Getting to Paraty was an adventure in itself. We arrived in Saõ Paolo understandably tired after our 16 hour bus journey and it turned out that the next bus to Paraty was only 5 hours later. It was cloudy and miserable in Saõ Paolo and the surroundings of the bus terminal looked unexciting so we stayed in the terminal drinking coffee and juice and listening to random grandpas play piano. Little did we know that our first death-defying experience awaited….
Ok so it’s not as dramatic as I made it sound, but after countless blogs praising the buses of South America, we were almost asking for it. Our driver drove 100,000 miles an hour along the coastal curves of Eastern Brazil (otherwise known as curvas peligrosas or dangerous curvas- this joke never gets old amongst the Eastern Europeans) and more than a couple of times our lives flashed before our eyes. The driver was what can only be described as a Brazilian busdriving psychopath who seemed completely unphased when we nearly crashed the bus and people and bags went flying everywhere accompanied by the hysterical screams of all the passengers. He just got out, checked the bus and carried on driving at 99,999 miles an hour. Viva Brazil. We arrived in Paraty late and rested from our traumatic experience.
The next day we voyaged out on Ceca’s first jungle experience, travelling through rainforests and trudging through rivers to arrive at Paraty’s most beautiful beach, Praia de Parati-Mirim. It was pretty, isolated, with hardly any tourists and it had one barraca offering beer and fresh calamari, (the quickest way to any Serbian’s heart). However we weren’t convinced it was the best Brazil had to offer.
In the evening we walked around the colonial village, with its cobblestone streets and old Volkswagen beetles on every corner, listening to the live “carnaval” music. The locals and Ceca seemed to love it but I felt like I had come to Brazil’s version of a Serbian village folk festival (some of you will know what I’m talking about). After crossing half of Brazil to get there, it wasn’t quite the relaxing destination we were looking for. We decided to take a risk and made a last minute decision to leave the next day for Ilha Grande. Little did we know there was a paradise waiting for us…
That's dedication
