As I am only really passing through Brazil on the way to Bolivia, I thought I should see a bit more before I leave. I had read about Paraty , a four hour bus trip along the beautiful Costa Verde so planned a trip there. The drive along the coast was magnificent, truly a green coast with forested mountains reaching down to little coves, some sandy , some filled with the yachts of the wealthy who enjoy this as a getaway from Rio. One blot on the landscape was three electro nuclear power stations along the route, all with their own settlements for the workers with hospital, school, nicely laid out apartments and of course , emergency meeting points. I had no concern about crime at all here so treated myself to a capiranha cocktail in the evening and got into conversation with a very nice local man who lived in USA for years. I had thought Paraty was just a little fishing village but he told me about its glory years as a town founded by the Portuguese in late 1600s to transport gold up the coast to Rio and onwards to Europe. Fabulously wealthy families lived here then, thriving on the no cost labour provided by the slaves brought in from Africa. They even provided the slaves with their own church.The heyday didnt last though, pirates attacked the ships and the decision was made to transport the gold overland to Rio on a safer route,avoiding Paraty . It had a second boom in the 1800s when the coffee trade took off but again this didnt last as the soil wasnt rich enough to support the plantations. It basically just rumbled on quietly , falling into disrepair until 1970 when a new road was built near it and people rediscovered the now quite unique charms. It has taken off as a successful tourist destination and the buildings are now shining with fresh paint and whitewashed walls. I said I was surprised at how poor the cobbled streets were but apparently they were once perfectly paved with evenly cut stones but the mayor many years ago wanted underground drainage channels put in and the contractor sold the perfect cobbles and replaced them with rough stones used as ballast of the empty ships coming in to port. Where was the supervision of that contract? We had a great chat,sitting outside, the huge super moon shimmering over the sea ,lighting up the 400 year old buildings around us. A really charming evening. Pity I had the bus booked again the next day! Now the bit of the journey I am most worried about. I am in Campo Grande about to travel through the Pantanal to Corumba where if all goes well, I just walk across the Bolivian border and get the train tonight to Santa Cruz. Keep your fingers crossed!
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 09:22:16 +0000
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