Paraty, Brazil

​14th October – 17th October 2017

After leaving the campsite in Brotas just before 6.30, I tried to get some sleep on the truck because I really didn’t get much during the night. I lay down and closed my eyes but I didn’t have much luck actually sleeping, unfortunately.

At around 8, we stopped off for petrol and breakfast. Katie’s group we’re doing breakfast and had decided to do cereals – it was a nice change to a yogurt and some juice on the truck. They set it all up outside and we could help ourselves. I had a bowl of granola and yogurt but felt quite full about halfway through – I think the heat is shrinking my stomach! We all helped to clean up, before getting back on the truck at about 8.40 to carry on our journey to Paraty.

Adam is coming towards the end of his training time in South America and despite doing a lot of driving on this leg of the trip, he still doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a passenger when he is driving. He flies over speed bumps and bumpy roads like there are no problems; it’s okay for him because he had an air suspension seat, but when you’re sat in the back with no suspension, it’s really not enjoyable at all, so it was a bumpy few hours for the next part of the journey. I kept trying to get some sleep to catch up from the night, but it just wasn’t happening for me, so by the time we had our next break at 11.15ish, I gave up.

During the break, we were told to get a snack if we wanted because it would be at least two more hours until lunch, so most people ate leftover pasta from dinner the night before, while I ate some leftover watermelon from breakfast. We got back in the truck and carried on further down the roads.

Our next break wasn’t until about 2.30 and by that time I was so hungry – I probably should have had some pasta! We quickly grabbed some petrol, before setting up for lunch on the coast, overlooking the sea. It was my group who were doing lunch – our last truck meal – so we just did ham and cheese sandwiches with salad options too. After everything was cleaned up, I grabbed another piece of watermelon, guarded Sabrina while she had a wee under the wheel arch, before we set off again with 117 bumpy and windy kilometres to go until Paraty. We were just lucky that it was a cloudy day, so the temperature was much more comfortable on the truck!

We didn’t really get moving very much after lunch, as we got stuck in a lot of traffic; they seem to be dragging this bank holiday out for as long as they can because all of the beaches were jam packed and there were so many cars on the road. We stopped again about two hours after lunch, at 5.15, and still had 75 kilometres to go, so had only done just over 40 in two hours! It couldn’t be helped and at least it was a cooler day, but we just wanted to be at the hostel.

Finally, at around 7.30, after a thirteen hour drive day, we arrived at the hostel. However, we couldn’t park at our hostel because it was still the public holiday and it was too busy to get the truck near where we were staying, so we had to park at another hostel and get lifts from Leo (the owner) to his hostel in groups of four.

When we arrived at the hostel, we were split into dorms again, one for boys and one for girls. The rooming situation was a bit weird because Lars and Adam were in a double bed room and Katie and Jack were split into the dorms and it didn’t make sense why Lars didn’t swap it around a bit because it would have worked, but he didn’t take the suggestion. We went to our rooms and I was on the top bunk of three bunks! It was so high, I’ve never seen a bed like it before. After we had put our things in or rooms, we had a little bit to chill before we all got together for a barbecue.

The barbecue was provided for us by Leo and it was very tasty food. We had steak, sausages, potato salad, salad and dips. The meat was the nicest meat I have eaten in a while and I wish I could have eaten more, but I was just too full.

After the food, we sat around and had a chat. We had been reunited to Joe and Char – they had flown into Rio and then got a bus down the Paraty to meet us – so we had a catch up with them. Leo got his guitar out and played a couple of songs, which he sang along to. Apparently he is a singer in a band but played the guitar pretty well too. Once Leo had finished, he left and we all gradually made our way up to bed, ready for a big day, the next day.

After I good night’s sleep, I woke up quite confused the next day. We had all agreed that we would get up around 8ish, to have breakfast and go out into the town. I could hear Jessie showering and when I looked at my watch, it only said 6, so I was confused as to why she got up so early; I didn’t think much else about it, until I heard Katie ask Jessie the time a little later on. When Jessie said it was 7.40, I was even more confused because I knew I hadn’t fallen back to sleep and it hadn’t been that long. I thought my watch had stopped, but Katie’s said the same time and we just didn’t understand, until we found out later in the day that the clocks went forward over night and we had lost an hour’s sleep – it was a confusing situation.

