The rain in Paraty stays mainly on....me!

Endlessly
Paraty
Igrejas
Colonial

Paraty is a picturesque colonial town with beautiful architecture. It has a backdrop of steep, jungled mountains and a 65 island studded bay with about 300 beaches in its vicinity. The city centre is made up of irregular cobblestone streets and is closed to motor traffic. Buildings are painted white and adorned with coloured borders and latticed windows.

There were many churches in the area that we visited. Igreja NS do Rosario e Sao Benedito dos Homens Pretos was a church for slaves. It had gilded wooden alters and a pineapple chandelier base which is a symbol of prosperity. Igreja Santa Rita dos Pardos Libertos was a church for freed half cast inhabitants. It was supposed to have a tiny museum of sacred art but it was under renovation when we checked it out. Capela de NS das Dores was the church of white elite.

We saw and enjoyed a carnival practice session of Bloca da Lama. Paper mâché figures paraded through the streets and music blasted out from the marching band. It was quite a sight to see and many people filled the plaza to check them out.

A schooner tour was organised to see some of the less accessible beaches. The day started off beautiful and sunny; we had a great time swimming in the ocean and visiting beaches. Sadly, having avoided it for so long, the dastardly rain made a long delayed and most unwelcome appearance. Initially we thought it was just a downpour and so happily continued swimming, laughing and having fun. It was not to be though, the rain just kept endlessly falling and falling. The boat was covered so it didn't effect us too bad. Some kids on the boat felt the cold so we temporarily adopted them and shrouded them with our towels and sarongs - Francois got quite attached to his little guy and we nearly had a kidnapping incident! When we returned to the pier it was still bucketing down and as we were too drenched to get in a taxi, a walk back to the camp was required. Sue, Vanessa and me took a slight detour via one of the beachside bars, who did not mind our bedraggled appearance, and tucked into some very tasty Caipirinhas. It was then back to camp to have a very apt BBQ - luckily we had erected the kitchen tent, otherwise the meal would have been a complete washout.