Another boat ride and 2 hours drive in the other direction lies Paraty. Originally founded by the portuguese and used to transport gold, this little cobbled street town still has the originally colonial houses. All well looked after and restored, the town is full of little white buildings with windows and doors decorated in red, blue, green or yellow. It also has a little collection of churches and a lovely town square. This is where the fun happens – as it’s pre-Carnaval time in Brazil and everyone is getting ready for the big paties in 2 weeks time. Both nights in Paraty brought live music and dancing to the town square, the first, an all female band, the second, an all male band. It also brought Caipirinha do Maracuja (coado) to my stomach for the first time (strained passion fruit caipirinhas to those will less portuguese skill than myself) these are a very tasty but rather strong drink bought for me by my tour leader (it would have been rude for me to say no!) On the second night, he insisted on a tequila shot and arranged for his Brazilian friend to teach me samba dancing in the middle of a bar with live music (just me and the Brazilian dancing) … I’m certianly not complaining! I’m still not sure I understand samba, but it seems to involve moving your feet very quickly and wiggling your arse a lot which apparently I do quite well (or so says my tour guide and Bernard, a british guy who’s tagging along with us) Unfortunately I don’t do it so well on a gravel floor as I stop mid dance to shake stones out of my sandals, much to everyone’s amusement.
Jennifer's Diary 