Our next stop was Paraty!

"This stunning colonial city—also spelled Parati—is one of South America's gems. Giant iron chains hang from posts at the beginning of the mazelike grid of cobblestone streets that make up the historic center, closing them to all but pedestrians, horses, and bicycles. Until the 18th century this was an important transit point for gold plucked from the Minas Gerais—a safe harbor protected by a fort." 

-Fodor's Brazil 2014

We arrived in Paraty late afternoon and headed to the beach. We found a small beach near our rental house and stopped to play. The water was a bit dark and super warm (Dad joked that the water could be used to make tea) and only Aubrey, Jo, and Dad ended up swimming. We headed back to the house not to long after and got ready to celebrate New Years! We stayed up until 12 playing board games and were able to go off the balcony and watch multiple firework shows down on the beach. 

On New Years Day we decided to take a boat tour! We hopped on the boat at 11:00 am and didn't get off until 6:30 pm. The boat held about 30 people and had a bathroom and a kitchen to make us all lunch. The boat took us to 3 different islands where we were able to get off and swim to the shore or play in the water. And let me tell you- the beaches were GORGEOUS and the water was crystal clear!!!! Like you could see the bottom of the ocean floor it was so blue. 

 At the second island Aubrey, Dad, and I ventured a little bit farther to the side of the island towards the end of the beach and found some awesome sea creatures! There were blue crabs and little hermit crabs running through the sand and Aubrey found some neat shells and a dead starfish. The coolest thing were the sand dollars! Every step you took you were standing on a sand dollar! There were thousands of them and they all were alive with little crabs crawling on them. Dad would only let us take the dead ones, so we picked the live ones up and threw them back in the water. 

 Everyone's favorite stop we took was the third. There were thousands of tropical swimming in the water close to the boat and the cooks were throwing in shrimp for the fish to eat, so they were EVERYWHERE!!! We were able to borrow a few snorkeling masks and it was just incredible! 

On our last day we walked through the town. The doors of each shop were painted different colors and the buildings were super cute.

Chocolate anyone?

Rio

After Ouro Preto we headed to Rio, for some exploring and sight-seeing. 

"Welcome to the Cidade Maravilhosa, or the Marvelous City, as Rio is known in Brazil...The dramatic views from Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado Mountain and famous Carnival celebrations, Rio is a city of stunning architecture, abundant museums, and marvelous food. Rio is also home to 23 beaches, an almost continuous 23-km (45-mile) ribbon of sand.

-Fodor's Brazil 2014

As soon as we arrived we checked into our apartment and headed to the Escadaria Selarón or the Selaron Steps. They are a work of mosaic art from the artist Jorge Selarón. The art was beautiful and the steps were fun to walk down.

 We found Utah and Washington D.C!!!!

 The old city aqueduct

 On our first day in Rio we decided to go see the Christ the Redeemer statue and 

Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain). Sadly, when we went up to the statue it and the view of the city was covered in fog! We took some pictures and headed down the mountain to go see Pão de Açúcar.

Adorable monkey we found on our way up to Pao de Acucar. We all loved his spiky hair!

 The gondola we rode up to Pao de Acucar in. It was super cool and we were able to see the ocean and the beaches perfectly- the view was incredible!

 We were able to walk into the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral or the Cathedral of St. Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro (that's a mouthful!). The inside was covered in beautiful stain-glass windows and the dome-like shape of the cathedral was neat.

 We took a walk down the Copacabana beach one night and were able to put our feet in the water. It was interesting because as we were walking down the beach there was this large group of people huddled together and a few ladies were crying. They were all lighting fires in the sand, throwing flowers into  the water, swimming into the ocean to let small boats out to sea, and singing tribal-like songs. We were a little confused, like 'what's going on'??? Dad ended up asking someone and they said they were thanking and praying to the sea goddess. Since we were there a few nights before New Years Eve  when the normal celebration is, a few groups had come down before so they didn't have to deal with the crowds. 

We found this AWESOME sand castle display on the beach. It was insane! Every little detail was amazing and the whole display was incredible.

 I promise, these pictures are real!!!  We had to pay the sandcastle artist to take them.

On our second day in Rio, we went to the Botanical Gardens to explore the area there. The flowers were beautiful and the landscaping was fun to walk through.

When we were at the gardens we found a momma monkey and her baby twins. She was carrying them on her back and one of the babies was a little curious and was climbing all over

The whole time we were in Rio, it was scorching hot! Even all the locals were saying it rarely got that hot. It was above 100° all 3 days! 

Sweaty, sweaty, sweaty girls

The streets of Rio were overflowing with graffiti and wall art. A lot of it was beautiful art that was fun to look at. By the end of the week we all had found our favorite pictures.

 

Our little "Pao de Quiejo" girl

These trees were everywhere! Our tour guide said that the monkeys eat the fruit, but when one of the fruits drop its the worst. She said, "They smell like crap!"

                                              Nutella pizza....do I need to say more?

Yummy brealfast buffet spot we stopped at on our last day before heading out to Paraty.