Rio to Parati 2pm 21 January

Parati port
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Parati

Arrived here after a 5 hour drive in our own mini bus.  Yes, we did follow a stunning coastline, but it was mainly obliterated by mist and heavy rain.  It has been raining on and off - mainly on- till now and it is heavy.  There has been a lot of flooding.

Our pousada is simple but pretty and I shared a large room which was v comfortable.

Yesterday the group took a schooner trip to islands for snorkelling and swimming.  I preferred to stay here to see the colonial town as I, coming back and staying on an island at the beg. March and saw no point in paying money to sit in the middle of the sea in mist.

/typical cobbled street and houses
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So I enjoyed the town which is very pretty and a UNESCO site.  It is quite touristy, but mainly Brazilians are here on holiday.  The cacacha (the sugar cane spirit which is the base to caiparinha) is made here and so the caiparuinha is especially good.  After seeing the town which took most of the day I went to the beach where it started to rain again so was forced to try one flavoured with cinnamon and spices and that is excellent.

We are now leaving at noon - in our own min bus again - for another 5 hours of stunning scenery (should we have the luck to see any of it) to get to Sao Paolo.  I hope here to sort out my phone problem.  Having tried the charger of another guy in the group and it still doesn´t charge then Ithink I may need a new battery.