Paraty

We had to be up early, 8:30, which is the earliest we've had to be up and out on this entire trip so far. Once we got out, I was happy to be leaving Ilha Grande. It was baking hot already by 8:30. The previous 2 days we had been there, it didn't get really warm until about noon. We all searched for shade while waiting for the ferry to come pick us up. Barbara kept telling us she was really hoping for the "fast boat" (the catamaran which would take us back to Angra Dos Reis twice as fast as the sailboat that took us initially). Luckily, it was indeed the catamaran so we got back to shore in 45 minutes instead of 2 hours later. We boarded another little van that was taking us to Paraty. An hour and a half later, we arrived. If you come to Brazil, come to Paraty. It's a wonderful little town. There is an area called the "historic center" that is about 6 square blocks of shops and restaurants. No cars are allowed within that area. Just be careful of the HUGE stones that the streets are made of. Again, sprained ankle warnings abound. James figured it out first. Walk straight down the middle of the street on the flat stones that lead to the sewers. Or else, you'll spend the entire time watching where you step. Outside of the historic center is the expanded sections of Paraty. This is the more modern areas with more restaurants, stores, etc. Paraty is also surrounded by water on 3 sides so there are many beaches. 

We checked into our cute little hotel and took a look at our accommodations. Dual bunkbeds in our room. Elizabeth, Suzanne, and Hannah got a double and a bunk so immediately came over to negotiate a trade since our room had more floorspace. We offered them a fair price (2 drinks a piece and they move our bags). They decided they'd stay with theirs since ours didn't have a refrigerator or ceiling fan. The complex also had a hot tub right in the middle but the water was freezing cold. This would become our standard meeting place while we soaked our tired, sunburned, and bug bitten feet in the cool water. We congregated and discussed options with our feet in the water and decided that since some of us wanted to Kayak and didn't get to on Ilha Grande, we took the liberty to do so in Paraty. We walked through the historic center and out the other side of town down to the beach. Along the way Justin got stung by a huge black wasp on his calf. Chalk another up mishap. He's lucky it didn't swell much but he said it hurt like hell. We made our way to the beach and some of us took Kayaks into the cove. Others played soccer on the beach or just read. It was also Tom's birthday and Barbara actually worked at a restaurant right across the street from where we were so she went and talked to her friends about setting up a birthday dinner and bonfire for Tom's birthday. I remember asking Tom while we were kayaking "Did you ever think you'd be sitting in a kayak in Brazil on your birthday?" His answer was "No and it's pretty f*****g amazing." We stayed on the beach for a bit then walked back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for dinner. Seemed kind of funny we were leaving that spot only to return 2 hours later. The restaurant was an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant that was really quite good. The best one I thought was the veggie (I know!) pizza with carrots. It was fantastic!

We ate dinner then went and sat on the beach for a few hours with a bonfire. It was perfect. At one point, Thom said "Chris, you ok over there, you haven't said much." To be honest, I was just content in the moment. Completely hypnotized by the fire. Some of the girls wanted to go dancing around midnight so one of Barbara's friends drove all of us in a VW bus to a club back near where our hotel was. It was a lot of fun. I met an absolutely stunning Irish girl there named Jenny and we were hitting if off quite well until her English friend came and pulled her away and took her back to their hostel. GRRR… That's ok. She gave me a little kiss when she left and we exchanged contact info. Though it was something that did not go unnoticed by the group and I'm developing a slight reputation as a "smooth operator with the ladies" as quoted by Elizabeth. On what? Day 5?? But we went home around 4am (another long night) knowing that the next day was a "free day" which meant there were no planned activities. We could sleep in and do whatever we wanted to do. I think sleep was the first thing on the itinerary for most of us though. So we turned in after another great day wondering what was next. It turned out to be fun and more fun for some of us.