After we were all ready and had eaten breakfast (which was very basic), the five of us (me, Katie, Sabrina, Jessie and Courtenay) walked into the town. A couple of the girls wanted a new bikini and I needed some new suncream – not that it was even remotely sunny at the time. We didn’t have much time, so as soon as we had what we wanted, we walked back to the hostel.

On the way back – me and Sabrina had left the others because they were still looking for bikinis – we got a little lost, again! I really thought I had a good sense of direction, until I started this trip and now I’m starting to think I’ve got lazy with my travelling because I’ve had people organising me for three months. We ended up walking up a hill that neither of us could remember walking down. We tried a few different streets before walking into another hostel and asking them for help. The men in the hostel were very kind and looked on google maps for us, so we could get back.

When we finally back it back to Leo’s, we only had fifteen minutes until we were meeting up for the boat trip. We ran upstairs and got changed, and were back down just in time. Once everyone was together, we set off around 10.45 towards the boat, which was only a ten minute walk.

We arrived at the boat and it was a lot smaller than we expected it to be, but there was only our group going on it, so it wasn’t too bad. There were the thirteen of us, plus two workers on the boat: one seemed to be the driver and the other one was the cocktail maker by the looks of things. We set off around 11 and by 11.15, we all had a caipirihna in our hands; the drink helped the fact that we were all freezing in our bikinis because it was cloudy and miserable and rainy.

As we had just about finished our first drink, we pulled up at an island, where we had the chance to jump off the boat. I wasn’t convinced at first because I was so cold, but after a couple of people had said it was warmer in the sea, I went for it. We had a swim around, saw some monkeys in the trees, saw some fish in the sea through the snorkel and swallowed an awful lot of sea water – it was great.

After we got back on the boat, we carried on a bit further to another island where we could jump off and swim in. We didn’t actually go onto the islands but they were pretty to swim by – apparently one of the islands is where they filmed on of the twilight films, by I’m not sure we saw that one. In between swims, when we were on the boat, we were constantly supplied with caipirihnas, it was great!

We swam and drank our way to lunch time, which was on one island where we did get off. We had pre ordered our food, so it was ready when we arrived. I had ordered chicken and it was very tasty chicken, which came with chips and rice – always double carbs over here.

Very soon after lunch, we were back on the boat, ready to party on into the afternoon with more caipirinhas, more swimming and more music and dancing.

We stopped off at a couple more islands to swim a little more in the way back. The weather was still very miserable but we tried not to think about it too much; we were still having a good time. At one point, we were sat on the top deck when the rain came down a little heavier. I decided it was best to move down to the lower deck where there was a little more shelter. On my way down the steps, I had my drink in one hand and my GoPro in the other; as I stepped on the second step, a big gust of wind came and off I fell onto the lower deck – luckily I managed to save my drink, and I landed relatively gracefully so it didn’t hurt!

We arrived back on the mainland at around 4.30 and made our way back to the hostel. We were all still having a great time, so we decided to shower and head back out to find dinner and a few bars. Due to all of the alcohol, it took us all a while to be ready, but when we were, we walked into the main town bit to find a restaurant.

For dinner, I ordered a chicken sandwich, which was the nicest sandwich I had had in a long time. I had some ice cream for dessert, but I had sampled that many before I bought one, I couldn’t remember what flavours I had chosen in the end!

After dinner, we walked a couple of doors down to a bar and went in there for a few drinks. I was happy not drinking by this time, but Katie ordered me one, so it would have been rude not to – I did just have the one though and quite happily sat there chatting to everyone. A man that was in the bar (who we couldn’t figure out if he worked there or not) started trying to teach us Samba dancing. I had a go but I wasn’t convinced it was really samba, but we had fun.

At around 12, I decided I had had enough and was tired, so I walked back to the hostel with Katie and Jack. Everyone else was pretty close behind us because me and Katie were still awake when the others came in and Sabrina put on a spectacular drunken show when she got in, before we all fell asleep.

