martin but 100 times more cheesy (one ... read more

Firstly, we would like like to apologize. It seems we are not natural bloggers, therefore, it is any excuse not to write the thing. How those in the blogsphere can be bothered to write, or even find something to write about every other day beats me! Anyhow, we have a lot to catch up on so I shall stop bitching... We arrived in a small but infamous town called Paraty. The most untouched colonial town in Brazil and supposedly the most important example of portuguese colonial architecture. Small streets with large cobbles designed to allow high tides to enter and wash away. Beautiful multicoloured buildings and charming churches. The night we arrived the 'pre-carnival' party was starting. This is a month-long event with live music and parades leading up to carnival (basically another excuse for brazilians ... read more

Leaving behind the sogginess of Ilha Grande, we headed south to the coastal colonial town of Paraty. Day 1 - The Beach and the Natural Pool Up early doors, for a short bus ride to a local beach, Trindade, for some sun, sea and sand, which there seems to be a lot of in Brazil. Getting off the bus we overheard some fellow travellers talking of natural pools located 45 mins along the coast, accessed via a trail that lead through Jungle and along the beach - thankfully less of an endurance test than Ilha Grande. The pools were a formation of giant boulders that sectioned off part of the sea and were inhabited by schools of black and yellow stripped fish - first chance to really test the underwater capabilities of my new camera! As ... read more

Well am writing this from the side of the road, somewhere between Foz De Iguacu and Cascavelo. The bus we were on blew a tyre on the motorway, resulting in all the passengers stood on the highway, watching the driver and a few volunteers take on the grueling task of changing a coach tire. There goes our connecting bus to Campo Grande, O’well! It’s been a while since the last update due to spotty net connections and bit of a stomach upset but we’re happy to announce we’re now rocking a HP Notebook laptop, so regular posts and pictures (finally!) should be a coming. That is until the laptop breaks, fingers crossed!Back to the matter at hand. After the wet island of Ilha Grande we travelled by sea and land to Partay about 4 hours down ... read more

After 3 nights on Ilha Grande it was back to the mainline for the short drive to Paraty (no parrots) What Paraty delivers is a very friendly old colonial style town with uneven cobbled streets, beaches and waterfalls, as well as good places to eat and drink, and that is pretty much all you need. Firstly it is a good place to do a bit of shopping, after the relative indifference in Rio shops I found it a pleasure to amble around the shops there and improve my clothing roster, flipflops, toilettries, hat etc, it´s a nice blend of genuine, but very receptive to bumbling tourist like me who are never going to get over even the most simple of Portugeese. The majority vote for activities on the Saturday was for a jeep tour and as ... read more