Friday 3rd March 2017

Transfer – Isla Grande via large RIB ‘flexboat’ to Angra dos Reis, bus to Paraty.

Lovely bus ride through rainforest and views off over the many islands dotted around the ocean. Passed two nuclear power stations which seemed smaller than I would have imagined. Feeling the effects of the sun yesterday – lots of ‘aftersun’ required. Arrived in Paraty to stay at the Pousada Porto Imperial – a very posh hotel with pool, Jacuzzi, sauna etc. Managed to completely mess up the room by doing the laundry (it had an actual plug in the sink), hanging wet items across the pristine bathroom.  Iain had made a decision that lugging his drizabone jacket, excess fleece and shoes around was not practical/too heavy, so we found the first Correos/Post Office seen on this journey and posted it all home.

Had a wander around town – huge ‘cobblestones’ (or large boulders!) surfacing the streets makes walking/driving quite difficult but very picturesque.  They were originally the ballast at the bottom of the Portugese ships which were swapped with the gold mined in the area. Once the gold rush had finished, the area was famous for growing coffee until the crop started to fail due to lack of crop rotation. It finally went to sugar cane before being abandoned to the slaves who wanted to remain.  The place was rediscovered in the 1950s where it became frequented by artists and hippies and then designated a world heritage site so that the buildings are protected in their style and multi-colours.  The town is bordered by two rivers, so all-in-all makes for a quirky little unique town.

Anyway, back to us – we wanted to celebrate after divesting ourselves of about 4kg of excess kit, and felt a breeze that warned of imminent rain. So only solution was to hit a local bar selling food and hunker down.  Just in time.  The heavens opened and it tipped down for about two hours. We watched the cobblestones flooding whilst supping the strongest Caipirinhas ever and having a lovely lunch/dinner.

Tip of the Week:

"How to make a Caipirinha"

Brazil’s national cocktail, made with cachaça (distilled from sugarcane). 

Get one fresh lime, cut into 8 chunks, smash up and add a Large spoon of sugar

(at least a heaped tablespoon). Big slug of cachaça, loads of ice and

give it a big shake.  Then consume with the sun beating down on your back. 

It is sometimes the final bit which makes it taste different in different countries….

Sins = 200x. However I understand that lime is a good source of vitamin C and

helps to counter a cold. Also prevents scurvy so Actual sins = 2x.  Can have another few then….