Today was a day of travel. We woke up early to catch an AM flight from Foz do Iguacu to Rio de Janeiro. The Foz do Iguacu airport was super tiny, with only 2 gates. Our plane literally met us at the door and we proceeded to embark.
Walking to our plane
Mom and dad going right up the steps into the plane
After a 1.5 hour flight, we landed in Rio. There, we had a driver drive us about 4 hours to the town of Paraty. Along the way, we saw beautiful sights – bright blue waters with sail boats and islands to our left, green, lush, verdant mountains to our right. The real highlight came at a mandatory construction stop along the way. As traffic in our direction stops, we notice the car directly in front of us throw all 4 doors open and 4 young 20-something year old people pop out. The driver cranks up the music and all 4 start dancing right in the middle of the highway. I’m thinking, Brazilian people are awesome – they can turn anything into a party!
Finally, we arrived at the small town of Paraty. The place that we’re staying in, Vivenda Paraty, deserves a special mention. This may quite well be the best place I’ve ever stayed in…ever. Our British host, John, has created a quaint haven, complete with swimming pool and coconut trees. The fact that this place only houses a max of 6 guests ensures that we have the personal attention we need. Ro and I are staying in a beautiful bungalow with robes, a kitchen, a private veranda, and 2 hammocks. I honestly think we could spend our whole time in Paraty at this bungalow and be extremely happy.
Boo is very happy here, too…
However, my parents didn’t feel the same way, so they forced Ro and I out of our haven into downtown Paraty for dinner. There, we ran into Paraty’s annual Cachaça festival. Ro and I couldn’t help but take a look around, now with us dragging my parents along the way. The extent of my cachaça knowledge only includes the occasional caipirinha, so it was interesting to see the different cachaça distillers, and all the different types of cachaças. Learning about cachaça, with a background of Brazilian music and Brazilian people samba’ing in the background – what a great way to end the day…
Cachaça tasting…
Boo tries his first caipirinhna
Je Parle Franglais 
you’re such a faithful blogger not like me. Wanda looks beautiful!
I’m trying. This blog is just as much for me to remember everything that we’re doing! It also helps that this place that we’re staying at has such great wifi. I don’t know if subsequent places will be as great…
How did you find this place? Leave it to you to time your visit w/ the cachaca festival! Boo looks like he’s gotten into the spirit of things…
It was just a coincidence – honest! 🙂 But it was a pretty big deal for this small town – lots of partying going on in the area (and no, we didn’t join in for all that). Boo is such a sport – always willing to try something new!