Brazil

We received recommendations from multiple people to check out a town called Paraty (sometimes spelled Parati), so we listened! Trav was mostly just excited because it’s one letter away from “party.” Paraty is 125 miles south of Rio de Janeiro sitting between the coast and the Bocaino Mountains aka the surroundings are beautiful with beach on one side and lush green rainforest on the other. We initially planned to spend just a few days but glad we extended it to four nights.

Paraty has a preserved historic center with gorgeous colonial architecture with white buildings and colorful doors and windows. The area is closed to car traffic so it’s a great place to stroll around despite the uneven cobble-stones that line the streets – you seriously get a workout just taking steps. It is pretty interesting to see century old buildings on the outside but inside it houses modern stores and restaurants.

Wanting to soak up the beach and rays before we head to cooler temps, we spent most of our time in the sun. The beaches in town aren’t anything special but there are lots of amazing spots just outside accessible by car or boat. One morning we hopped on the city bus and took a 45-minute ride to a nearby hippie-ish village, Trindade. The bus ride was an adventure in itself. The road winds around super steep hills and it is one-way in some places. Once in Trindade we took a little trail that went past a few beaches and up into the jungle hillside, eventually leading into a natural pool surrounded by big rocks. Great spot for swimming and sun-bathing.

A main to-do while in Paraty is take a boat around to the surrounding islands and beaches. So we strolled down the pier one morning to check out the options which range from huge schooners with 60 people to small private speed boats. We ended up finding a great guy with a boat who we haggled down to a five-hour private tour for less than $60 USD. We stopped at three different coves and one beach where we had lunch at a cute little beach shack. It was perfection and so nice to be out on the water! One of the coves we stopped at was pretty busy with other boats and had a cliff people were jumping from. It was pretty entertaining to chill in the water on floaties and watch everyone jump, with honorable mention going to the guy who climbed up to the top, threw his Canadian flag speedo into the crowd of people below and proceeded to do a naked backflip into the water. We wanna party with that guy!

We had an early bus to catch out of Paratay (back to Rio airport then fly to Buenos Aires) so we left our pousada before 5am, not a great time to be out and about. It is only a ten-minute walk to the bus station but it was still dark out so we became extremely vigilant walking with all our belongings in tow. We passed by random groups of guys hoping nobody gave us any trouble and right as we were about to pass the largest group of 6-7 guys out of nowhere four stray dogs surrounded us and started walking with us all the way to the bus station. They would lunge and bark at any motorcycle or person that came nearby like they were protecting us! It was hilarious, like they knew we needed a gringo guard. Trav said he felt like we were in a Disney movie or Homeward Bound 2.

Saying goodbye to Brazil – we’ll miss your beaches, Acai bowls on every corner, and ice-cold caipirinhas. Up next is Argentina!

Historic center

Historic center

Historic center

Sunset on the river

Delicious dessert carts on every street corner

Snorkeling

Beach exploring

Boat cruise

Beach hopping

Our ship for the day

Paraty Bay

Beach grub

Trav eating a Pastel

Natural pool

Four days was not enough. The food, culture, beauty, beaches and energy was like no city we have ever been to. It seemed to be a mix of the Northwest, NYC and Newport Beach all in one with an outdoor yet electric feel. It’s beauty stems from the dichotomy of a big city meeting nature including beaches and the largest urban forest in the world, covering more than 32 square kilometers right in the city. It is easy to see now why Rio was selected as the first ever city in South America to host the Olympics.

We started our all-too-quick Rio blitz late Saturday night when we arrived at our Airbnb in Copacabana (yeah, the one from the song) shortly after 9pm. Our host, Celso, was up and waiting with a full spread of charcuterie, dips, snacks and drinks. His significant other, Cely, was also there and another lovely Brazilian family who was renting the other room in the apartment (Hi Letticia and fam if you are reading this!). What we thought would be a quick hello turned into a lively three language conversation (English, Portuguese, Spanish) until after midnight. There was never a time everyone in the room knew what everyone else was saying. Quite comical.

We kicked off the next morning with a 7km walk across the city and around the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon (Seattleites: think Green Lake but 10x bigger and cooler) to Jardim Botânico which is Rio’s botanical gardens. It was created in 1808 by King John VI of Portugal and contains more than 6,500 species. I know what you’re thinking, botanical gardens sound lame but they were gorgeous! Very cool. After the gardens we cabbed to Ipanema beach for lunch then walked the 4km Ipanema/Copacabana beach stretch back to home. The beaches are each long stretches but are separated or marked by “Postos.” It’s the best way to indicate which part of the beach you’re on to friends and family and certain ones are known as more family friendly, party centric, etc. The beaches are lined with vendors making drinks, selling umbrellas and trying to nickel and dime everything they can while you are there. Great for people watching.

