Paraty, Brazil: The hip little paradise away from Rio

By Craig Tansley
September 5 2015 - 12:15am
Water water everywhere: Paraty smells salty and a little bit fishy but in an endearing way.
 Photo: iStock
Water water everywhere: Paraty smells salty and a little bit fishy but in an endearing way. Photo: iStock
Water water everywhere: Paraty smells salty and a little bit fishy but in an endearing way.
 Photo: iStock
Water water everywhere: Paraty smells salty and a little bit fishy but in an endearing way. Photo: iStock
Water water everywhere: Paraty smells salty and a little bit fishy but in an endearing way.
 Photo: iStock
Water water everywhere: Paraty smells salty and a little bit fishy but in an endearing way. Photo: iStock
Water water everywhere: Paraty smells salty and a little bit fishy but in an endearing way.
 Photo: iStock
Water water everywhere: Paraty smells salty and a little bit fishy but in an endearing way. Photo: iStock
The ancient ancient coral walls of Paraty's old town are painted in every conceivable colour.
The ancient ancient coral walls of Paraty's old town are painted in every conceivable colour.
Visitors walk through Atlantic forest to Trindade's beautiful sea pools. Photo: Alison Scott
Visitors walk through Atlantic forest to Trindade's beautiful sea pools. Photo: Alison Scott
Watching pedestrians in Paraty's old town. Photo: Alison Scott
Watching pedestrians in Paraty's old town. Photo: Alison Scott

They say Paraty is falling down, but I say the old girl's got a few good years in her yet. She's copped her fair share of rough treatment these past 348 years: countless floods, the mightiest storms, pirate attacks... They don't make old Portuguese fishing towns like they used to; little wonder UNESCO awarded her world heritage listing. When the moon's full, the Atlantic creeps slowly up her ancient cobblestone streets, though each time it looks like Paraty might go under, the ocean bids a swift retreat, leaving a bracken water mark across the walls of her historic houses – a permanent reminder of its hold over the town. Sometimes at night, under the soft light of its historic lamp posts and beneath all those blinking Brazilian stars, she can look a little like Venice, as locals paddle about her streets in old boats.

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