So two Americans and an Israeli are on an island...

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He had fiery red hair, which increased the chances that he spoke some English. Indigenous Brazilians do not have fiery red hair.

Jonathan and the sixteen tons of cargo on his back are from Israel. We met him on the bus down to Angra Dos Reis yesterday, and moments later, we were all on a ferry to Ilha Grande.

Ilha Grande (translated literally, "Big Island") is a big island. At one time, it was a place pirates went to hide their booty. It was later a leper colony, then a penal colony, until finally, now, it's a place Brazilians go to show off their booty. It's also the home of Praia de Lopez Mendez (widely considered Brazil's most beautiful beach), heavily increased Easter weekend prices, and not a single goddam ATM.

As a way of both saving money and pretending like we're outdoorsy, Eden and I opted to rent a tent and set up camp in one of the many "legal" "camping" grounds on the island. By "legal" of course I mean "expensive" and by "camping" I naturally mean "situating a tent within a vast sea of other tents." Jonathan, the wisest of the three of us, get a bed in a hostel. Now sure, that sounds cozy, but Eden and I got more adventure out of the deal: in the mornings, she got to use a communal bathroom that required her to literally push her way through a field of naked, wet, tan-lined T&A; in the evenings, crabs would emerge from the ocean and try to claw their way into our sleeping bags while we slept. Nothing that Hebrew Jonathan writes in his journal can even compare - I don't care how right-to-left he writes it! Ha! We win!

So today was the day to find out what a beautiful beach supposedly is. And all it required of us was a two-hour hike over a mountain. A couple of mountains. A mountain range. The trek itself was a marvel to look at - if seriously sweat-inducing - but unfortunately left me with little to describe. I mean, how do you describe a hike? It's rocks and trees. "Rocky"? "Tree-y"? As much as I'd like to spend my time trying to cleverly tell you about my jaunt over a few hills, I'll cut to the chase: We made it to the beach.

And really, how do you describe a beach? It sure was beachy.

...and beautiful. Sand so smooth you could use it as moisturizer. Water so clear you could breathe it. Air so... something, it turned into a solid of some kind. And any number of additional descriptors that involve the phase transitions of matter. I didn't see any garbage and I didn't get robbed - clearly my best Brazilian beach experience yet.

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Photos

stairway to heaven...´s beach?
eden leans in to hear the sound of jesus dipping his toes in the atlantic, while jonathan searches for his shotgun. it was a long hike.

Funereal Indeed
Anytime you need protection from the sun, remember that only Evil Dead II brand sunblock can oh whatever.

mmm...grainy
so...okay. this is the awesome lopes mendes beach. pretty, right? yeah. well. this is the postcard. kyle took a picture of it cuz it´s better than the pictures we took. but just imagine some half-naked ladies and old dudes with bellies hanging over their speedos and it´s like we really took it.

Comments

[drae j. namaste-rose]

now you're travelling!
the pictures are great. especially the postcard. (kidding). aren't mountains beautiful (even if they are a lot of work)?