Paraty

Time was when the only way out for all the gold in Brazil was down the old road from the mountains to Paraty and then by boat to Rio.  Then they built a road from the mines and Paraty was left in suspended animation. It was only this century that they built a road along the coast and it became a tourist attraction (and UNESCO heritage site). 

We had a mix of food with a first experience of a "per kilo" restaurant. Basically they weigh your plate first and you pay for the food you put (ie pile) on it.  It's matched only by the Rodizio (which means going around).  We  paid 25 Brazilian Reales or £6.50 and you pile your plate with salads and frit and vegetables  or cassava  and wait for tehe guys to come round with skewers from the barbecue. This could be finest beef or pork or ham wrapped with cheese or chicken hearts or beef or pork ribs or unkown (but still tasty) bits of undisclosed animals. I know some friends who would love this experience (that means you Williamson).

Travelling in South America is of course fraught with dangers but I never realised that even oysters could be dangerous.  This was the sign up by the old fort seen in an early morning run.

The next day we went along with the arranged tour which was billed as the Caiparinha Boat. Essentially a days cruise on a boat while the crew made bucketfuls of the brazilian national drink. It was made bearable by stopping at remote beaches to swim from the ship and in one place we climbed up the rocks and jumped from the cliff.  Fortunately i wore my sandals and so did NOT rip open my feet like one girl did on the aforementioned oysters. Now I understand why they are so dangerous. 

We took the opportuniy to go to some falls where there was a natural rock slide of about 30 metres and a plunge into the cool water at the bottom.  Unfortunately, I went over a bump and whacked my Ischial tuberosity - a literal pain the rump.  The last day we rented truly awful bikes and went to another waterful.  There was an abandoned distillery with the remains of a hydroelectric turbine used to power up the Alembic.  Stopping for lunch at a roadside kiosk we could see humming birds and fantastic butterflies to make up for the missing gears and pushing up the hills.

And so it was time to set off for the big falls.  An early morning set off to Sao Paolo and a flight up to Iguassu. More to come.....