Our day began with everyone waking up to the sound of rain on top of the cabins of Ilha Grande. It was lashing, reminding us of Ireland. We weren’t too bothered though as most of the day would be spent travelling.
Everyone met at the breakfast table with bags in hands as we would leave for Paraty, a town in which our tour guide Carlos lived. The boat we would travel back to on was much bigger than the one we came over on. I had described it as being very similar to the boats at the end of The Dark Knight. Unfortunately we had to leave everything we loved about Ilha Grande behind including our adopted dog Molly on the island, no matter how much she tried to get on the boat they kept kicking her off!
When we got off the boat we had to run to the nearest shelter and await our bus, there was just enough time for a few snacks. On the bus everyone was wet and miserable but one of the locals cheered us up selling packets of sweets for 1 real! We cleaned him out!
Two hours later we were off the bus and had to trek through Paraty to get to our hotel. The hotel was definitely the worst we’ve stayed in so far and was a big step down from the scenic cabins of Ilha Grande. We were in a small, cramped, five bedded room with our new friend Andy. After leaving our bags at the hotel, Carlos then gave us a quick tour of the town. The main streets roads were unusual to say the least. The stones for the roads were shipped over from Portugal when the town was being built and consisted of big round stones seemingly thrown randomly to the ground. You couldn’t take your eyes off the stones for two seconds or you would end up on your face. It would win worst road in Ireland easily.
Carlos then took us to the main fort of five in the town used to protect the town from pirates. There was a great view from the fort that we admired as Carlos played fetch with his dog Ponky using his flip-flops. We enjoyed a few games of cards before heading out to dinner at a fancy Thai restaurant. The restaurant was brilliantly decorated and couldn’t but be admired as we awaited our food. It’s a pity the food and in particular the desert for me left a lot to be desired and I will probably not step foot in a Thai restaurant for quite some time!
Now it was time to get a few beers into us and watch a traditional Brazilian band play for the locals in a big tent in the middle of the town to close a festival that was happening during the week. Locals of all ages were dancing and we couldn’t resist joining in ourselves and we picked up the style of dancing in no time! It was a great experience and after it was time to head back to our hotel for our first nights sleep in Paraty.
Mike
Everyone met at the breakfast table with bags in hands as we would leave for Paraty, a town in which our tour guide Carlos lived. The boat we would travel back to on was much bigger than the one we came over on. I had described it as being very similar to the boats at the end of The Dark Knight. Unfortunately we had to leave everything we loved about Ilha Grande behind including our adopted dog Molly on the island, no matter how much she tried to get on the boat they kept kicking her off!
When we got off the boat we had to run to the nearest shelter and await our bus, there was just enough time for a few snacks. On the bus everyone was wet and miserable but one of the locals cheered us up selling packets of sweets for 1 real! We cleaned him out!
Two hours later we were off the bus and had to trek through Paraty to get to our hotel. The hotel was definitely the worst we’ve stayed in so far and was a big step down from the scenic cabins of Ilha Grande. We were in a small, cramped, five bedded room with our new friend Andy. After leaving our bags at the hotel, Carlos then gave us a quick tour of the town. The main streets roads were unusual to say the least. The stones for the roads were shipped over from Portugal when the town was being built and consisted of big round stones seemingly thrown randomly to the ground. You couldn’t take your eyes off the stones for two seconds or you would end up on your face. It would win worst road in Ireland easily.
Carlos then took us to the main fort of five in the town used to protect the town from pirates. There was a great view from the fort that we admired as Carlos played fetch with his dog Ponky using his flip-flops. We enjoyed a few games of cards before heading out to dinner at a fancy Thai restaurant. The restaurant was brilliantly decorated and couldn’t but be admired as we awaited our food. It’s a pity the food and in particular the desert for me left a lot to be desired and I will probably not step foot in a Thai restaurant for quite some time!
Now it was time to get a few beers into us and watch a traditional Brazilian band play for the locals in a big tent in the middle of the town to close a festival that was happening during the week. Locals of all ages were dancing and we couldn’t resist joining in ourselves and we picked up the style of dancing in no time! It was a great experience and after it was time to head back to our hotel for our first nights sleep in Paraty.
Mike
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