Paraty

Photogenic Paraty calls to memory the vibrant colors of Cartagena and the cobblestone charm of Charleston, topped off with a heavy does of Cachaça and a squirt of lime. Colonized in the sixteenth century by the Portuguese, Paraty became a central shipping hub for gold exported from the region of Minas Gerais and a busy port for slaves coming in to work in the mines and sugar cane fields. When the gold began to run out in the late 18th century, Pararty's economy declined, to be revived a century later by the coffee trade and the production of Brazil's most prized spirit, Cachaça. Today the city lives off tourism, cozy bed & breakfasts, sail boat tours to the many islands and coves, horse-drawn carriage rides through the impeccably decaying historic center and the sale of lots and lots of Capirinhas. 

Frente do Mar

It took me several days to recover from Carnival. The suffocating humidity and inescapable heat helped to expedite the toxin elimination process. I have never sweat so much in my life, I felt like I was melting. With a permanent sweat mustache, the only activity I was capable of was a very slow walk to the beach, zigzagging through every shadow I could find. But there waiting in all it's gloriously wet, turquoise splendor is an endless ocean of cool, refreshing saltiness dotted with little islands of floating mountains on the horizon. An uncontrollable sigh of relief escapes every time I plunge my toasted body into that first crystalline wave of the day. The waves rise like thick glass windows that shatter in a spray of cold droplets. 

Give Thanks

When a loved and well-known local fishermen from Marecias was diagnosed with cancer at 85, he announced to friends and family that not only would he beat cancer, but that he would live to be 100. Several days later he was hit and killed by a car. On the morning of his funeral his fellow fishermen went out to hold an open ocean memorial in his honor. They caught two tons of fish that day. The fish were distributed to every family in Maresias. This was the very first fish I had the pleasure eating in Brasil, cooked in a bonfire on the beach under a glowing moon.

Debauchery

Bariloche has an eerie way of bringing the right people together. I met Jessica Cruz for the first time at the beginning of last ski season. We would always see each other around the mountain but never made much of an effort to be friends. When I returned at the beginning of December she had moved in with my amiga Lu, so we had a new opportunity to get to know one another. Jess is an old soul; at 20 years old she has an outlook and understanding of life that is far beyond her years. She left her family and friends in Brasil last June to move to Bariloche. We both describe feeling an inexplicable calling to this land of lakes, and from the moment we both arrived everything seemed to fall effortlessly into place. We share an incredible love for Bariloche and it has become a home away from home for both of us. The friends we made and memories we created there have marked us forever, and we both know that we will return to the grand shores of the Nahuel Huapi in our own time. 

I had been plotting a beach escape for weeks when Jess said that she might need to go back to Brasil. I love when the timing of things works out so effortlessly. One bottle of wine later and it was decided. To Brasil we go!  And when better to arrive to this sultry country than for the biggest party of the year...  

CARNAVAL 2013 BOIÇUCANGA, SÃO PAULO.  

 tambores na rua