Last weekend we took off on another adventure here in Brasil. This time it was a five hour drive to Paraty. Paraty is an old beach town that features color: colorful boats and colorful doors. The drive to Paraty was a little long, especially with the little ones, but they did really, really well. Driving to places is more fun for me because we get to see the country side, and it's beautiful. In many ways it reminds me of home, in other ways of Napa. Most of the farms we saw were pristine.
At one point you have to get out of the mountains, and it was hilarious. Like straight down, hair pin curves, uneven road. The picture below doesn't even do it justice. We are incredibly lucky that we don't have kids who get car sick. It definitely gave the hills of Roaring River and the drive to Branson a run for it's money.
We stayed in the historic district of Paraty. Basically, right in the middle. It's a walk to the water, but it's very quiet, and we LOVED this pousada (inn).
My favorite door. I really loved the color and all the plants outside.
You can walk around and shop, but the main attraction is to take a boat and island hop. You can take a fast boat, a slow boat, large or small. We took a small, slow boat considering we have small kids.
And since I'm usually behind the camera, I had Heath take one of me so that the kids will actually know that I was with them when they look back at the photo album.
The boat came with fresh fruit, snacks, and drinks. And our kids literally just wanted to, and did, eat the WHOLE time. A banana here, a grape there. All. Day.
Our first pit stop was to feed some monkeys, bananas and bread. The boat captain said that these orange monkeys are native to Brasil, and are on the verge of extinction.
He was also very patient and willing to let the kids drive the boat... A lot.
We stopped here for a swim. The water was gorgeous, but as with most water, stepping off into something where I can't touch makes me nervous. I will always assume that something is going to get me. Anyway, I just jumped in, like ripping off a bandaid.
We swam to shore, gathered some shells, and then swam some more. Beckham was none too impressed with the salt water. After a bit, we swam back to the boat and let Cayden jump off the back.
We stopped here for lunch. You have to park your boat, and then another boat comes to take you to the dock, so you can climb the steps to the restaurant. The views were gorgeous, and the food was slow, but fresh and good.
The kids were tired, and getting really restless. I'm sure all the other patrons were wondering why our kids couldn't handle a small cup of water with out spitting it out on themselves, on each other, or stirring it with their hands. It was awesome.
I promise Beckham is not distressed. He was making silly noises and this is the shot I caught.
The next day we took the kids fishing. We will use the term loosely. Same captain, same boat, but fishing was definitely not his niche. One pole and some bait.
It worked out well, because we caught some small fish, and we really didn't intend on eating what we caught anyway, so catch and release was good!
Fresh coconut water, anyone?
He enjoyed laying on the table part of the boat.
All in all it was a really great trip. This room was much bigger and nicer than the room we had a Juquehy. In fact, we put the crib in the bathroom, and it worked like a charm. He slept really well all three nights.
We would definitely go back, but probably only if we had family to take and show. The drive was long, and we decided that the beach that is only 2.5 hours away meets all of our needs! It was a great adventure, another place on the map we can mark, and some great memories. Oh, and if you want to do a little research, and you are Twilight fans; Paraty is where Isle Esme is.
