The beauty of Paraty is its close proximity to over 300 beaches and islands….. (LP South America on a Shoestring).
The old town isn't bad either. Originally a colonial port town for transporting gold back to Portugal, it is delightful with its cobblestone streets and array of churches. Unfortunately for the gold transporters, the pirates used to sit around the headland in Trinidade, waiting for the gold ships to depart! But more on that later.
After our week of rest in Curitiba and the weekend in Itapema, we were recharged and ready for action. So we spent the first day on some hired bicycles, traipsing through the hinterland to some waterfalls at Cachoeira Toboga, where you can go rock surfing. The waterfalls were beautiful, but the ride was not. After sitting on my bum for a week, I really wasn't enjoying the uphill battle, particularly when Tim was miles ahead of me, drawing on his triathlon experience! Luckily, when I was just about to spit the dummy, we came to a restaurant near the falls and sat down to a very cheap, but very good meal. After lunch we had a swim in the falls and then watched some of the local boys surf the rock - literally standing on two feet, sliding down the rock into a pool below!
The next day we went exploring some of the 300 beaches and islands we'd heard about. A boat took us from the harbour in Paraty out to the glorious blue sea and yellow sand beaches that the LP was raving about. We stopped at four swimming spots, snorkeling and jumping off the boat (Tim not me!). It was a beautiful day in the sunshine and we enjoyed it immensely. Definitely worth doing if you're in Paraty.
As I said earlier, back in the old days the pirates used to hang out in Trinidade and chase the gold ships. We were assured that these days the townspeople mostly earned a living through fishing and tourism, though we were on our guard just in case. Trinidade is about 40mins on the bus from Paraty, but a world away. It is much smaller and quite low key - there are no splendid churches or cobblestones here - just small beachfront bungalows and a relaxed atmosphere. We walked around the headland into the national park and went swimming in the natural rock pools. And then we spent the afternoon on a beach backed by rainforest, with beautiful yellow sand and blue sea. The only downside of the day was the bus breaking down on the way back, but it didn't take long until another one passed and we were all safely on our way home to Paraty.
The hostel we stayed in was brilliant (Refron du Mar). Everyone was so helpful and friendly, including the staff from the two hostels next door (Gecko and Misti Chill). It felt like a real community including a couple of stray dogs that had been named and welcomed into the fold. We had a great night out one night with the crew, drinking caipirinhas in the plaza before heading to another bar for some good ol' fashioned couple dancing. And no, not the bad dancing competition kind!