Paraty, Brazil – April 4-5, 2011 I hope this looks better on your screen than mine but this is the best I can do for now. Sorry! …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….We left our hotel in Sao Paulo at 7 a.m. and headed to the bus station to catch our bus to Paraty. It was a six hour drive with two rest stops along the way. I managed to go through most of my pictures from the last week or so and delete the duds and duplicates. Other than that I just enjoyed the scenery along the way and probably did nod off a few times. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….The scenery was beautiful. The whole area is very lush and green and there were rolling hills to look at and some high passes to drive through – not like our BC mountain passes but still high enough to give the bus a real workout and to create traffic jams as trucks and other vehicles crawled up the hills. There was also a lot of water around in the form of rivers and lakes and eventually the ocean. It was a very scenic drive and easy to enjoy. We went through a few towns and at least one large city and they were not all that exciting. It was the countryside that was really impressive. Anyway, we arrived in Paraty around 2 p.m. and walked to our hotel and checked in, and yes, that means I wore my backpack once again. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Paraty (pronounced par-a-CHEE) is on the coast and during the Brazilian gold rush it was a main port town. The town was founded in 1660 and is thus very colonial in flavour. The streets are mainly cobblestone and narrow. The buildings are all low with two storeys max. They are brick and all painted white but with bright colourful trim. It’s a very pretty town to walk through although the walk is not easy on the cobble stone. The harbour area was very pretty with lots of colourful boats. And the bay is full of islands so it makes for a very pretty backdrop. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….There are a couple of old churches and an old jail from the Portuguese era. None of them seemed to be open this afternoon when we went walking around. The one church is on the town square and the other is on the waterfront. Some of the streets were flooded today and down by the main square there was a lot of water all across the street so I’m not sure how deep that was. And at the water front you couldn’t walk down the walkway because it was totally flooded. Instead you had to walk along the wall of the pier. I wasn’t sure if that was normal or just the result of recent rains or of the tides but perhaps I’ll sort it out over the next day or so while we are here. In case you’re wondering it is raining again so I’m in the hotel room writing blogs instead of touring around the city. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….The original Portuguese engineers developed the city with the cobblestone streets curved so the water would run to the sides and down the drainage system. They also left an opening in the sea wall so that every full moon when the tides are high, the ocean water floods into the city and down its many streets. The water is only six to ten inches deep and it only stays for a while until the tide starts to recede. I don’t think we have a full moon right now so I don’t think that’s why the streets are flooded today. However, you never know. Perhaps when I go out for dinner with the group the streets will all be dry. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….There are lots of small shops, and I really mean small, all over the town and lots of restaurants and bars. Of course the whole town area is only about ten blocks square so “lots” is limited by the size of the town. We stopped for a snack at one of the places and had acai, bananas and honey, which is a local specialty. You could also have granola added to it but I didn’t. I enjoyed mine anyway. It was kind of like a fruit freezy with bananas and honey on top. It was very icy and refreshing and it tasted great. I’m only mentioning this because the acai berry is the one that Monavie is made from and I was taking it at home to help my knees. I can tell you for certain that the acai freezy down here is much better than the drink back home! …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….The Guianas Indians were the first inhabitants of the area and then the Portuguese came in the 16th century. The gold rush at the end of the 17th century turned the town into a booming port city until a new route was found from Rio to the gold deposits in Minas Gerais. Coffee production boosted the economy in the 19th century and tourism is now helping. Until 1954, Paraty was not accessible except by sea. New highways that link Paraty to Rio and other parts of the country have changed the city dramatically in the last half century and opened it to tourists. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….We are here all day tomorrow and leave for Rio on the following day. Tomorrow we are going on a boat tour around the many islands off the coast and hopefully snorkeling and swimming and just generally relaxing. Hopefully the weather cooperates! …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….It is now Tuesday the 5th and it’s 5 p.m. and I’m back in the room blogging because it is once again pouring rain. Our boat tour was great. We left the pier about 11 and made three swimming / snorkeling stops and one lunch stop. There are a lot of little islands off the coast at Paraty. We only saw a few of them but they are very lush and green and look lovely. Some have sandy beaches and some have rocky cliffs, and the rocky cliffs don’t seem rocky at all because they are warn smooth and are many colours so they almost look soft. There are some nice homes along the shore line. Some look deserted so they are probably just holiday homes. The area is about 4 hours from Rio so it would be a great vacation spot to get away from the city. Some big name people have homes on the water but the only one I remember now was Arnold Schwarzenegger (sp) and an ex of one of the James Bonds. