The Tall Ship Adventure!

Saturday December 4^th.

Didn't sleep well in our hot, stuffy room. No air conditioning, just a fan that didn't reach the bottom bunk. Breakfast was good, with fruit, cereal (frosted flakes - but first in a long time) and toasted ham and cheese sandwiches. Went to see my Uruagian artisan buddy Marcelo. I bought the coin for Carol and two for me, a Canadian quarter and a British half penny. Because I gave him a bunch on my extra coins, he gave me a seed he had cut as well. We talked for awhile and I arranged to leave my luggage there tonight so I could see some of the Latino Festival and not have to carry it the whole way to the bus station in one go, his shop is about half way.

Then I boarded the schooner Banzay for a five hour “tall ship” adventure around the bay of Paraty. The boat was nice, served drinks and lunch. There were about eight of these schooners out and a number of smaller vessels as well. This is a very touristy town and easy to reach from Rio or Sao Paulo. Most of the people on board were Brazillians from Sao Paulo here for the weekend. There was a rowdy group that drank the whole trip. I was pretty much alone the whole way. We sailed past numerous pretty islands on our way to a beach where we anchored for a swim. The water was quite warm and clear. Then we continued to two other places where we could swim or snorkel. The snorkelling was okay but nothing special. The day was hot and sunny and I got too much sun. After a decent lunch we headed back to port. Thankfully the afternoon clouds had rolled in again and saved me from more sun.

It wasn't quite the tall ship adventure I had planned (it was only one day, there were no sails on the masts) but at least I got out on a schooner and saw some of the beautiful area of Paraty Bay.

Back to the hostel to pack up and take my bag to Marcelo's shop. He introduced me to his store neighbour who made unique jewelry. I couldn't resist and bought a couple of nice things for Carol or Megan. Then back to the hostel again for another bbq dinner, this time with meat, beef, pork, chicken, sausage and a couple of salads.

Then I went to see the Paraty Latino Festival again. The band was Brazillian and had a pretty, talented female singer. I met Marcelo there and his family, wife, two kids and mother-in-law. I could only stay an hour and then I had to head to the bus station. So, he took me to his shop to pick up my stuff and away I went.