I'm on a Boat!

Paraty, Brazil

Paraty is a colonial town on the Emerald coast of Brazil. It has cobblestone beaches and colonial architecture. It used to be the port used to export gold and coffee back to Portugal. The one and only tour that we offer here is a day on a yacht out to a couple of beaches and a spot where the pax can swim with a school of fish.

Steve and I make our famous sangria punch. This usually consists of white wine, red wine, apple champagne, vodka, rum, some tropical citrus juiced and sprite. It tastes like punch and inevitably somebody will ask me if there’s any alcohol in it. Unfortunately, it’s kind of a dreary day with intermittent rainfall, but we gamely make our way to the boat and start mixing up sangria.

On the way to the wharf I realize that one of my pax is missing. It turns out that it’s Allison. The day before the tour started she went out to Copacabana without sunscreen for about a half an hour. Now her sunburn is so bad that big blisters are bubbling up on her feet. She’s in a lot of pain. She does make it to the boat, though, and immediately starts downing sangria.

This excursion is one of my favorites. It’s always either at the beginning of a trip or at the end so it’s a great time to either bond as a group or have a final party before the end. This time it’s at the beginning, so I’m hoping that everyone will get to know one another and enjoy themselves.

Usually, the sun is shining and everybody plays on the different beaches that we visit. Today, however, we spent most of the day standing on beaches in the rain and drinking beer. This wasn’t the start that I had envisioned, but by the time the boat had returned to the port almost everybody was feeling good and even had had a ‘bucket scull’. This involves sitting down with Steve and I opening the tap on the Sangria bucket and pouring it straight down your throat.

That night, for some reason, ended up being a very early night.