(Kevin and Lisa dualing)After Rainy Rio (12 million people) we went to Paraty, Brazil. A teensy like beach town filled with old school charm and only 28,000 people. The town has portuguese 17th century historical builings with giant cobblestone streets where mangy dogs run free to pee all over it. The first few days didnt consist of much as it was rainy there too, but when the sun finally came out near the end of our stay we took full advantage.
The hostel itself stares towards the beachfront. So with the beach so close but the winds so strong, it was a bit of a dissapointment. But there were some hammocks and computers and lots of Canadians to keep us occupied.
Paraty is an old pirate town so a big attraction is taking a Pirate Boat (tall ship) around the bay. We stopped to snorkel, enjoy several different beaches and warmest ocean water possible. We saw different kinds of fish and then ate them for lunch later, throwing our scraps into the water for the sea turtles. They didnt enjoy Kevins beer he spilled over board though, and it wasn´t Kevin´s intention to share.
The next day, with the sun still shining, we took a 4x4 tour of the surrounding towns. We went up to Paraty´s beloved natural waterslide. It´s a giant rock face softened by the rushing water from the upstream waterfalls. They only thing is you must position yourself very carefully as there is only a jagged-rock-free space 5 meters wide at the bottom. Kevin, being the gentleman he is, lets his lady go first. After swimming in the waterfalls and slides we went to a Cachaça Distillery. Cachaça is the Brazillian drink of choice, much like Pisco in Peru and Beer in Canada. Cachaça is made out of sugar cane so we were able to eat some cane raw and take shots of this disgusting liquor. After the booze came the coffee plantation situated in an old muesum esque house with jarred snakes and giant guns. A very random array of items that we took advantage of playing with for no particular reason.
Time to leave and head off to our next destination where the weather will hopefully better, Florianopolis. As usualy, we buy our tickets in advance so we are all ready to go in the morning. Our hostel calls us a cab who ends up being down street and he was on his way to meet other guests and take them to the bus station too. But, he says there is no room for us so he will go and come back. The town is tiny, so this should take all of 7 min to drive, there and back, and only 20 min to walk there. This dumbass driver took his sweet sweet time and picked us up with 3 minutes until our bus is scheduled to leave. But hey, no bus in South America has EVER left on time, so if we are 1 minute late, no biggie right? Wrong. We get there a mere 2 minutes late and the bus has already left. So, we buy brand new tickets and wait around for 5 hours in the rain for our next bus.
So 2 buses and 17hours of travel later we arrive in Florianopolis where it´s flooding terribly and people are dying. The part that we were staying at was beaches and resort area, so to say the least, it was deserted. But the sun was out after a few days so we took some much needed surfing lessons. Kevin, with his foot, did suprisingly well and Lisa caught her first waves ever. It was lots of fun. There isnt much to say about Florianopolis. The beaches are brilliant, the surf is huge, and the people are friendly. Since there was no one else staying at our Pousada, the owner gave us the biggest room for the same price. We had an open ¨living room¨with a fridge, stove and tv, .. and the first time in our trip, we had access to a DVD player. We took advantage of it and became best friends the movie store clerk next door. The town closes up at 8pm not leaving much to do in the evenings so it was nice and relaxing to cuddle up to some Christmas movies and beer. .... Speaking of which, Kevin got himself into a prediciment. You see, he likes to try as many new beers as possible. So when he goes to the market, he buys only singles instead of packs. After studying the label intently and taking its picture (it´s a routine he has, dont ask why) he discovers it is SEM Alcohol (without alchohol) After Rainy Rio (12 million people) we went to Paraty, Brazil. A teensy like beach town filled with old school charm and only 28,000 people. The town has portuguese 17th century historical builings with giant cobblestone streets where mangy dogs run free to pee all over it. The first few days didnt consist of much as it was rainy there too, but when the sun finally came out near the end of our stay we took full advantage. The hostel itself stares towards the beachfront. So with the beach so close but the winds so strong, it was a bit of a dissapointment. But there were some hammocks and computers and lots of Canadians to keep us occupied. Paraty is an old pirate town so a big attraction is taking a Pirate Boat (tall ship) around the bay. We stopped to snorkel, enjoy several different beaches and warmest ocean water possible. We saw different kinds of fish and then ate them for lunch later, throwing our scraps into the water for the sea turtles. They didnt enjoy Kevins beer he spilled over board though, and it wasn´t Kevin´s intention to share. The next day, with the sun still shining, we took a 4x4 tour of the surrounding towns. We went