Day Fifty Eight: Party in Paraty

We woke to a sunny and clear day in historic Paraty. We have been really lucky so far with weather, the only day of rain and we were in a mini van travelling.

We wandered into town and made our way to the port. We were taking a cruise around the bay, I was kinda picturing something like that Duran Duran videoclip.

We got a brief look at the UNESCO heritage town of Paraty - with it's closed off to cars, pedestrian Cobblestone streets and white cement buildings with colorful doors and windows. So pretty. We will wander more later.

We finally got to the wharf, where the colour continued. All the boats and cruisers were painted in vibrant colour schemes and even the people themselves were colourful. Our boat was quite large and we made our way up to the open air upper deck in the shade.

We cruised out into the bay and made our way around to the various islands. We stopped for a swim and diving off the boat. We also had a go at snorkeling again, but there wasn't much to be seen. Sim saw a few sting rays but not much else. Still, the water was beautiful, a little warm and salty but amazing nonetheless.

We stopped a couple more times for a swim and a play in the water before having a seafood lunch and some caipiroskas on the deck.

It's a pretty place here, lush green islands with beautiful clear water set beneath the mountains that line the coast. Quite spectacular. As we made our way back, storm clouds came over head, making the sky s blue grey colour, adding to the drama of the scenery.

We got ashore and checked out the old buildings of the town in a bit more detail. The old church was interesting as were the all the different kinds if door and window treatments. There was a subtlety in the styles that with the diverse colours of the doors and windows gave each building a nice character.
After checking out a few shops we got some ice cream - simi is loving it! Was pretty good again actually. This place allowed you to pay by weight too, so we indulged a little bit.

We wandered back through the different streets of the town, it's got a safer feeling than I expected. Feels like a holiday town back home only older and quirkier! I really liked the canal that ran along the towns edge too. The pedestrian bridges looping over the canal connecting people to the town were really cool.

We got home for a short while then headed back into the town for dinner. It was quite a lavish place again. Very up market and proper, more western than what we were after. The fish however was nice and I also had a pasta to go with it.

The best part of this place was the live music. Really really good samba music - easy to eat to as well as listen. The funny thing about brazil is they charge you for the music in your bill, so theres music everywhere in every restaurant.

After dinner we headed back to the ice cream shop - simi couldn't help herself. We then walked into the centre of town where they were practicing for carnival. Lots of drumming, dancing, singing and transvestites actually. Was an interesting atmosphere.

We walked home the same way we did this afternoon, only this time it felt a little less safe. This was more how I was expecting to be in brazil. Still, we made it home safely.

Weve really enjoyed paraty, could stay another day for sure!


- Blog from iMat