Paraty Streets

That afternoon & evening we wandered around the town checking out the white colonial buildings & the shops etc in them. At least the shops were a bit more interesting than most of the towns/cities we visited. They were having some sort of carnival while we were there as well (note the blue & white banners)
Somehow Vixy managed to sign herself up to be an extra on a movie or TV series they were shooting when we were there. She ended up blowing it off to come with us to the beach the next day.
We had a nice (and a bit boozy) seafood dinner at one of the restaurants. It was so good to taste fresh seafood again. That night was another crash & burn night after loosing sleep on the night bus. We needed the rest for a busy day following.

Paraty Harbour

Paraty itself isn't overly interesting other than the stark white walls of the buildings in the heart of the town. The owners of the various shops & restaurants have to maintain white wash walls as part of council by-laws.
Paraty's attraction is the beach & surrounds where the Atlantic meets the jungle. There are lots of similar towns all the way along the coast from Sao Paulo to Rio (and probably beyond).
Pictured is the Paraty harbour where a flotilla of colourful timber boats take people to wherever takes their fancy, be it an isolated beach, an island or just out in the ocean.

Paraty

Day 41 - Travel from Sao Paulo to Paraty

No sooner had we got off the night bus than we were on a private van that would finally land us in the coastal town of Paraty some 5-1/2 hrs later. At least it was the last of the long bus rides, but it was a doozy!

Under the Falls

They took us for a spin up close & then under the falls. They put us under a couple of times before heading around to where we boarded the boat then down river to the pick up point.
We had to get a wriggle on after that. We had to get on a bus that evening and we had to get back across the border, shower & change, and get to the bus port. We had enough time to say our tearful good-byes to Em & Gem for the second time in a couple of weeks.

For more photos from the Iguazu Falls, click here. It's the one place in Brazil that's a must see!

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly & before we knew it we were at the bus port. We had enough time there for Suellen to make some enquiries & send me off in a cab to a depot where my jumper was waiting for me. I'd left it on the bus from Bonito & they'd stashed it in the lost & found. That's both of us that had left a jumper on a bus & been able to recover it (and the camera). Maybe South America isn't such a scary place after all. Those things would be long gone in Oz.
The night bus sucked! We boarded around 5ish in the afternoon & didn't get into Sao Paulo until 11am. The less said about it the better.

Jet Boat

Time for some fun. We all climbed aboard a jet boat with some other randoms for some fun & games. We had to put anything we didn't want wet in a big water proof bag and don whatever water resistant clothing we could find. It wouldn't be enough.