Once we arrived in Paranaguá we were treated with a fantastic seafood buffet for lunch. The food was very good! After lunch we walked down to the boat dock to board a small boat for a ride along the Paranaguá Port. This gave us the opportunity to see the port from the water while also seeing the mountains in the distance.  It only started to rain for the last 20 minutes of the ride.

After the boat ride we drove over to the Port Administration to learn more about Paranaguá Port. This port is the main grain port in Brazil and the largest in Latin America. Along with grain, Brazil exports and imports containers, frozen foods, cars (we saw nearly 8,000 VW Jettas fresh off a vessel from Mexico), wood, sugar, etc. The port is currently expanding in order to meet growing demand. It is believed that this expansion will grow business 60% in the first two years.

Once we toured the port we began our 3 hour journey to Ponta Grossa. Along the way we stopped at a small market to try some local foods. The group tasted “corn cake” which was very similar to what we know as “corn bread”. Additionally we tried “corn juice” which  was similar to cream style corn and sugar cane juice which was mixed with lemons. For dinner we ate at a pizza restaurant that has 30 different kinds of pizza with toppings ranging from salmon to banana. They too used the “all you can eat” style of serving so needless to say we had plenty to eat!

It was very nice day that allowed us to see a lot of Brazil. We are looking forward to tomorrow!