Brazil--Sao Paulo, Parati and Bahia

First and foremost to really see all of this country we would need at least a year. So we decided since we were only going to be visiting for a few weeks that we would stick to the beaches--that was a damn good idea. We´ve long since lost our tans and packed away our board shorts and bikinis from Belize and had no idea how much we had missed it until our first day on the beach here in Brazil. On our second night here Stacy and I were priviledged enough to have my friend Coco take us to a professional soccer game in Sao Paulo with all of the excitement and energy we had expected to see at a game in the biggest futbol country in the world. It was perhaps equally cool to go to the game with Coco´s boyfriend Anderson who is a former pro soccer player here in Brazil so we could get the inside scoop on all the players and teams. The next morning we headed north to the colorful picturesque colonial town of Parati about 4 hours north of Sao Paulo. We were lucky that it was a holiday weekend and had the chance to meet some of her friends and even got to go out on a friend´s sailboat for the day and do some snorkeling. We even found a cool little island bar to stop off at for some fresh fish and Capirina's (Brazil's national drink made with Cashasa which is a liquor distilled from sugarcane). A few days in Parati didn't provide us nearly enough beach time so we decided to go all out and fly up to the Bahia region of Brazil for even warmer weather and more tropical beaches. This part of Brazil we will remember forever. Our hotel looked out on the beach and that is where we spent our days, just relaxing and and soaking up the sun--with fresh fish and capirinas every day--absolute paradise.