up to Paraty´s beloved natural waterslide. It´s a giant rock face softened by the rushing water from the upstream waterfalls. They only thing is you must position yourself very carefully as there is only a jagged-rock-free space 5 meters wide at the bottom. Kevin, being the gentleman he is, lets his lady go first. After swimming in the waterfalls and slides we went to a Cachaça Distillery. Cachaça is the Brazillian drink of choice, much like Pisco in Peru and Beer in Canada. Cachaça is made out of sugar cane so we were able to eat some cane raw and take shots of this disgusting liquor. After the booze came the coffee plantation situated in an old muesum esque house with jarred snakes and giant guns. A very random array of items that we took advantage of playing with for no particular reason. Time to leave and head off to our next destination where the weather will hopefully better, Florianopolis. As usualy, we buy our tickets in advance so we are all ready to go in the morning. Our hostel calls us a cab who ends up being down street and he was on his way to meet other guests and take them to the bus station too. But, he says there is no room for us so he will go and come back. The town is tiny, so this should take all of 7 min to drive, there and back, and only 20 min to walk there. This dumbass driver took his sweet sweet time and picked us up with 3 minutes until our bus is scheduled to leave. But hey, no bus in South America has EVER left on time, so if we are 1 minute late, no biggie right? Wrong. We get there a mere 2 minutes late and the bus has already left. So, we buy brand new tickets and wait around for 5 hours in the rain for our next bus. So 2 buses and 17hours of travel later we arrive in Florianopolis where it´s flooding terribly and people are dying. The part that we were staying at was beaches and resort area, so to say the least, it was deserted. But the sun was out after a few days so we took some much needed surfing lessons. Kevin, with his foot, did suprisingly well and Lisa caught her first waves ever. It was lots of fun. There isnt much to say about Florianopolis. The beaches are brilliant, the surf is huge, and the people are friendly. Since there was no one else staying at our Pousada, the owner gave us the biggest room for the same price. We had an open ¨living room¨with a fridge, stove and tv, .. and the first time in our trip, we had access to a DVD player. We took advantage of it and became best friends the movie store clerk next door. The town closes up at 8pm not leaving much to do in the evenings so it was nice and relaxing to cuddle up to some Christmas movies and beer. .... Speaking of which, Kevin got himself into a prediciment. You see, he likes to try as many new beers as possible. So when he goes to the market, he buys only singles instead of packs. After studying the label intently and taking its picture (it´s a routine he has, dont ask why) he discovers it is SEM Alcohol (without alchohol). This is the presise moment we discover something very important about Kevin.
¨To drink or not to drink¨Kevin asks himself, debating thouroughly out loud. Keep in mind, he´s tasted it and it´s just as good as any other beer he has tried so far.
If I pour this out, I am an alchoholic. But if I drink it, I am just putting empty calories into my body¨ he says.
Now we all know that Kevin does not care about empty calories. The giant empty bag of gummie candies sitting on the table right now is proof. He is just making excuses so he doesn´t have to face the fact that he is an alchoholic. After much deliberation, he pours it out and hangs his head in shame and self loathing. However, by the bottom of his next litre beer, he is in fine spirits and oddly pleased with his previous decision.
So it´s now Saturday night and we are in a foriegn country, famous for Carnival and it´s massive parties. So what better way to say goodbye to Brazil than under the Big Top? The local circus is in town!! We kick back and watch some trapeze artists, witness some explicit behavious from some clearly homosexual clowns and mow down some cotton candy.
Sunday morning, 9 days after our arrival here, and it´s already off to Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay. It was a good time to leave though because as if out of no where, we started finding mosquito larva everywhere. In the kitchen, bathroom, and even under our pillows. How they got through the mosquito net we hung up, we´ll never know. Besides the disgusting larva, we found hundreds of wings. That´s right, just wings. No bugs attached. They were on the floor, on the net, and in the beds. Thank the Lord it was our last night.
The hostel itself stares towards the beachfront. So with the beach so close but the winds so strong, it was a bit of a dissapointment. But there were some hammocks and computers and lots of Canadians to keep us occupied.
Paraty is an old pirate town so a big attraction is taking a Pirate Boat (tall ship) around the bay. We stopped to snorkel, enjoy several different beaches and warmest ocean water possible. We saw different kinds of fish and then ate them for lunch later, throwing our scraps into the water for the sea turtles. They didnt enjoy Kevins beer he spilled over board though, and it wasn´t Kevin´s intention to share.
