We are currently in Parati which is 250km south of Rio- a 4hour coach journey. We got a very nice room right in the heart of the town which is so pretty and full of people and cafes and bars and shops. We timed our arrival well as there has been a 3 day festival in town, so every night they have music and food stalls. Our first night, our very friendly landlord Nelson (from Equador) took us out to the square and kept buying us shots of the local drink and a very nice bottle of red wine from Chile. The town is bustly and buzzing all day long, and the beaches are absolutely stunning. There are 65 islands in Parati and today we took a boat tour around a number of them and went snorkling with needle fish and these other tiny yellow and blue ones ( can\'t remember the name). It was complete luxury with tropical fruit chopped up for us and a yummy lunch on board. Now we are off out to check out the jewellery stalls and then off to the bar which has live music! Hope everyone is well! Internet cafe is below our room, so no doubt i will email before i leave Parati- still haven\'t figured out how to upload pics in these cafes! Will sort it out!