I´ve had to change blogs because the other one stopped working....
So, the week started with TORRENTIAL rain in Paraty, so Ross and I decided it would be fun to go for a walk into town and get absolutely soaked. Needless to say we weren´t talking by the end of the walk. Our clothes were soaked all the way through and when we returned to our room it was flooded!! The rain was relentless for the rest of the day and night, so we watched some films, cooked and went to bed! The next day I woke up like an excited child on Christmas day....sun! So ross and I ran out to the beach and got some canoes. Then it rained again.
The next day we headed to Ilha Grande (´Big Island` to you and me) which would have looked like paradise if it wasnt for the torrential rain. We dragged our stuff a kilometre across the beach, got soaked again, but found a great hostel looking over the bay. We met so many people there and the bbqs were a-maz-ing! The first day there the weather wasnt too bad so we decided to do a trek across the island to Lopes Mendes beach. It was a good chance to test out my rather lovely mens trekking boots. We went with 3 other guys, and I was flagging and bit at first, was tough! But it was a good excuse for Ross and this other guy to stay behind to ´keep me company´ - truth is Ross needed more breaks than I did. Anyway, we saw mahousive spiders and things and it turned out to be a pretty good walk through the jungle and the mountains. The next day a few of us hired kayaks and went out in choppy water - I have never crammed in so much exercise in 2 days! Although I did end up just sitting enjoying the view whilst Ross did most of the paddling. The next day the weather was absolutely amazing, so we all went to the beach and did some well deserved sunbathing.
Leaving Ilha Grande in the sun the next day was quite sad. We had met some amazing people, and it literally was a tropical paradise (when not raining). So we got the boat back to Rio only to find our hostel had messed up our reservation, so using Ross` ridiculously flukey directional skills we found a hostel that we knew some Aussie guys we had met in Ilha Grande were staying in. So glad we chose it, great location, 2 blocks from the beach and sooo much cheaper than the other place. We were only due to stay one night as we were catching a flight to Salvador the next day.....
So we arrive in Salvador and I was already a bit unsure about the area when we pulled up in the taxi outside the hostel. The lonely planet had pre-warned us that Salvador was pretty rough and that if you were going to get mugged in Brazil then this would be the place. We had also heard from some travellers some pretty crazy stories. So Ross dragged me out to look at the city.... It was a bit sketchy and it was clear that everyone was on something, but i wasnt carrying anything of value so it was fine. The buildings were beautiful there, and we saw a live samba concert in the street. After a while we head back to the hostel where we met some english guys who said they hardly left the hostel whilst they were there. So we watched a film in the tv room which had a balcony overlooking the street and heard screaming coming from downstairs. We all ran to the window and a woman was being attacked and mugged. She was on the floor, and the attacker started stabbing her boyfriend. It was pretty horrific to watch and it shocked me a lot to see it that close up. The boys went to see if the couple were ok but they were in so much shock and the guy was bleeding so much they hardly spoke. Ross and I had a chat and decided that we didnt want to spend our time here, so we caught the first flight back this morning to our favourite place... RIO!!
Anyway, its been a crazy 10 days, had so many different experiences and met so many people. I absolutely love love love Brazil, it is just such a shame that somewhere like Salvador is ruined by crime and drugs. But for now, I am going to enjoy Rio - the amazing beaches, the great nightlife, the people, staring out of bus windows at the favelas (Rios version of city slums usually run by drug lords) and the grafitti, and being amazed by the view of the Christ statue every single time I pass it. Off to buy some din dins (Ross and I are cooking a lot now to save some dinero due to the unexpected cost of a flight!) Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx
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