Emerald seas, lush tropical forests, a deep blue sky; in Paraty it seems we are just a step from paradise....cheesy but true! Paraty, south of Rio, is now a quaint reminder of its prominent role in BrazilŽs gold mining hey day. We arrived here today after the most hellish post birthday hungover journey! The sun was shining when we left Ihla Grande this morning to head here and our rucksacks felt about 3 times heavier than normal. Col looked like he was about to be sick several times on the ferry but he managed to hold it together.
Ihla Grande is a gorgeous island south of rio where we have spent the last few days (well recommended Caz !). It was terrible weather for the first day or so which was a shame cos we walked to Lopez Mendez beach which is apparently one of the top 100 beaches in the world....it looked amazing but am sure it would look even better in the sun. There was great surf (Ally you would love it) and Col had a bash on the board he had carried on the two hour walk to the beach.
We said a little prayer for sun on GillsieŽs birthday and voila - the sun came out. we had a cool day andattempted to start a tan but so far only have a few red blotches and rash marks to show for it. Last night we went for dinner with some people from the hostel and then there was a big party in the same restaurant which went on far too late and after a few capirinias too many we stumbled back to the hostel in the middle of an electricity failure and succeeded in breaking a zip on my rucksack (good going only 6 days in to our trip!) whilst hunting for our torch. all good.
Heading to Iguazu Falls next week before flying out to Bolivia which we are very excited about. a couple of epic 16+ hour bus journeys to get to Iguazu and back though so hoping the Falls are worth it ! Thanks to those who have sent us wee messages - nice to hear your chat from back home and donŽt worry, the messages can only be read by us. weŽll maybe try to put some pictures on the site soon - if we can work the technology that is. when weŽre in bolivia weŽll be away on some treks etc for several days and not sure how easy it will be to get on the internet but weŽll try to get on to the internet from time to time to say hello.
hope all well at home and winter hasnŽt arrived quite yet......
Later
G & C
