Party in Paraty!

We have discovered an amazing hidden little beach town halfway between São Paulo and Rio called Paraty. It is being considered by UNESCO for World Heritage site status. It is known for having the best preserved Portuguese colonial architecture in Brazil, and it is beautiful! ALSO, it is known for it´s beaches. It has over 300 little rainforest beaches scattered over the surrounding 65 islands!
We arrived after a beautiful trip through the jungly mountains, and quickly discovered that this was the hottest place in South America. No joke, 110 degrees every day according to the thermometers. Our hostel had no air conditioning, and the only window faced an alley, so no ventilation except a very strong fan. We quickly got into the habit of taking 3 cold showers a day, although since the ´cold´ water was so warm it wasn´t that bad. But it sounds a lot worse than it really was. We actually slept like rocks...on top of the sheets and making sure that we didn´t touch.
The biggest surprise we had was that this sleepy little town has more nightlife than William and Mary x20! While that is a hard stat to beat, Paraty had about 30 bars and outdoor cafes, with people partying until well after midnight on school days!
The first full day we took a schooner tour throughout the islands, stopping at several beaches to snorkel over coral and gaze upon the tropical fish. Nicole discovered her love of snorkeling!!! We had an amazing freshly-cooked lunch of fish! We spent the rest of the evening hanging out and attempting to cook more fish, which Stacen royally destroyed until it resembled canned tuna. That night, however, something magical happened. All i have to say is...shalom. We met an israeli couple who just happen to be travelling 6 months in south america too! Tomer (boy) and Ziv (girl), our new travelling buddies!
We went out that night and watched as people practiced for the Carnaval parade in Paraty. The drums are mesmerizing! And the rhythm kept Nicole´s hips moving all night! There were also some street performers doing devil sticks that were lit on fire, but there was this girl with them that was just kind of waving them in the air and we couldn´t figure out why anyone was giving HER money because her act was just really stupid.
We hiked to a couple of beaches the next day, through a rainforest! We explored an abandoned Portuguese fort. We explored a graveyard (much more interesting down here). We cooked fish and hamburgers with Tomer and Ziv and went out that night. We tried Cachaça, liquor from cane juice, which was pretty firey.
The next morning, we left for a very bumpy and jerky ride for RIO...more to come soon! We know we are behind and we are working on it. Sorry. We have had complaints. Ben.