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….The first two snorkeling stops were in bays with sandy beaches and some rocks along the one side where the fish supposedly hang out. The snorkeling was okay and the water was refreshing but not cold. However, there really wasn’t much to see. The weather has been pretty rough lately and was again today so the water was pretty agitated and murky, and the sun wasn’t shining so there wasn’t much light shining through. I saw a few small fish and some corral and other sea plants but that was about it. I saw more fish when we stopped for lunch and a few tidbits were thrown over the side of the boat. The small fish were really around for that feast. Our lunch was delicious. We had a choice of either fish or chicken and it came with rice and potatoes and salad. I had the fish and it came with a salsa. I have no idea what exactly was in it but it was tasty. After lunch it started to rain. We had one more stop and a few people went in swimming while it was a raining heavily. The rest of us, although still wet, decided not to get any wetter. We returned to shore and walked back to our hotel in the rain in our swimsuits and wet gear. I’ve now showered, washed my hair and rinsed out my clothes so I almost feel human again. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Before our boat tour I went for a walk around the town. I’m happy to report that the tidal water had receded and the streets were almost totally dry. This afternoon when we came back from our boat trip the streets were once again flooded so I’m quite sure the flooding is all tidal related. It’s a pretty neat phenomenon but I imagine the townsfolk do sometimes get tired of all the water. I like it when the mud/dirt gets almost level with the cobble stones and the path is smoother to walk on but this morning I saw several people out digging the dirt from around the stones so there was more of a groove between the stones. I guess when you’re dealing with this much water every day you do want a place for it to go so you can keep your feet a bit drier. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….The town was lovely this morning as the sun was shining and the sky was blue. The white walls with colourful trim were all shining brightly as I walked around. And there are lots of lovely flowers in various places throughout the town. I can’t say they are everywhere because most streets are just a white wall, cobble stones and another wall. There is literally no green on any street. Sidewalks are even hard to come by in some areas but then there aren’t that many cars on the roads anyway and indeed many of the streets are for pedestrians only. So when you see these beautiful flowers they are a real treat and they are either peeking over the top of one of the walls or in a park or in some other open area. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….I went into the old jail which is now a library. It is the original jail structure and the different types of books are behind the bars of the old prison cells. The windows all have bars and the doors are heavy barred structures that swing open on deep grooves in the floor. It is small with only a centre hall which is now office space, and perhaps were two cells on each side at the back where books are now stored, and office space on each side at the front which is still used as an office. It was a great place to see and a wonderful way to use it. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….I also went by both of the churches but could not go into either. One was just closed and the other is under renovations and you can’t enter. It is obviously a museum now as the sign at the door say you couldn’t take pictures in the museum. The houses in town are all white stone with colourful trim. Along the waterfront there are some larger two storey homes. They are white too and just plain box structures but they have door and window and roof trim in bight colours so they look quite lovely. And some have intricate trim and design around the windows, not just your usual square window frame. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….The boats in the harbour also add a real zest to the picture. They are mainly white but then one has a light pink trim and the one beside it has baby blue and the next one has lavender. There are also lime greens and royal blues and yellows and various other colours. There was even one that was lavender and blue. One of the bays we passed on our boat trip was just another bay except for the boats anchored in the harbour. They were absolutely delightful and looked like toy boats or model boats you might have made from toothpicks and balsa wood and then painted bright colours. All of the masts and rigging were white. That would be the toothpick part. One was green and yellow and white on the bottom with bright yellow door and window frames and roof. Another was green and yellow and white on the bottom but with baby blue door and window frames and an orange roof. It even had some lavender trim as well. Another was green, blue, yellow and white on bottom and had the same trim colours. Some were simpler with just blue and white on the bottom, blue trim and a yellow roof but the differences just added to the overall picture. These were all had two storey structures in the centre so I’m assuming they were fishing boats and not pleasure craft and tourist boats like the ones in the harbour. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….I should also mention that everything here is rather expensive. I haven’t been doing any shopping but the others have commented on the prices of several items. The only thing I have been buying is food and it is definitely expensive. The lunch today on the boat cost $20 which I guess isn’t too bad considering we were on a boat and the food was good. Last night we went to dinner in one of the local restaurants. The food was good and we had a great time as it was the birthday of one of the tour members. I had one drink (some local think I can’t remember the name of but it was on sale at $8 down from $12 and just a short drink, as opposed to a long one), and fish which was delicious and came with just a salad. For that I paid $45 R or about $30 Canadian. That might not seem too outrageous but it is considering that most of this South American holiday included full dinners for about $10 Canadian. Of course this one did include a cover charge because there was a small band performing and I don’t think we’ve experienced that anywhere before. Besides, we are getting closer to the big city of Rio de Janeiro where prices are supposed to be totally outrageous. I can hardly wait to experience those prices. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Okay, I think that’s it for now. We didn’t have much time in Paraty and it rained a lot while we were here but I still enjoyed the visit. I may find other Brazilian towns are just like it but for now it’s the first I’ve seen and it seems quite unique. That may be a result of its isolation until the last half century but I certainly hope it doesn’t change much to try and match the rest of the world. It’s absolutely lovely just the way it is.