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Paraty is a little town which has kept it´s colonial traditions. It really is very beautiful with its historical centre, river and beach - it has everything!
We were staying in a really funky hostel right on the beach front. It was the first hostel which was a hostel as we all know it, lots of people, a bar, live music and just an amazing atmosphere. On our first night their we met up with one of Lorna´s friends from uni, Tom (Tafi) who is also travelling with two friends - all of whom went to Birmingham University. Such a small world.
It was really nice to hear some English speaking people, and meet some new people. We were chatting and drinking away well into the night. On our first full day we discovered that Paraty had suffered some severe flooding the week before we arrived. This meant that the river had over-flown and gone into the sea so the sea was full of muck. You put your foot in and were just stepping in sludge. About a mile out from the beach was a little island, which we decided we would try and walk to. So all six of us started the sludgy walk - i gave up with the walking to attempted to swim it which was no easier as the water was so shallow. We decided to give up and turn back after about 7 mins, but we were all happy with our attempt, haha!
Apparently we were just desperate to get to the island so we all rented canoes and off we went. This was my first time canoeing that i can recall and i gotta say, i was pretty good. We did it at the stupidest time - midday - so i really did get exhausted as the sun is SO strong out here but we made it to the other side eventually. The island was cute, had some huge ants and a strange little shop and that was it - we got bored quickly so jumped back in the canoes and headed back to the main land for water lol!!
By the end of our canoeing experience we all had zero energy so collapsed into some hammocks - i realy do recommend everyone get a hamock, they are the most comfertable things EVER!
As food at the hostel was rather expensive we shelped up more hills into town and found the supermarket where we found a bottle of vodka 39% for under a pound, which is course we just had to buy!
Surrounding Paraty is little beach towns, the most well known amongst backpackers is Trindade. It was a 45 minute bus journey, again through mountains - on an overpacked bus where i was standing right by the doors which kept opening at random moments, i really did think i was going to fall out and die so i was holding on for dear life. When we arrived in Trindade it was full of people, there was no space to even sit and wasn´t what i was expecting at all. Although it was still very beautful with mountains surrounding it and rocks that of course i had to go and explore.
Paraty also had a ridiculous number of wild horses which i was desperate to run around with - i succeeded in doing this in Trindade which made my day!!
As well as beaches, we heard about a waterfall not far from Paraty which you could slide now. When we arrived it was glorious sun shine and i got so excited i jumped straight into the fresh water pool and started to climb up the fall which has been eroded away by the water (something like that haha) over the years. After slipping down a couple of times and falling straight back into the freezing cold water a local man explained to me how to climb up. After making it to the top and posing for a few photos (of course) i felt very proud of myself before realising that the only way to get down was to slide down into the fresh waterpool which was full of rocks. At the count of three i held my breath and off i went. It was the most ridiculous amount of fun, so of course i had to do it again and again and again - until it started raining!
Watching the rain fall whilst in this secluded mountainous area of Brazil i really believed i was travelling for the first time! It was then that i spotted a masive tree trunk that i could climb and jump off - this was great fun!
Paraty is a great place and i would recommend it to everyone to go and visit if they ever get the chance. On our last night there, after bumping into some more people from Bham uni, some Hawaiians and many other people we all decided that we would go out for a night on the town. So a group of about 20 of us trotted off into town and had a few beers. It was here that i met my first Israeli´s of this trip! I got very excited and started practising my hebrew straight up - i forgot how bad i am! haha!!
From Paraty we decided that we would have one more stop off before Rio - Ilha Grande which has been described to us as Paradise.
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