The last bus to Trinidade

Straight up I have to confess that this wasn’t the first time I’d taken the bus over to Trinidade, 25k south of Paraty. We’d done the the 40 minute journey during the day to drop off bags and check out the hostel, so to that extent, we knew what to expect.

But there is something different about a journey when it’s pitch black outside and most of the people on the bus are merry after a night out on the town.

It was the combination of sharp bends, steep (1 in 3) includes and sheer drops to the side of the road that made it, during daylight a stubbing journey. In the dark, an unexpected twist in the road followed by a sharp downhill turn, coupled with the fact that the driver had turned every light on the bus out to make sure he had half a chance of seeing the single track road made it justify the £1 fare. The finale to this journey was turning a corner to see the giant waves breaking in the moonlight onto a deserted beach, while the road itself temporarily turns into raw bedrock and a river rushes across it. As the bus splashes through, the lights turn on and you know you’ve made it. I was glad expecting to see a stall by the dude of the road selling photographs of the passengers petrified faces!

I remember when I was a kid at Disney World in Florida riding Space Mountain and being convinced I was going to fall out and die. If Disney can make a roller coaster like this, they’re on to a sure thing!