Spring Break in Paraty

This past week both Dean and Grace were off school, it's time for Spring Break in Brazil. We headed to Paraty about a 3 1/2 hour drive southwest of Rio. Paraty offers the best of both worlds: the beach and the rainforest. This is a big beach destination for Paulistas (people from Sao Paulo). The main tourist area there is in the historic district. No cars are allowed in this area and the roads are made of rocks. Walking on these rocky roads is an adventure in itself, but we saw several delivery bicycles riding over these rocks. I'm not sure they got to their destination any faster; they had to ride pretty slow over the rocks.



They had a week of rain before we arrived so the water was not as clear as it usually is there, but us midwesterners still found it beautiful. We decided to try out sea kayaking. Dean and Grace went together and Grace was pretty much along for the ride although she did do some paddling. We stopped at a couple beaches during our kayak ride (thank goodness because my shoulders were really tired). Grace and Dean did some snorkling while I took some pictures and relaxed on the beach. The water waslittle too chilly for me to take the plunge!







The next day we went on a horseback ride. Naturally this activity was chosen by Grace. We rode for three hours and stoped about half-way at a waterfall that had a little pool at the bottom. Grace had a blast sliding down the rocks and swimming.






We are glad we were able to get out of the city and relax in Paraty. On our way home Grace lost her fifth tooth! She wasn't too thrilled to be going back to school, "Only one week off isn't long enough!" However losing her tooth made her excited to get back to school and tell her friends all about her spring break.