Ilha Grande - Paradise Isle

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Our journey to Ilha Grande wasn’t the easiest of trips, in part self-inflicted lack of sleep and in part a driver who not only got us lost leaving Rio – at one point we were still 3 blocks from our hostel 1.5 hours after being picked up – but also drove so erratically that he had us reaching for our seatbelts and crossing our fingers that we’d arrive in one piece.



But arrive in one piece we did and it only took over 5 hours to do a 2.5hr journey, not bad by South American standards! Thankfully the boat transfer hadn’t left yet so it was a quick hop from the minibus of doom and on to a catamaran for a trip across the sea to Ilha Grande or as it has been rechristened by us, Paradise Isle!



Our accommodation for the next 5 nights was in the form of a pousada set back from the beach, a few minutes’ walk from the sand into the lush rain forest. There we found our hosts waiting to check us in with ice towels and a cold drink, a great start to 0ur stay!

The rooms are built on stilts high up above the tree tops, so while we’re nestled into the forest the view from the balcony looks out over the trees and onto the bay below. A simple clean room with air con, safe and mini bar greeted us, the hammock strung across the balcony with the view of the bay instantly made me never want to leave.



Ilha Grande has one of the richest ecosystems in the world; it’s a hotspot for biodiversity and conservation. The entire island is a protected area, its road less and off-limits to cars and is subject to stringent development restrictions. However small-scale ecotourism is encouraged and it shows. Lots of chilled out restaurants and bars, plenty of travel agents touting the tours but none of the big corporate chains we all love to hate.

Every evening on the island we visited the restaurants and bars on the beach of the main town of Abraão, eating amazing steaks or seafood accompanied by chilled live music and the sound of the ocean a few feet away.



Ilha Grande is a well-known retreat from the madness of carnival and whilst is was busy enough to give the place a nice buzz it never felt too over populated, it was still our own little slice of paradise.



On our first full day on the island we took a taxi boat away from the main beach of Abraão to a more secluded bay, a dozen people at the most on the sand, a shack selling fresh seafood and a warm sea to swim in, you could feel the hectic-ness of carnival draining away with every second spent there. Some friend were arriving from Rio that afternoon, so after a day spent chilling out we headed back to meet them from dinner.



I got a chance to do some diving the next day, turtles, rays, giant star fish…. Great first dive, unfortunately the second was not so much fun, all good now but quite a scary moment at depth and out of air…. Whilst it all ended ok, it taught me a lesson and I’ll be more careful about who I dive with in future.



With all our friends having arrived from Rio we hired a speed boat and driver for the day on our 3^rd day to explore one side of the island, with only one rule ‘when the beach gets busy we move on’ we spent the day hopping between bays, playing bat and ball, floating in the calm sea and sunbathing on deserted beaches. Helicopters and speed boats, i'm getting an idea of how i'd like to travel in future!

For our last full day on the island we travelled to Lopes Mendes, it’s been voted one of the top ten beaches in the world, and you can see why! Blue calm sea and white squeaky sand all framed with a jungle back drop.

After 5 days on the island we were totally chilled out and recovered from the madness that was carnival in Rio. Time to head back to civilisation and start the long journey home, boat back to the mainland, bus to Rio, one night and day in Rio and then airport and UK, home.

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This is my 38^th and last blog, I’m glad I made it to the end with it; it’s all too tempting sometimes to let these things tail off. I’ve hopefully managed to record an account of my travels that I can look back on without cringing too much in the years to come, and if I’ve given people something to read over their morning cuppa as well then great, to those of you that have been reading along at home, thank you. The travelblog stats that show its being read, the comments you’ve left and the facebook likes the links receive are all a lovely little connection with the real world and has given my inner scribe the confidence to continue.

It’s quite a shock to realise that the journey is almost over, after just over 23,000 kilometres in just less than 4 months, the travels are coming to an end.



There have been some downs but mainly huge, enormous ups.

I’ve had an amazing time, seen some of the most wondrous things and have a bucketful of memories.

Whilst I’ve unfortunately met some oddballs, dinosaurs and total freaks along the way I’ve also have had the good fortune to have travelled with some of the soundest, funniest, right on my wavelength people that I’ve ever met, guys if you’re reading this you’ll know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making what could have been an interesting journey into the most amazing adventure.



Until the next trip

Peace and love

Gemma xx

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