Island Hopping in Rio

Wednesday September 14, 2010

Paraty is amazing. Its such a quaint lazy town (very touristy, and very safe). The boat ride yesterday was incredible. 7 of us piled into a small 2 storey boat and spent the day Island hopping and sipping on coctails. We snorkled at each island, and we saw lots of fish, turtles, and even a big crab! The temperature was about 32 degrees and sunny, absolutely perfect day.

In the evening, a group of Brazilians were at the hostel learning Portuguese, so they asked if I could sit down and speak with them for a while so they could practice their english...I ended up getting a Portuguese lesson too. Happily, I already knew a lot of the phrases they were teaching me! woo hoo! slowly, very slowly Im learning. Today, I wandered to the Historical Centre of Paraty, which is a BEAUTIFUL maze of cobble stone streets and colorful buildings...so many beautiful artifacts and clothes. Its a lazy day, kind of overcast, and all the people I have been hanging out with are moving on (correction, the hostel is called Casa de Rio Hostel, I was just guessing with my last post)

I will be catching a bus (then a boat) tomorrow morning to an island called Ilho Grande which is about an hour north of here. Ive come a long way from my gum purchase in Sao Paulo...now Im booking travel on my own. all I needed was a little time to familiarize myself with Brazil. Now, I love it.