The second day we attacked the two largest tourist attractions, Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer statue). Sugarloaf is a mountain peak that sits at the opening of Guanabara Bay. It is almost 400 meters tall and got its name by being shaped like a loaf of sugar. The reason people love it so much is from the top you have amazing panoramic views of the city. You reach the top via two cable gondola cars. Cristo Redentor was what we were looking forward to most but unfortunately even Cristo can’t guarantee a clear day, every day. We took the 40-minute ride to the top via van and by the time we reached the highest point in Rio (2,300 ft) we were in the clouds. There were hundreds of people at the foot of the 100-foot-tall soapstone statue waiting for the clouds to break and when they did everyone cheered and took at least 10,000 collective selfies. In the end, we got our picture and checked one of the new seven wonders of the world off our list.

We wrapped up the last two days of Rio spending time on the beach, eating great food including a wonderful churrasco dinner (meat shaved off skewers onto your plate) and getting a private tour of Tijuca National Park from Celso. The city has so much more to offer but we tried to make the most of the time we had. We both agree this will be a future vacation destination when we can visit for longer and with a more liberal budget.

We left Rio on Wednesday morning and headed to Paraty (four hours south along the coast) where we are spending the next four nights. More to come on that.

Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon

View from Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf + Gondola

Walking through Jardim botânico

Skipping through Jardim botânico

Cristo Redentor

Maracana Stadium (where the opening ceremonies will be held)

Katie and Celso in front of a waterfall at Tijuca National Park

Overlooking Rio from Tijuca National Park

We left Salvador and took an 8-hour bus ride south down the coast to Ilhéus. We upgraded to the nicer coach bus so it was pretty comfortable (minus the drunk “woo girl” who had 10 cocktails prior to our 9am departure). Once she passed out, we enjoyed the countryside while binge watching season 1 of Empire. Then in Ilhéus a driver we arranged prior took us the final hour drive to Itacaré where we’d stay for 8 nights.

Itacaré is a great little surf town with a laid back vibe. Our main goal while visiting was to attend surf school and learn enough to allow us to rent boards in other places as we travel. We stayed in a cute pousada (guest house) across the street from the beach and a short walk into the main part of town with all the restaurants. We had two full days to rest up before surf school which we spent beach hopping, taking hammock naps and trying new types of caipirinhas.

Then Easy Drop surf school began bright and early. We’d meet each morning at 7am then head to the beach of the day depending on the wave report. We surfed at two beaches – Pontal (a quick boat ride across the river) and Engenhoca (a 15-minute drive then a 1 mile hike through a jungle like forest while carrying your board). We’d first warm up and practice proper form on the sand then spend the next 3-4 hours trying not to die catching waves. Both of us took surf lessons in Hawaii so we thought we knew what we were getting into but quickly realized learning on a longboard is much more challenging than the huge Styrofoam boards we used on the big island. The instructors filmed all of the surfing so at the end of each session we did an hour long video review to get feedback. This was immensely helpful in making us better. When looking at the week, the first few days were rough with lots of bruises and wipeouts but towards the end of the five days we were able to get up on a ten or more waves each day and felt more confident. All in all, we have mad respect for surfers – it ain’t easy!

Our package through the surf school also included yoga and Portuguese classes each day (spoiler alert: we still suck at Portuguese but can now tell whether we’re ordering shrimp or beef at a restaurant – winning!). And speaking of menus, we tried some delicious new Brazilian food while in Itacaré. Highlights include Moqueca (a stew with seafood, onions, garlic, coconut cream, etc), Tapiocas (similar to a crepe but thicker and made with tapioca flour – filled with various meat/cheese/veggies), Queijo de coalho (cheese on a stick cooked over open coals and sprinkled with oregano..great beach snack), and Acai bowls (not new to us but even better here in Brazil).

We also met was some really great new friends who did surf school and stayed at our same pousada. Most were from Sao Paulo and also spoke English which allowed communication to be much easier. We enjoyed many meals and drinks together throughout the week and they were a big help in providing travel recommendations which will help shape our remaining time in Brazil and elsewhere in South America.

It hasn’t even been two weeks on the road yet, but we both feel like we’ve already been gone for months! At the time of writing this we’re on a flight to Rio de Janeiro where we will spend the next four nights. More to come. Tchau!

After our 17-hour journey via two layovers (Nashville and Miami—worth it due to it only being a 20K mileage ticket on Alaska Airlines) we arrived in Salvador, Brazil. We thought we would “splurge” a bit on our first hotel so we could relax after the crazy last month we have had wrapping up things in Seattle. So we decided to go big on a $45 a night hotel overlooking the beach (included breakfast buffet). We are obviously still getting use to the price differences here but are really enjoying the exchange rate. We’ve spent the first two days walking the beach, eating some great food, realizing almost nobody speaks a word of English, visiting the historic district and trying to come to terms with the fact this is real life now and not a vacation. All in all, we are excited about Brazil and are looking forward to leaving Salvador tomorrow to head to Itacare´ where we will spend the next week in surf school! Yep, surf school.

Barra neighborhood of Salvador

Historic District

Morro do Cristo

Historic District Building

Cross in Historic District