The day got off to a relatively early start and grabbed
breakfast at the hostel (ham and cheese roll) and made our way to the meeting
point for the tour. We met up with our guide, Sonia, and a few other tourists
and jumped onto the back of a Land Rover and drove off into the hills.
Our first stop was at a waterfall. We took an easy walk
through the jungle before we reached the falls. Here we enjoyed a swim and also
jumping off a rock into the water before grabbing a beer and making our way
down to the car.
Once at the car we made our way to the next stop which was a
Cachaca distillery. Here Sonia gave us a tour of the distillery and explained
how Paraty used to be the place that made the best Cachaca in Brazil until it
was cut off from the trade routes and couldn’t distribute their product. It was
also interesting that the reason that they started making Cachaca was because
the quality of the sugar cane that was grown there was not of good enough
quality for sugar. After the tour and brief history lesson we got to taste some
of the distillery’s produce.
We started on the clear Cachaca which was very harsh and is
therefore normally used to make Caipirinhas. We then tasted a few more which
got smoother to drink and also sweeter and sweeter.
After the tasting we made our way to a spot for lunch but
not before we crossed a rickety bridge on foot with only 2 people allowed to
cross at a time. The pasta was the recommended choice and when it arrived it
was well worth it!
We made our way back to the car in the rain (which followed
us for the rest of the day, but was actually rather nice) and then went to
visit a few other waterfalls, another Cachaca distillery and then returned to
the town.
After the long day we returned to the hostel for a few beers
before heading to see the Paraty beach with a few more beers and then headed to
Sarau for dinner, music, company and beer. We called it early that night as we
had to be back at the hostel to shower by 11. Back at the hostel we showered
and had a few beers while chatting to Cerello (the guy working at the hostel).
We eventually left the hostel at about 1:45 to make our way to the bus station
to transfer to Rio.