Parati

Our first destination on the trip was the cute small fishing town of Parati just south of Rio de Janeiro. We arrived at a simple camping site with a white sandy beach, bars with refreshing cervejas (Brazilian Portuguese for beer) and palm trees just across the road.

Some of us, including me, decided not to head for the beach but rather do a cultural adventure discovering the town. This town was stunning with all its rainbow colored window sills and doors. In addition, the streets are littered with cobble stones so big and lose it makes it painful to walk in flip-flops. Yes, I got my pair of the famous Brazilian Havaianas. These you surprisingly can get in almost any shop from pharmacies to rest stop stations; it’s like they are a necessity here. (It really is a necessity here due to all the heat) The town has all these alley ways with elevated pedestrian walk ways due to the occasional tide coming in and flooding the streets. Unfortunately, I was not there during this natural spectacle.

Chilling at a nice café later that day after wondering around in the blazing sun, I introduced my fellow travelers to the Brazilian drink Guaraná; they all loved it by the way and frequently buy it at rest stop stations or supermarkets when we are on the road.

The next day we took a boat cruise on the bay of Parati to Praia Lula, Praia Vermelho and Praia do Meio, among others. It really reminded me of my trip to Halong Bay in May of 2011 with my Vietnam mates. Even though this bay only had 55 islands and 100 beaches, it was still very beautiful. The boat stopped at 4 different beaches each giving the passengers the chance to dive off and go for a swim in the beautiful emerald water. The water was very clear giving us the opportunity, at one of the beaches, to snorkel with some parrot fishes and other small fish. At around 2 we stopped for lunch having a tray of wonderfully tasting fresh fish with shrimps and a salad side dish. The moment was quite cathartic because every time you walked into the kitchen to getting drinks, you were engulfed by the smell of the spicy hot pot. During lunch I took a moment to think where I was: I was in the middle of a bay in Brazil bobbing up and down having no worries and a spectacular view.

At our last stop we were lucky enough to see 3 turtles, one baby one, swimming around our boat. Every now and then they would come up for air and then disappear again so it was hard to get a clear picture of them. Surprisingly the turtles didn’t mind us humans being there, they had probably gotten used to the visitors, but they didn’t come very close to the swimmers either.

Back in town we headed back to our camping via another cute café where I had my first Suco de Açaí. One of my Brazilian friends, Gustavo, had kindly given me a 4 page list of foods and drinks to try in Brazil while I was there. Now I have one thing off my list. The Suco de Açaí tastes very different to anything I have had before, but its up on the list of delious drinks. It takes like a banana chocolate smoothy with a slight grainy texture.