Visiting Paradise!

June 28th

            Today we had an all-day boat tour of some of the local beaches in the area of Paraty. We walked through the extremely quaint, but dangerous, cobblestone streets to get to the main pier. Almost all of the buildings in the center of town were built in the 17th century during the town’s golden age of importance as a central port in the gold trade. The town was really picturesque with its white buildings, old churches, and tile roofs, but it was impossible to admire these attributes and walk at the same time if your valued your safety. Cobblestones, quaint though they may be, are very hard to walk on when they stones are large and round, and even after several hundred years many of the edges were still sharp and just waiting to stub your toe. Walking there was almost as if you were hopping from one stone to another to cross a stream.

            The marina was just as adorable as the town. All of the boats were painted different bright colors and bobbed around the bay. Our boat was rather large and called Principe do Mar. We all plied into the boat and claimed spaces on the padded lounging area in the center of the boat while the crew made ready to sail. We managed to buy drinks from a vendor on the dock before our ship took to the sea (he conveniently, and smartly, moved his way down the dock stopping at the boats that were boarding). I think that the boat trip was my favorite part of Brazil so far! We spent the entire day on the ocean with the sea breezes, sun, Brazilian music, fresh caipirinhas and homemade food!

            After sailing for about 20 minutes we arrived at our first location called Ilha Comprida. It was not a beach, but rather a swimming spot off of a small island near schools of fish and some coral reefs. Once the boat stopped we were all able to jump in from the boat and swim around for about 40 minutes. The water was a bit cold at first but it was so refreshing! When our boat sounded a horn we all climbed back in and went to our next stop. Just a little bit a further down the boat stopped so that we could swim to the Praia da Lula which is a small private beach for tours like ours. Some people waited for the little dingy to take them to shore but the more adventurous people (yay!) in our group decided to jump overboard and swim in. It turned out to be a bit farther than it had looked from the boat but we still beat the dingy, but we made it. The beach was so nice! It had really coarse sand without any shells (great for walking on). We spent about an hour on this beach throwing a frisbee and playing in the little waves, a few of us even attempted some beach yoga! When we got back to the boat we sailed to our third stop on the Lagoa Azul where we ate a traditional fresh fish and rice lunch. Our final stop was the Praia Vermelha. Most of us again decided to swim to shore rather than wait for the boat. This beach was very similar to the first; it was small, private and natural with the greenery running all the way up to the shore. We played in the waves and sand until we were called back to the boat one final time for our ride home. On the way back we were all dancing to Brazilian music enjoying the rest of the sun (since it is technically winter it gets dark very early, around 5:30). After walking back to the hotel Roxanne and I decided to take quick showers and then go on the night tour of the city.

            Ironically, our tour was given by a Spanish transplant who had moved to the area because of its history and beauty. On the tour we learned more about the darker history of the town’s growth and wealth as it was a major importer of slaves and exporter of gold (which used slave labor). Several of the fazendas (plantations) around the town were actually used as holding areas for the slave market so that slaves could regain their health after the voyage to fetch a better price in the central slave market. Ramon also told us that the local drink in Brazil, cachaça was given to the slaves to strengthen them, but also to keep them from fighting and uniting. Slave labor was an important part of the physical construction of the quaint little town as well because all of the cobblestone roads and the three old churches were constructed using slave labor. The tour also took us by a house that Dom Pedro II, emperor of Brazil during their monarchy phase in the 19th century, stayed in when he visited the town.

            After the tour we were all completely starving! As it typical with our group, we dissolved quickly in search of food. Roxanne, Alison, Daniel and I walked toward the newer part of town. Roxanne and I got pizza from a cute little Italian shop while the other two decided to try the ‘world’s best hamburger’ stand.  It turned out pizza was the right choice there since the burgers were apparently nearly radioactive…After we ate we meandered around the town and met back up with the rest of our group. Together we found a very cool jazz-y bar near the central plaza where they had some really great live music. At the end of the evening we walked back toward our hotel along the pedestrian path next to the canal. It was a perfect day! 

The beautiful but dangerous cobblestone streets of the town

One of the old churches facing the bay

Our first beach stop!