The next day, with the sun still shining, we took a 4x4 tour of the surrounding towns. We went up to Paraty´s beloved natural waterslide. It´s a giant rock face softened by the rushing water from the upstream waterfalls. They only thing is you must position yourself very carefully as there is only a jagged-rock-free space 5 meters wide at the bottom. Kevin, being the gentleman he is, lets his lady go first. After swimming in the waterfalls and slides we went to a Cachaça Distillery. Cachaça is the Brazillian drink of choice, much like Pisco in Peru and Beer in Canada. Cachaça is made out of sugar cane so we were able to eat some cane raw and take shots of this disgusting liquor. After the booze came the coffee plantation situated in an old muesum esque house with jarred snakes and giant guns. A very random array of items that we took advantage of playing with for no particular reason.
Time to leave and head off to our next destination where the weather will hopefully better, Florianopolis. As usualy, we buy our tickets in advance so we are all ready to go in the morning. Our hostel calls us a cab who ends up being down street and he was on his way to meet other guests and take them to the bus station too. But, he says there is no room for us so he will go and come back. The town is tiny, so this should take all of 7 min to drive, there and back, and only 20 min to walk there. This dumbass driver took his sweet sweet time and picked us up with 3 minutes until our bus is scheduled to leave. But hey, no bus in South America has EVER left on time, so if we are 1 minute late, no biggie right? Wrong. We get there a mere 2 minutes late and the bus has already left. So, we buy brand new tickets and wait around for 5 hours in the rain for our next bus.
So 2 buses and 17hours of travel later we arrive in Florianopolis where it´s flooding terribly and people are dying. The part that we were staying at was beaches and resort area, so to say the least, it was deserted. But the sun was out after a few days so we took some much needed surfing lessons. Kevin, with his foot, did suprisingly well and Lisa caught her first waves ever. It was lots of fun. There isnt much to say about Florianopolis. The beaches are brilliant, the surf is huge, and the people are friendly. Since there was no one else staying at our Pousada, the owner gave us the biggest room for the same price. We had an open ¨living room¨with a fridge, stove and tv, .. and the first time in our trip, we had access to a DVD player. We took advantage of it and became best friends the movie store clerk next door. The town closes up at 8pm not leaving much to do in the evenings so it was nice and relaxing to cuddle up to some Christmas movies and beer. .... Speaking of which, Kevin got himself into a prediciment. You see, he likes to try as many new beers as possible. So when he goes to the market, he buys only singles instead of packs. After studying the label intently and taking its picture (it´s a routine he has, dont ask why) he discovers it is SEM Alcohol (without alchohol) After Rainy Rio (12 million people) we went to Paraty, Brazil. A teensy like beach town filled with old school charm and only 28,000 people. The town has portuguese 17th century historical builings with giant cobblestone streets where mangy dogs run free to pee all over it. The first few days didnt consist of much as it was rainy there too, but when the sun finally came out near the end of our stay we took full advantage. The hostel itself stares towards the beachfront. So with the beach so close but the winds so strong, it was a bit of a dissapointment. But there were some hammocks and computers and lots of Canadians to keep us occupied. Paraty is an old pirate town so a big attraction is taking a Pirate Boat (tall ship) around the bay. We stopped to snorkel, enjoy several different beaches and warmest ocean water possible. We saw different kinds of fish and then ate them for lunch later, throwing our scraps into the water for the sea turtles. They didnt enjoy Kevins beer he spilled over board though, and it wasn´t Kevin´s intention to share. The next day, with the sun still shining, we took a 4x4 tour of the surrounding towns. We went up to Paraty´s beloved natural waterslide. It´s a giant rock face softened by the rushing water from the upstream waterfalls. They only thing is you must position yourself very carefully as there is only a jagged-rock-free space 5 meters wide at the bottom. Kevin, being the gentleman he is, lets his lady go first. After swimming in the waterfalls and slides we went to a Cachaça Distillery. Cachaça is the Brazillian drink of choice, much like Pisco in Peru and Beer in Canada. Cachaça is made out of sugar cane so we were able to eat some cane raw and take shots of this disgusting liquor. After the booze came the coffee plantation situated in an old muesum esque house with jarred snakes and giant guns. A very random array of items that we took advantage of playing with for no particular reason. Time to leave and head off to our next destination where the weather will hopefully better, Florianopolis. As usualy, we buy our tickets in advance so we are all ready to go in the morning. Our hostel calls us a cab who ends up being down street and he was on his way to meet other