It was nice to know that we didn’t have to be up for anything the next day, so we slept in a little bit. I woke up around 8.30 and lay in bed a little before getting up and going to breakfast.

It was quite a slow morning, as it took me until about midday to get myself fully up and ready.

Once I was ready, I decided to go out to the town for a wander. I didn’t mind going on my own, but Katie and Jack decided that they wanted to come too, so I waited for them. We didn’t really have a plan for the day, so we just wandered through the streets; I wanted a patch for my bag and Jack wanted some socks, but there wasn’t really anything else we had in mind.

Wandering up and down the streets was quite confusing, because they all look the same, so it was very easy to get lost. We found our way around though and managed to get what we needed, before we found a café to have lunch in. It would have been a much more relaxing time wandering through the streets, if it wasn’t raining and drizzling all afternoon – it made it slightly less enjoyable. We sat in a café and all order the same for lunch: a cheese burger with fries. I didn’t order a drink in the café because I had my water bottle with me, but when Katie and Jack ordered theirs I think the waitress assumed I was the same and I got one anyway – it was lemonade, so it was nice and I drank it but it was a little annoying that I couldn’t say anything because I don’t speak Portuguese.

After lunch, we walked back to the hostel for a rest – I was very tired by this point, but luckily there wasn’t any hangover for me, so that was a bonus. We arrived back at around 3ish, so I had a few hours to chill until I wanted to go out again; I wanted to go to the free walking tour of Paraty, which started at 5. For the couple of free hours, I just chilled out and tried not to fall asleep, so that I didn’t miss the tour.

By the time it was 4.30, I really did not want to get up and go out again, especially as it was still raining – this was not the picture of Paraty I had painted in my mind. After much deliberation, I decided to get up and go, as I really do enjoy the walking tours and finding out the history of the places that I visit.

A few of us met in the hostel reception area and walked to the main square together. We met the guide, Juan Jose, who gave us a little background information into the history of Brazil. Apparently, the name Brazil came about in the 1500s, when the Spanish were conquering South America; when the Portuguese came, instead of trying to conquer, they traded instead and the thing that they wanted to trade the most, was the Brazilian wood. In 1822, Brazil gained its independence when the Portuguese king traded himself for his country and moved to Brazil to release it. The modern era of Brazil began in 1889, when there was the democratic republic.

The walking part of the tour began in the main square, where we met. We started off by looking at the church, which didn’t really look like a church building, as it didn’t have any bell towers or anything on the top – it was just flat rooved. This is because the church was never finished, as Paraty is a town which floods quite easily; when they started to build the bell tower on top, the building started to cave in and lean and they were losing the structure. This happened because Paraty is built on mangroves and as the building was falling, they decided to leave the bell towers off.

We carried on walking through the new part of the town – the part that is built on the mangroves. When this part of Paraty was built, the mangroves land was bought from a woman who sold her lands on the conditions that the main church was dedicated to a certain person, which it still is, and that the indigenous people were respected, which only happened until the lady passed away.

The town of Paraty was built strategically, to confuse any invaders that might come over the waters – I suppose that’s why I got confused too! All of the buildings are white, with just the frames of the doors and windows painted in bright colours. When you look down a street, you cannot really see where other streets cross, or where the streets end, so it is designed well in that aspect – I just thought it was like that to look pretty. Very few of the buildings have a third level on the top. This third level is for people of higher level in society: army members, so that they can see any invaders coming over the water; politicians, to ‘look after’ people and the merchants, to see the best stock arriving in the docks, so that they could run down and get the best deal.

The next building, was another church. However, this church began as a chapel for the women. A chapel is a building that usually begins as a private project; the women asked their rich husbands to build them one, so that they didn’t have to share with the men in the main church. The women’s church had a tower on top, which contained a cross, above the cockerel and the globe. As the church was built on the water front, it had a slit in the front, for defending against any attacks. Behind the church, still attached to it, was a yellow building which was used as a cemetery; the people believed that the closer to the church they were, the happier they would rest. This particular church isn’t used regularly anymore; it opens three times a year, unless people pay to use it for weddings or celebrations. As it is so expensive to hire out, it is usually only rich and famous people that do this.

