The Adventure of Ruan: Paraty

Paraty is a small historic coastal town about 260km from Rio. The most interesting thing that I read about it, is that the cobble streets were designed in such a way that the sea floods it during high tide. Instead of getting the early start that I wanted to get, I had a bit of a lie-in :) No need to push myself like a soldier until I break. As soon as I walked out the posada, I was filled with joy and excitement for the road ahead. This is what travelling should feel like. I was very happy that I didn’t rush to get here the previous day, in the dark, as it was an exquisite day!

The ride to Paraty took mostly look me along the coast with some nice views (map). The roads kind of reminded me of Florida, not the typical narrow roads that I had gotten used to up until now. I soon realised that the reason for this is that there is a nuclear power plant halfway between Angra and Paraty. Jikes!

I read in Footprint’s guide about the Geko hostel, so when I got off the bus and walked to a little travel agent (which I though was tourist info) I asked about it. Well priced an right on the beach. To get some practice walking with my backpack, I trundled through town on my way there. This place has a great vibe! Relaxed and safe.

Geko hostel looked nice, so i booked myself in for 2 days (so I can enjoy the place a bit). The room was fine but what really convinced me about the place was the people working there. They were really helpful, nice and down to earth. The type of people that you would like around you. By the time I was settled it was too late to do any organised tour (which I later realised I have a dislike for), but I still wanted to do something. In the close by mountains there are a couple of waterfalls. Most people only go to these places with tour leaders, “because we don’t want to get lost.” It all part of the adventure :) Took a local bus and got off at the stop which is 2min walk from the waterfall. This waterfall is more of a slippery-slide then a waterfall, but SO much fun! I went sliding down it many times and met an Aussie guy that told me about another waterfall just down the road. A quick look at my map…7km. “I can do that.”

Still wet from swimming, I took a jog downhill to the other waterfall called Petra Branca. As I’m not fit I obviously didn’t run the whole way, but I’m getting in shape….slowly. Once I turned off the main road it was uphill, along a tarred rural road. Some great views. By the time I reached Petra Branca it was starting to cool, the sun was behind the hills and darkness was close. I had a swim in all 3 pools and felt like a child playing Spiderman. This day at the waterfalls really took me back to my childhood, when we used to go to Karatara near Sedgefield and spend the day at the waterfall. What great times those were!

It was dark as I left the waterfall, but I noticed 3 guys sitting under a roof drinking beer. So I joined them, none of them being able to speak English. This did not stop us having a great time. Fabio (the guys I was able to communicate best with), Marco and one crazy guys (I forget his name) ended up chatting for about 3 hours after which Fabio was nice enough to take me to my hostel (he had a car there). I was very surprised to hear him put on Dire Straits in the car, to which we had a bit of a sing along :) What a way to cap off an awesome day!

The next day I wanted to do a touristy type thing, so planned to take a schooner trip to the islands (recommended by another traveller). First I had to book a cheap flight at the travel agent as I don’t have a CPF (remember from the bike buying post?) to book over the internet. This didn’t go as fast a I thought it would. 90min later I had a reservation, as my credit card wouldn’t go through over the phone. I’m guessing it is due to my CC being a chip-n-pin type. I would pay when I got to the airport.

Now it was too late to go on the schooner trip. German (the guy who works at Geko, yes that is his name) said that there are kayaks to rent and this was also nice to do. I saw Barbara (a Dutch lady I met at Geko) in town and she was keen to join. Shopped for some supplies and off we went. The paddle was very nice, as we could explore as we liked. The highlight was a mangrove swamp with lots of crabs on the trees and lunch on a beach. As you pass by the mangrove trees, it looks like the tree becomes alive as they move.

The previous day I had stumbles across a puppet theatre in town which is, apparently, world famous. My mother always says I should get some more culture, so I went. There are no words spoken making it more attractive to me :) 7 scenes are performed, some of which are a bit controversial. Like a suicide and a piece called “conception” showing the conception and birth in a presentable way (only the female pupet). My favourite was an old couple re-igniting the spark. Very playful and funny.

Back at the hostel there was a big party going on. Some drinks later we all hit the town. Barbara and was dead-set on going to dance Foggo, traditionally Brazilian. Being Brazil, the parties only really get going at 1am! I was tired but pushed through. This nice lady at the Foggo club taught me, and others, to dance Foggo. Its much like a 2-step, I think. By 4am I was bushed and crawled into bed.

To get to Sao Paulo, where my flight is from, I booked a bus departing Paraty at 23:30. I was not too fazed to spend the day lazing around and catching up with the world back home. But when invited to go out, how do you say no? So netbook aside, I went walking around with Barbara. We missed the bus to Trinidade (a beach 40min away), but we still managed to have a nice day. Drinking beer at the beach and ending it off with supper of Mosqueca (a traditional Brazilian fish dish).

I leave Paraty having had a great time, made some new friends and most importantly, the realisation that to enjoy my travels I need to explore and spend more time in nature. Can’t wait for Patagonia and Peru!

The streets of Paraty (net vir jou Pappa :) ):

The same street before & after flooding

Tourist boats – more streets

Dead-end street – Leading the church – Plain in front of the church

Restaurant at the river – Deliveries being made – Restaurant tables outside

At night – My favourite two pics

Random: I the guy dead?

Waterfall trip:

Nice church on the hill – Me – Went down there!

Admiring the strength of an ant – On the way to the second waterfall (cachoeira) – I got hungry along the way