I’ve been pretty busy since we got back from Newquay two weeks ago, so hadn’t really had the opportunity to check out some of the photos I took. I was quite pleased to find some of these (more retro style) shots on my waterproof W60 camera (they have obviously had a little tinkering in PhotoShop). There are a few below, the rest are on my flickr.

And so the quiver extends itself to 6! Yep that is 6 surf boards, spread over 2 hemispheres, you could even say it is an intercontinental quiver!

This is the 7′0 fun board that I brought from sharper and owner of Breeder surfboards, Renato Casimiro, I’ve named him Clyde (after Clyde “the glide” Drexler).

Here are a couple of pictures I took with the underwater camera today, not amazing, but a little proof all the same. I actually got pounded trying to take the pictures as I was caught inside. they don’t really do the surf justice, but to give you an idea it was about 4-5ft today, still fat, but the wind was blowing onshore and so it wasn’t as hollow as yesterday.

There was a beautiful sunset last night which we just about caught before heading out to dinner, check it out below.

Today Rose and I made the trip down the coast from Massaguacu to Maresias, via Sao Sebastiao. We are staying at the Tambayba Hotel Pousada, an Indonesian-style resort set in lush, tropical surroundings.

The surf was pretty intense today and I felt a little out of my league alongside a handful of local surfers. The set waves were in the region of a good 6ft, very thick, fast and pretty hollow. I haven’t surfed waves like this since Fiji a few years back, and more recently at Itamambuca. I think I got about 3 waves in the space of about an hour, not that many to be fair, but at least I didn’t snap my board on the (heavy) lip of the wave (i’ve already broken 2 leashes and a fin).

I’ll give it another bash in the morning.

On our way back from our trip to Paraty, Rose and I checked into the Canto do Itamambuca, a nicely kept pousada about 500 metres from the beach and river.

The funny thing about the “500 metres” to the beach is that they don’t mention that you actually need to cross a river to get to access the beach, either by getting a small boat (paddled by one of the local boatmen) or wading/swimming across. Depending on the tide, the river can be ankle deep to neck deep, so you don’t really know what to expect. But after a few crossings you get used to it (unlike Australia, there are no nasties in the rivers around these parts – or so I was told).

The Canto is a nice place, with friendly staff, a nice pool and a decent breakfast, the only thing was that we were the only guests staying there (as it was low season after carnaval) so it lacked a bit of atmosphere.

Whilst staying in Paraty, we booked in a charming little hostel near the river called Casa do Rio (house on the river). It had an arts and crafts feel to it (in the artisan sense of the word, not the architectural style).

The only thing I could fault was the fact that the room was a little small and when it is 39.5 degrees in the day time, you HAVE to have air con in your room, we didn’t and you would need a nuclear-powered ceiling fan set to turbo to even come close to reducing the evening heat by a few degrees.

Sticky, sleepless nights aside, our stay was pleasant, and probably the first time on our stay outside of the city of Sao Paulo that we bumped into English speaking tourists, in Caragua and especially Massaguacu it is mostly locals who don’t speak (or let you know they speak) English.

Our second day in Paraty was spent trekking through the hills surrounding the town on horse back. Rose had been asking me for months if we could go horse riding (whether in the UK or elsewhere) and finally persuaded me to take the plunge. I wasn’t really sure what to expect and was a little apprehensive as the last time I had been on a horse was when I was about 2 years old.

Our instructor was cool, giving me a quick 5 minute introduction about how to ride a horse and not kill yourself (I was dressed in shorts, trainers and no hat). At first I just wanted to trot along at quite a slow pace, but after a while got up a little more speed to a canter and finally a gallop on the way back home.

The trip through the foot hills was amazing, we passed through lush forest and jungle and stopped off at a waterfall where we had a rest and swam to cool off from the scorching heat.

I would definitely try horse riding again, but I think that it would have to be done outside the UK as I don’t think I was supposed to do half the stuff we did on our trek (you would probably only trot around a field on your first time in the UK, not gallop up a hillside in the middle of the jungle).

A few days after visiting Ubatuba and chilling at home in Massaguacu, Rose and I headed up to Paraty, just across the State border in Rio State.

Paraty is an old colonial settlement and port with amazing architecture and old colonial charm. We spent 2 nights there and really enjoyed strolling around the old streets and taking in the sights.

Unfortunately for us the temperature soared to 39.5 degrees on our second day, and although I like the heat this was a little too much even for me. Paraty was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

Today Rose and I headed up the coast on the bus to Ubatuba, about an hour away from Caragua.

Our previous plan was to hire a car and cruise up the coast, stopping off at different places on the way to Rio. As it turned out, hiring a car in Brazil is a bit of a hassle. The roads are sh*t, the drivers are mental, and there is a pretty useless insurance policy that comes with all hire cars, meaning that you are liable for the first £500-750 of any accident that you incur, whether it is your fault or not. Anyway I digress! We ended up taking the bus EVERYWHERE!

We had a nice day checking out Ubatuba, it was scotching hot day, so we didn’t over exert ourselves and just took in a few sights and rounded it off with a nice meal on the beach front in the evening!