We moved along the front a little more and came to another important building: the house of a prince. Apparently it is a real prince that does own the house – the great great great grandson of the original emperor of Brazil – but he doesn’t live in the house in Paraty. The colours of the house match the colours of the Brazilian flag, but in fact, these are the royal colours, and each window and door has a crown shaped frame on the top.

On the way to the next building, we looked at the structure of the city. Each road dips down the centre and the whole city has a slight incline towards the ocean, so that waste can be removed from the roads. The roads and pavements that were originally laid, were made using stones from Portugal. When the Brazilians traded gold with Portugal, the traded goods weren’t equivalent to the weight of the gold, so they would fill the rest of the boat with stones. These were then put down neatly, to make the roads as smooth as possible. Only a few of these still exist on pavements now, because when the roads were dug up to lay down the underground cables for the houses, the stones from Portugal were lost, so they replaced them with stones from the mountains; they didn’t put these down neatly though, they just threw them down which is why it is now so uneven and difficult to walk over. Between May and June, the water levels in the streets is very high and boats are needed to transport the goods around; people aren’t allowed to use boats for their own transportation though.

Moving back towards the centre of the city, we looked at the House of the Pineapple. It is a building designed for wealth, fertility and to welcome. The pineapples represent the crown of Brazil, with the green and gold colours. Across the street from the House of the Pineapple, was a row of buildings which were buildings of the merchants; they had their shops on the bottom and their houses on the top.

The buildings which had their windows on the outside, were the buildings which were owned by rich people. The windows were on the outside of the shutters, to show that the people who owned it had money, because glass was an expensive material. The windows were in replacement of doors, but the door frame is kept, to show that the city is a commercial city.

On one of the building, we saw the coat of arms for Paraty. The main part of the coat of arms, shows the dedication to the most important city, it shows the memory of the indigenous people, it shows that it is a national heritage city and the final part shows the map with the road where the gold originally came in, with the paratii fish on it, in the bay. Amongst other things, there are sugar canes on the coats of arms to represent the cachace, which makes the Brazil famous drink caipirinha.

For a short period of time, the letters Y, K and W were removed from the alphabet, which is why some signs read ‘Parati’ and others ‘Paraty’.

The final building we looked at, was the House of Culture. This is a building which opens to the public to allow them to go in and understand the culture of Paraty. It is a building that is kept as simple as possible.

To finish the rainy tour, the guide did some martial arts class with us, to show the relationship between the slaves and their owners. I can’t remember the name of the particular type of martial arts, but it was one which involved little to no contact, so that the slaves didn’t cross any boundaries by touching their owners.

After the tour had finished, we walked back to the hostel, where we had some time to chill. I was very tired at this point and had very little energy in me. We didn’t stay still for very long though, as the guide on the walking tour had recommended a restaurant, so people wanted to try that out.

Most of us went to the restaurant for dinner. It was a fish restaurant, but as I am not a massive lover of fish, I had chicken, but it was very tasty. We sat there for a while after we had eaten, but then decided to head back to the hostel for bed.

On the way back, we walked through the main square; we had been told that on a Monday night (which it was), the local bands all join in the square and play music together and everyone dances around and it’s all free. We wanted to see it and give it a go, but unfortunately nothing was happening – we think it was called off in the rain, which was annoying.

Back at the hostel, we finished packing our bags and got into bed; we were all very tired after the boat party and the late night and then lots of walking.

After a pretty rubbish sleep (I don’t know why), I was up around 7.30 to get ready for the last truck drive day! After I was dressed, I went down for breakfast and then got my bags onto the truck. We left Paraty just after 8.30 – we were late on our last day! – to head towards the final stop of the whole trip: Rio de Janeiro.

Although it rained the entire time we were there, I can imagine Paraty to be a very beautiful place. The history of the city interested me as always and the boat party with free caipirinhas was a bonus. It was a good way for us all to be together and enjoy our last few days as a group.

To travel is to live, Katie x