Sao Paulo is a sprawling giant of a city that never seems to end. We took a trip up to the 44th floor of the Edifício Itália building for panoramic views around the city. Buildings stretch out in all directions - the city never seems to end.
Any city with 19 million people would have some good places to party, but when those people are Brazilian...well, good times were had. One odd thing that they do in the clubs is give you a drinks card when you enter the club. You use the card to pay for drinks throughout the night and at the end of the night pay the balance on the card. Turns out this is a bad idea because you don't really realise how much money you are spending until you get the bill. Lucky I am nearly at the end of my trip...
Next stop was the coastal town of Paraty. I kept reading this as "Party" and was wondering why there was a "Party" cyber cafe and a "Party" laundrette. To get there we had to go to the hilariously named Ubatuba and then stand on a local bus that took us the rest of the way. This was not ideal with a hangover.
Paraty is blessed with a lovely little colonial centre and some beautiful beaches. The cobbled streets of the old town must have the largest cobblestones in the world - some were 1sqm in size - which I am sure have claimed many a car's suspension in their time. Still, it looks nice.
We spent a day in Trindade, home to three beautiful beaches and some natural pools. The beaches got more and more stunning as we walked, until finally we were standing next to the natural pools - deep blue sea water surrounded with huge boulders and schools of tropical fish darting around the place.
Paraty also has a natural water slide. In the jungle there is a huge smooth rock face with a river running over it. You can slide down on your ass (or face first if you feel brave enough) and drop into a fresh water pool. Everyone who visits aspires to slide all the way down on their feel like the local guys. I managed was three meters before falling on my ass.
It is the tail end of rainy season but I have pretty much had sun and clear skies all the time I've been here - that ended when I visited Ilha Grande. The first two days on the Island involved lots of rain and hammock swinging, and swimming in the sea is much the same whether its raining or not. That said, I was glad when the clouds finally burned away so I could go snorkeling and visit Lopez Mendez beach, reportedly one of the top-5 beaches in the country.
The snorkeling was great! There is colourful coral and lots of fish. I even saw a turtle which was surprising as there were hordes of people splashing around with their masks on. Lopez Mendez is a beautiful white-sand beach where jungle meets turquoise seas and white sand. After the hordes had gone home it really lived up to the hype.
Well, I'm off to Rio for Carnival - my last stop on this trip. It will be good to go out with a bang! Here are some other things I have seen over the last week.
We came across hundreds of policemen practising their marching skills for a parade. For once, it was safe to take my camera out in the streets. Crime rates went up everywhere else in Sao Paulo.
Sonar beach, near Paraty. An hours walk in the jungle, but worth every step.
The team, looking cool in Trindade.
With all these boulders about, I couldn't resist a little climb.
Warm up for Carnaval in Paraty!
We were the last people on the beach in Lopez Mendez. What a day.
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