Brazil - Part 4 Finishing up our Journey

April 28 - 29

Walking Tour of Paraty

We took a 4-1/2 hour van ride from Rio southwest to the historic town of  Paraty, a UNESCO nominated World Heritage Site.  It was inhabited by the Guianas Indians when Portuguese settled here in the 16th century.  For awhile it became an important port since gold was shipped here from the mines on its way to the Portuguese king.  

One of the churches on the walking tour

We arrived in the late afternoon, checked into our room at Pousada Villas de Paraty and then took a walking tour around the town square.  These days the town still has the original rock pavement used hundreds of years ago.  We admired the old buildings with many many doors that were used for business so long ago.  We saw the outside of the many old Catholic Churches - one for the upper class, one for freed slaves and one for slaves.  We checked out the residence of the current Prince of Portugal who still comes here every New Year's Eve to watch the fireworks in the bay.   Nice!

Walking along the canal from our hotel to the town of Paraty

The next day we boarded a 29 ft boat for a ride in the beautiful water surroundings.   The coastline is dotted with many beautiful lush islands and it reminded me of the South Pacific. Pretty! Our destination was to visit a

traditional fishing village and learn about the Caicaras, indigenous people who live on the shores of the water.

Fisherman carves us a boat

We met a fisherman who carved a boat for us out of a tree branch and through our interpreter, we learned about his life.  He was offered quite a bit of money for his land but turned it down because he said this was the life he knew and wanted it to continue through the

At Fisherman's Village with handmade boat in background

generations.  We enjoyed learning about him and his family and bought one of his little carved boats.  We then continued to another island where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of the local fish, rice and beans, mandioc french fries and salad.  Yum!  We continued on to a Cachaca distillery where we sampled the local sugarcane liquor and had a vigorous hike through the rain forest. 

Today, Sunday, was a rest and relaxation day around the pool and packing for our trip by van back to Rio.  We'll stay at an airport hotel so that we can catch our flight the next day back home.

We've been talking to our Friendship Force friends and we all agree that some of the highlights of this journey are:

• Meeting the friendly Brazilian people.  For us, we loved our hosts in both cities and will always remember the kindness of them, sharing their homes and delicious food
• Iguazu Falls - simply the best falls in the world, gorgeous views, tremendous power of the water with the bonus of BUTTERFLIES and rainbows
• The Japan House in Sao Paulo where you can step into a painting - we were dazzled by the experience - How did they think of this?
• The railroad train to the top of the Christ the Redeemer Statue and the cable car to Sugar Loaf in Rio - great experiences with gorgeous scenery
• Traveling with a great group of friends that we know in our club - everyone was agreeable and helpful
• Great food, especially the desserts - loved the flan and coconut pastries, local fish, cheese balls, cheeses, coffee 
• Experiencing the Brazilian culture and learning about the Portuguese influences, mixing of the races and art.

Great trip - we highly recommend Brazil as a travel destination!

Postscript:  We had a 3 hour delay flying home from Rio when the plane did not take off due to hydraulic problems.  So, we rolled back to the runway and disembarked.  Finally, we took off and arrived safely in Miami. Drove home & arrived @5AM! We slept 2 hours and stayed up all day and went to bed at 8 PM.  Today is Thursday, May 3.  After 11 hours of sleep, we are preparing for our PGIslander's meeting tonight and our Friendship Force meeting tomorrow. Never a dull moment in Paradise!