Paraty is a beautiful colonial town on the Brazilian "Costa Verde" which we already visited in 2016 but really wanted to experience again. This time, we had a help of a local... Well, Michel actually comes from France, but he's been living in Paraty for ten years now. He sailed his beautiful sailboat from Canada and remained anchored in the bay of Paraty ever since; apart from some sailing trips around the region. He kindly accepted us aboard as couchsurfers and helped us out with recommendations for experiencing the local cuisine. The weather was extremely hot and the sea temperature (above 30°C) didn't really offer any refreshment so we visited one of the nearby mountain streams that form cascades and pools filled with crystal clear and cool fresh water. After that we decided it's time for another of our crazy adventures. We packed our camping essentials, rented a simple "sit-on-top" kayak and started a three day exploration of the nearby Mamangua bay. During our trip, we met a whole expedition of sea kayakers with proper equipment and plenty of experience. Their leader Christian (who turned out to have Slovenian heritage) recommended us some nice places to visit and our three day kayaking trip turned out to be a breathtaking experience. Once again we combined our impressions in a short video. Our "vagabonding" had finally come to an end. And how better to finish the South American journey than with one of its most representative places - the marvelous city of Rio de Janeiro. We had already visited the main tourist attractions such as Christ the Redeemer and Pao de Azucar back in 2016. This time we took it easier. We slept at a place of a charming couchsurfer Thiago just a hundred meters from the Copacabana beach. We chilled around, visited the Rio's markets to stock up on cachaca, acai powder and guarana, we strolled the modern promenade with the famous "Museum of tomorrow" and graffiti of the Brasilian artist "Kobra" and paid a short visit to a "bloco" - a pre-carneval party at one of the town squares. We also hiked to one of the best viewpoints over the city. The hike to "two brothers peak" begins at a pacified favela which is only reached by a sketchy taxi-motorbike ride with one of the locals. At the beginning of the hike, the favela didn't seemed to be completely pacified to us - there were around ten young men and boys walking around fully armed with guns and rifles, hunting someone that apparently broke the favela rules. They didn't really gave much of attention to us and so we hurried along not to be caught in a potential cross-fire. We reached the top without incidents and were joined by some other tourists as well to watch the amazing views over the city. Four days went by like nothing and all of a sudden, we were on a plane back to Europe. We reached Munich at noon and the sun had been good to us to warm up the winter temperatures at least a little bit. After more than a year we breathed in the cool European air with all it's aromas and smells and even though we were not yet back to Slovenia, everything felt very familiar. Well, staying with Jose (our friend from the times we had lived in Munich) and meeting up with some friends added an important part to the feeling as well :) But in the end... nothing can compete with the overwhelming feelings of coming back home. The drive from Munich to Ljubljana was another pleasant experience as Gaja & Peter redeemed themselves for taking us away for the long journey in the first place. Seeing our parents, siblings, nephews and the closest friends brought out many feelings and memories and for the next couple of days we had been meeting-up with people and getting back in touch with the surroundings. Only then it really became clear to us - we are back to "normal life"!
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Our last visit on the beaches of the Santa Catarina island (still around Florianopolis) was Lagoinha do Leste - hidden from the roads and settlements some walking is required to access this wonderful stretch of sand. We started in the morning from the lovely village of Armaçao, but the day was already growing hot so we took a dip in the sea in a small natural pool that was guarded from the ocean waves too cool down before the walking started. The hike was not too tough and soon we reached Lagoinha bay where a fresh-water lagoon is captured behind the sandy beach just meters away from the sea. The hills around the beach are steep and the forests pristine which results in plenty of pure and fresh potable streams flowing onto the beach out of the bushes. For the famous picture on a overhanging rock, we had to climb a hill on the other side and so finished our stay in Florianopolis with one of the best views of the region. With our backpacks weighing us down and the sudden lack of mobility, we decided to take it easy in our last month of traveling and limit the amount of places we want to visit. But it is not only mobility that comes into question... For the first time in months, we had to start figuring out where to stay for the night and the carefree wandering about had to come to an end. On the other hand, staying longer at one place makes you experience it in a completely different way than just passing by and so we turned our minds around pretty quickly to start enjoying the positive sides of backpacking. Our first stop was Montevideo. Just across the bay from Buenos Aires, the Uruguayan capital is like it's smaller laid-back sibling. The architecture and culture are similar with a touch of extra friendliness and tranquility. We spent a weekend in the city and apart from an artesanal market in one of the parks everything was pretty much closed. It seemed as if every single citizen went down to the waterfront with their family and friends to enjoy the "mate ceremony" - sitting around and talking in good company while constantly sipping tea through the metal straw. Oh and since the Uruguay legalised marijuana in 2017 it's practically impossible to avoid the smell of it everywhere in the streets around you. It might even have an effect in the (too) loosen-up attitude of the people. Buenos Aires is a wonderfully diverse city. The European influence can be felt on every corner, which makes it far more charming than other South American metropolis, that are built in a more american style. Fancy and modern neighbourhoods are intertwined with colonial areas and some less developed barrios and there is plenty of sights to see and things to do for everyone. The food is magnificent and probably the best ice-creams in the world can be found in the city. If you are bored in Buenos Aires it's probably your own fault :) |
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