Continuously people back home were mistaking the spelling of this luscious Brazilian town, and thinking we were repeatedly at a party and our iPhones were just coming up with even more bizarre auto correct offers than usual. In contrast to their images of us attending multiple pre carnival raves somewhere in the country, we were relaxing in the quiet town of Paraty, which carries a peaceful ora, famous for it’s tranquil beaches. This is the first time we had the opportunity to spend our days wandering beautiful beaches since being in South America. Therefore we didn’t waste any time booking onto a boat tour, which promised snorkelling in crystal clear waters, visiting 3 sandy white picturesque beaches and included lunch. For the very reasonable fee of approx 15 GBP. There are many tours on offer, if you head to the Paraty Tour office they speak English and can help you choose one of your liking. Settled on our arrangements for tomorrow, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the town’s own beach. Sand so hot our feet screamed as we ran into the transparent waters, warmer than hot springs in Ecuador. The afternoon sun sparkled, trapped in the waters surface, like glistening freckles in the ocean. After absorbing as much vitamin C as the sun would permit, we wandered through the cobbled, colonial streets  of Paraty.

It was here we discovered a self service ice cream shop, drawn in by their neatly rowed mouth watering flavours, then noticing the assortments of sweets and sauces available to accessorise your ice cream…before we knew it we were piling high a pic and mix of cream and sugar, which despite the large sum we crammed in, when weighed the final price was fairly reasonable. Satisfied with the relaxing afternoon we had endured, we headed back to our hostel for some proper food and showers before heading back out to see what Paraty looks like under moonlight.

We were drawn to the main square which seemed to be attracting a crowd, which was slowly growing in size and anticipation. On further approach we saw their local Samba School, preparing to show off their skills, starting off Carnival in style. Most people think Carnival only takes place in Rio, when in fact it is a national party recognised across the entire country and even beyond. In organised rows stood drummers with their sticks at the ready, whilst upfront a row of girls with an instrument we are unable to name but resembles tiny symbols which are shaken up and down for a piercing rattling sound that will send goosebumps through your skin in the best way possible. Drummers banged in rhythm, timed to perfection and clearly an energetic task as sweat dripped from their foreheads. We swayed with the crowd, as the music took us on a melodic enchanting journey, echoing through our veins and souls, making it impossible to stand still. Our ears were pulsing in unison with the beating of the drums. Our excitement for Rio carnival kicked in, hearts pounding with enthusiasm, relishing in our  taster course  of samba. The school were beyond impressive, evidently rehearsed to perfection and the results were some of the best live music we’ve ever witnessed. Lying in bed that evening our ears were ringing loudly inside our heads, voices sounded muffled and we wondered whether Rio Carnival would ultimately be the beginning of premature hearing loss for us.

When we arose the next day our ears had thankfully adjusted back to normal volume, and we were able to have a conversation which didn’t involve any repetition. It was not long before we found ourselves sat on the boat waiting to depart, with 50 other people.

Although natives must think alike as we soon befriended 3 English backpackers (Ben, Sophia & Andrew) it was refreshing to hear a British accent and know we would be able to communicate with other people. An aussie accent was also close by in the form of Brisbane couple, Carmen and Joey. We would remain a clique for the rest of the day, and if any of you guys are reading this you truly added sparkle to this experience for us both. The boat moved through the silky waters with the elegance of a ballerina on pointe shoes. Transparent waters glistened in the sunshine, the warm breeze whispered through us. This is one of those posts where the photos will do more justice than our words, we are at a loss of adjectives to explain the beauty of the various stops on this tour. Snorkelling with schools of fish, water bluer than Daniel Craig’s eyes, beaches whiter than chalk. At this moment we agreed, Brazil was the most beautiful beach destination we had ever visited.

The water was cool, refreshing and inviting us to dive in, or in new friend Ben’s case, Bomb-almost causing a tidal wave! Like the Kardashians we were ‘papped’ all day by a local photographer, who was kind and largely entertaining. She had a great sense of humour, and found it particularly funny how me and Jonny refused to have a ‘honeymoon style’ photo shoot-she wanted us canoodling up against rocks, kissing and holding hands on the beach-too PDA for our style. But she did catch some great photos of us, just more in the form of action shots-launching ourselves off the boat, shoulder rides and even a springboard attempt in the water-in hindsight this should have been videoed as it was hilarious!

 We won’t blab anymore, this post is more about photographs because, it’s too beautiful to describe. We had a brilliant day, one of the best so far on our journey and Paraty is a lovely town to stop off en route to Rio, we would totally recommend it. Shout out to the lovely guys we spent our day with that we previously mentioned, you might hear about them again in later posts…watch this space!

Jonny & Hayley 🙂