Parati is a preserved Portuguese colonial town from 1500 to 1889 with a population now of 36,000. The Colonial architecture and earthy colors of its buildings along with the cobblestone (we're talking BIG cobblestones) streets make it an interesting place. The economy here is strictly tourism related. Lots of art galleries, souvenir shops, restaurants, beaches, diving, snorkeling, tours, hiking, horseback riding, and boat tours. Back in 16th and 17th centuries the "Gold Road" ran from a gold mine 500 miles inland to Parati where it was loaded on ships to be taken back to Portugual. The route later changed to end in Rio de Janeiro so for a number of years Parati was deserted. Tourism has brought it back.
Rebecca decided not to go on tour today. My tour was "Atlantic Forest by 4 Wheel Drive" and she did not want to go as no air conditioning! Everyone ask where she was, as many of our friends were on this tour. We all decided later that she was the smartest one of the bunch!! It started with a 40 minute ride to the pier in a VERY hot tender. Luckily the bay was calm at least. It had to be a record for the longest tender ride I have ever had to endure. I was hot and sweat wet by the time I made it to shore. Then we had a fairly long walk down the pier to get to our 4 wheel drive Range Rovers. We had 7 people in mine. It was open on the sides and had a roof, thank God. Once we got moving we cooled off some. Problem now was dust. Our knuckleheaded driver had to be right behind the other vehicles so we ate a lot of dust at times. We headed out of the town and into the hills covered by rain forests. First stop was to view a waterfalls. We had to walk down a tricky path for 5 minutes to get to the small falls. Next stop was to see a "water slide" and distillery. The water slide was a huge rock with water from stream flowing over it. People could slide down the rock into a pool. A few in our tour group tried it once. Then we went across road to a rum distillery. Sugar cane was pressed and the liquid from it was fermented to make a Brazilian rum called "cachaca". I mentioned it before as I like the Brazilian drink called "ciapirinha" that is made from it. Our last stop was at little botanical park with over 300 species of beautiful plants. Then we raced back to town. The road had speed bumps like no other. Then when in the town we were back on the huge cobblestone streets that you had to go very slow over. As a note, I later talked with passengers that just went into town to walk around and found it very difficult to walk because of these big stones. I would have liked to stayed in town for a while and got some more photos but I was whipped. So after another 40 minute tender ride I was back in AIR CONDITIONING. It was about 2pm and Rebecca had eaten so I went up to the pool bar for a burger and Fanta soda.
It is now 5:30 and we will be going to the early show (6pm) this evening to hear Agata Sava, the mezzo-soprano. Her show is entitled, "The Best of Operas & Musicals" so sounds interesting. We are preparing to sail in a few minutes. Not going very far again tonight however. Photos are uploading very slow but will get them on blog later tonight.
