The bus ride to Paraty from Rio was comical at times, well at least for some of us. Before getting on the bus there was a rather 'loud' local woman (if that's what you could call her) mouthing off about something. We soon worked out it was because they didn't have any seats left on the bus and she was furious about this. So mad that she refused to get off the bus. Eventually they crew gave in and managed to let her stay on as there was one seat spare. She was bound to sit next to one of us as we all had random seats and the winner was...Shane! She continued to go on and on about her predicament all night, in Portuguese of course, and the fact that Shane didn't understand a word she said didnt stop her telling him all about it. Even when he pretended to be asleep she nudged him to make sure he was listening to her...very amusing. Eventually she got off and we arrived in Paraty at 2am very tired.

Paraty immediately reminded me of Villa de Leyva or Barichara in Colombia with a few key differences. The buildings were the same white washed houses with terracotta tiled roofs but there was a few more splashes of colour, it had a bit more of a 'developed' feel to it and most importantly, it was on the waterfront. We were looking forward to seeing the beaches on the numerous islands off the coast but the first day took us on a short tour of some nearby waterfalls.

Driving out of town the familiarities with Colombia started again, winding through the surrounding jungle but now we were in the back of a jeep. Marcos our guide didn't speak any English but with my broken Spanish (and his) we understood what was going on. I was excited by undertaking some outdoor pursuits again and the others quickly got into the spirit of things. We swam in the first waterfall before moving onto the next one but swimming was not an option here. We basically bodysurfed or tobogganed along and down the rocks (it was like being on a massive waterslide made of boulders) into the small pool below. A quick stop to an achaca distillery to sample some of the local product preceded our final waterfall experience. The water in all 3 places was freezing cold but this final place had the most spectacular scenery. The day was all topped off by a fantastic huge meal at the restaurant right next to the pousada we were staying at. The food was great especially the seafood stew myself and Kate had (I was in heaven!). We probably only needed to order half of it but in typical Michael fashion, I did my best to try and finish it all.

The next day we hired a boat for cruising the islands and this was something special. One of the islands was actually used to film the original King Kong movie but most of them were deserted apart from the odd private house and beach. We anchored in a small bay for a while to have a swim and spot the occasional turtle swimming around before moving on to another bay with crystal clear waters and some tropical fish. I tried some snorkeling for the first time (for a short while anyway) and could see some amazingly coloured fish. I think they were used to visitors though as the captain kept on throwing bread into the water and they were rushing like piranhas to gobble it up. Then the captain said some magic words...''would you like to have lunch?''. Well of course! So as you do we cruised off to another island and dropped anchor in the bay. The restaurant owner comes out in his speed boat and picks you up to take you to shore and you sit on the beach with sand in your toes and they take your order. For me it doesn't get much better. A gorgeous day, waters lapping the sand meters from your feet, a cold beer and some freshly cooked calamari and fish...enough said. A few hours later feeling as calm as you like we were back in Paraty in another restaurant devouring another huge seafood platter.....ahhh!!