It’s a bit of an epic journey from Paraty to Florianopolis: a seven hour bus to Sao Paulo, five hours at the bus station, another overnight bus and a further two local buses. Finally, more than 27 hours after setting off, we were dumped at the end of the line on Santa Catarina island, a … Read more Florianopolis – dude capital of Brazil
In some ways, Paraty is very similar to Ouro Preto. It is another old colonial town, with that same Mediterranean vibe, but where Ouro Preto evokes the Italian countryside, this is more reminiscent of a Greek harbour town. There are the same cobbled streets, but instead of that maze of twisting, turning lanes, here the … Read more Paraty – pronounced Para-CHEE, apparently
Ouro Preto is a small, quaint town, seven hours north of Rio and two hours south of Belo Horizonte, which is now a Unesco World Heritage site. A former mining town (it’s name means black gold), it is one of the prettiest and best preserved colonial towns in Brazil and so, despite it’s small size … Read more Ouro Preto – time out
Well, no. not really. We found Rio as safe and as welcoming as any city we have visited so far, and as for it’s reputation for the fairer sex, the streets were not paved with buxom beauties in string bikinis (so Leah tells me, I was of course, not looking). So, cliches discarded, on with … Read more Rio – crime and crumpet
After our ‘near death experience’ on the drive to Bonito, we settle into the HI Ecological Hostel for some much needed sleep. I’m not sure what exactly is ecological about it except that they separate their recycle but it’s a nice enough place with some good communal areas and a pool, although the rooms are … Read more Bonito – an afternoon with the fishes