guests and take them to the bus station too. But, he says there is no room for us so he will go and come back. The town is tiny, so this should take all of 7 min to drive, there and back, and only 20 min to walk there. This dumbass driver took his sweet sweet time and picked us up with 3 minutes until our bus is scheduled to leave. But hey, no bus in South America has EVER left on time, so if we are 1 minute late, no biggie right? Wrong. We get there a mere 2 minutes late and the bus has already left. So, we buy brand new tickets and wait around for 5 hours in the rain for our next bus. So 2 buses and 17hours of travel later we arrive in Florianopolis where it´s flooding terribly and people are dying. The part that we were staying at was beaches and resort area, so to say the least, it was deserted. But the sun was out after a few days so we took some much needed surfing lessons. Kevin, with his foot, did suprisingly well and Lisa caught her first waves ever. It was lots of fun. There isnt much to say about Florianopolis. The beaches are brilliant, the surf is huge, and the people are friendly. Since there was no one else staying at our Pousada, the owner gave us the biggest room for the same price. We had an open ¨living room¨with a fridge, stove and tv, .. and the first time in our trip, we had access to a DVD player. We took advantage of it and became best friends the movie store clerk next door. The town closes up at 8pm not leaving much to do in the evenings so it was nice and relaxing to cuddle up to some Christmas movies and beer. .... Speaking of which, Kevin got himself into a prediciment. You see, he likes to try as many new beers as possible. So when he goes to the market, he buys only singles instead of packs. After studying the label intently and taking its picture (it´s a routine he has, dont ask why) he discovers it is SEM Alcohol (without alchohol). This is the presise moment we discover something very important about Kevin.
¨To drink or not to drink¨Kevin asks himself, debating thouroughly out loud. Keep in mind, he´s tasted it and it´s just as good as any other beer he has tried so far.
If I pour this out, I am an alchoholic. But if I drink it, I am just putting empty calories into my body¨ he says.
Now we all know that Kevin does not care about empty calories. The giant empty bag of gummie candies sitting on the table right now is proof. He is just making excuses so he doesn´t have to face the fact that he is an alchoholic. After much deliberation, he pours it out and hangs his head in shame and self loathing. However, by the bottom of his next litre beer, he is in fine spirits and oddly pleased with his previous decision.
So it´s now Saturday night and we are in a foriegn country, famous for Carnival and it´s massive parties. So what better way to say goodbye to Brazil than under the Big Top? The local circus is in town!! We kick back and watch some trapeze artists, witness some explicit behavious from some clearly homosexual clowns and mow down some cotton candy.
Sunday morning, 9 days after our arrival here, and it´s already off to Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay. It was a good time to leave though because as if out of no where, we started finding mosquito larva everywhere. In the kitchen, bathroom, and even under our pillows. How they got through the mosquito net we hung up, we´ll never know. Besides the disgusting larva, we found hundreds of wings. That´s right, just wings. No bugs attached. They were on the floor, on the net, and in the beds. Thank the Lord it was our last night.
Anyhow, 2 buses and 17hrs later, we arrive in Montevideo, Uruguay... 5 hours southwest of where we want to be. The bus just simply didn´t stop at our destination. So at 5am we catch some breakfast at the bus terminal and wait until 6am for the money exchange to open as we aren´t gonna get far in this country with our Brazillian money. Then we buy new tickets and wait another 3 hours in the terminal for the bus. After that, it´s 5 hours backwards to our original destination. It was a long few days, but once we got there, it was totally worth it.
Punta del Diablo is a remote fishing village of only 700 residents and just as many tourists. This place is only beggining to be a tourist destination so half of the city is currently under construction. Everyone is making bungalows for the gringos to rent. The village has dirt roads, no traffic lights, no stop signs and the friendliest people we have met in South America. We managed to find a wonderful place 200m from the beach with hammocks on the deck overlooking the ocean.
We´ve got 12 days to enjoy the beach and the quaint small-town feel, then it´s back to big city living.
Punta del Diablo is a remote fishing village of only 700 residents and just as many tourists. This place is only beggining to be a tourist destination so half of the city is currently under construction. Everyone is making bungalows for the gringos to rent. The village has dirt roads, no traffic lights, no stop signs and the friendliest people we have met in South America. We managed to find a wonderful place 200m from the beach with hammocks on the deck overlooking the ocean.
We´ve got 12 days to enjoy the beach and the quaint small-town feel, then it´s back to big city living.
