Paraty and the beginning of Carnival

After arriving so early and being completely exhauusted, I still seemed unable to actually sleep so after long, and the first vaguely tepid showers in 2 weeks, we set off to wander round the town and see what it had to offer.
Paraty is very beautiful and the old town is perfectly preserved with cobbled streets so uneven it hurts and you need to watch the ground constantly! It is an old Colonial town, one of the first properly set up with the Portugese landed in Brazil and began to build towns and create their own communities. It seems Paraty got left behind in urbanisation due to its industries as its focus was on cachaca (sugar cane spirit), fishing and crops, and didn't necessitate the development of the buildings too much. Now that it is so perfectly maintained in its orignial state it is a protected site and simply beautiful and a great atmospheric choice for us to spend Carnival in.

Last night was the first night of 5 for carnival, runing from Friday the 5rd to Ash Wednesday on the 9th. So 5 nights of serious dancing and drinking ahead of me. I have been keeping of noted of the escapades, blogging of the fun times will follow xx