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Ilhe Grande
The main beach at the town Abraao After days of dreaming about lazing about on an island I finally arrive in Ilhe Grande, an island not far of the coast of Brazil. After another breathtaking bus ride from Paraty to the port town of Angra dos Reis I jump onto a boat that takes me to the island. I have been told to head left on the beach all the way until you find a couple of hostels right on the water front. This is what I do and find exactly what I am looking for, beach front about 5m from the buildings, hammocks and a great place to chill out. I also find this crazy Brazilian lady going nuts at another group of travellers and the travellers standing there with looks of bewilderment on their faces. Not speaking Portuguese I am not sure what is going on but it´s my first introduction to the women they call ´crazy lady´. As it turns out she scares the others off but I am ready just to dump my bags right there and relax. My purpose of being on the island is to do absolutely nothing and try and recover from this damned cold that I have and possibly
Angra Dos Reis
Houses at the port town Angra Dos Reis..where the ferry leaves for Ilhe Grande a few other activities but only if I feel like it. The first day was one of those perfect days when you do absolutely nothing and feel no guilt at all. I just lazed about in the hammock reading, swam a little, slept a little and that´s about it. Actually now I think about it that´s what I did for most of my time on Ilhe Grande, firstly because I wanted to and secondly because for half the time there the weather was not that great. The island is quite large, hence the name, and to get to the better beaches you have to hike over the island and you will find paradise. One day I just did a small hike around the side of the island to a small beach where I actually did some exercise in the form of swimming - it was great to be back in the water again. I was hoping to do some snorkelling while I was there but the water was very dirty and nothing could be seen. Then spent the rest of the day lazing about drinking icy cold beers from the freezer served in custom made coolers along with iced cold
Ilhe Grande
The hostel....Aquario´s glasses - the Brazilians definately know how to serve up the beer right! They should know as there is numerous bars and cafes everywhere and people are hanging out there as early as 9am. On my last day there I hiked over to the other side of the mountain with a girl I met from Switzerland to a very secluded beach called Dois Rois. It took about 2 hours to get there and was great to be walking in the jungle that covers the island. Saw lots of beautiful birds and some butterflies and one amazing looking snake who startled us as we were walking. Finally we made it to this beach and had the whole place to ourselves for most of the day. There is another beach that people walk to but you can catch a boat back to town, the beach we had chosen you actually have to walk back at the end of the day, so this is the reason why we were lucky enough to have it to ourselves. Most of the beaches around Brazil that I saw actually have waves breaking so swimming in these beaches actually takes some effort, much like swimming at home,
Ilhe Grande
The hostel again this beach was no different. I did get a little cocky and swam out further while the waves were not so big and the was stuck out there when a massive set came in causing me to have dive continuously for about 8 minutes and leaving me with sand in ever orifice of my body and all through my hair and bathers. I spent the rest of the day lazing on the beach reading and trying not to think of the big hill and 2 hour walk home and how having a boat come and pick us up woúld be such a great idea. As usual the walk home felt longer than the walk to the beach in the morning but we made it before dark and before the mossies could attack. Back the civilised side of the island and rewarded myself with an Acai, which is a berry from the Amazon that they crush up with ice so it's like a slurpy and then served with granola, banana and honey. I loved these so much that I decided that I would have one every day as someone told me they were really good for you, of course a natural
Ilhe Grande
Drinking ice cold beer from the freezer with an frozen glass on Enseada Das Palmas beach...this is the life! berry from the Amazon I thought, but then I found out that they were really only good for you when you are using lots of energy like when you are exercising and not just lazing about. If you are just lazing about they are full of calories and even though they taste bloody great are not as good for you as they could be. Anyway my last night on the island was spent hanging with some of the friends I had made, mainly the bar staff at the hostel, which provided me with very strong Caipirinhas (terrible drinks made with local rum called Cachaça with lime juice and sugar) and then they also ended up free, so even though they tasted like shite I thought I should do as the locals do and they would make me sleep well! By now after 5 days on the island I had recovered some what from my cold and felt ready to take on Rio de Janeiro. The next morning I was off on the ferry on the way to Rio and after being nervous about going there for sometime I actually had no nerves just excitement to be heading to this amazing
Ilhe Grande
The main beach and the surrounding mountains and jungle city.
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