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Published: February 28th 2014
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I spent the last week at Ilha Grande, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen (North Queensland coast line aside). Ilha Grande (meaning 'big island' in Portuguese) is actually a
littleisland off the coast of Brazil, south of Rio. It has stunning white sandy beaches, crystal clear water and is filled with dense jungle vegetation. It is home to monkeys (which we heard but did not see) and lots of birds and fish I have never seen before. It's largely undeveloped and consists of villages full of knock-up restaurants, small trinket shops and hostels. I did not see any buildings over three stories or cars and most people just get around by foot, bike, boat or paddle board.
We stayed in a beautiful little pousada (a little BnB guest house) right on the beach, for $40 a night. It was quite cute and the price included a nice little breakfast of fruit, toast, juice etc.
I was taken there by a company called 'Easy Transfer Brazil', that picked me up from my place and drove me, and others, through Copacanaba and Ipanema to the port at the coastal town of Angra dos Reis. There we were
transferred to a ferry which took us to the island. The car ride there was a few hours and the boat ride an hour. While at Angra dos Reis I met a friend of mine, Vivienne and her cousin Adrienne and we all travelled to Ilha Grande together.
As the island is so underdeveloped, there is not much to do at Ilha Grande except hike, snorkel, dive, swim and go on boat tours....oh, and eat. So yeah, it sucked. I am also reliably informed, by a friend who will remain nameless, that there is a great night life amongst the hostels and villages...but I was so exhausted after a full day of hiking and swimming that I usually just crashed out in the room.
One of the higlights was a 2 hour hike through the jungle to a gorgeous beach called Lopes Mendes. It can only be reached by boat or through the trail and, although we did it in our havaianas and bikinis, it wasn't the easiest trek. It was pretty steep in parts and there was a lot of slippery sections we kind of slid down and rocks we clambered over. Along the way there was
a number of beaches we stopped at for a dip, it was so humid we were all covered in sweat after only a few minutes of walking. Viv led the charge, pretty much jogging the track while Adrienne and I struggled along behind. We all got there in the end though, practising our basic Spanish along the way. The beach was absolutely beautiful. The sand was so fine it squeaked beneath our feet and the water was as clear as tap water. The waves were really easy to handle and we literally frolicked for about half an hour before crashing onto the beach for a sleep. There were no shops but little vendors on the side of the beach with esky's who sold us drinks (at very reasonable prices - considering they cornered the market). We ate some sandwiches we had taken for the hike (well, the girls ate theirs, mine were long gone by this point) and saw some crabs running along the sand. Also, there were life guards there too...and I have decided, that the beautiful people are not at Ipanema or Copacabana, they are at Lopes Mendes....or maybe there are just beautiful people everywhere in Brazil!!!
We started our trek home at about 3.30, because we wanted to be home before it got dark (no-one was keen for night time stumbling along the jungle) but, there was a bit of an incident on the way home. We were walking along the jungle, none of us speaking very much because we were all struggling to breathe, and we heard some noise in the not-so-far distance. It actually sounded like animals chanting, pre-riot. It was like a combination of pigs grunting, wild screeching and frenzied movement. It was absolutely horrifying. We were still an hour deep in the jungle, it was getting dark, and there were some crazy animals psyching themselves out for a good ole human slaying. We all quickened our pace considerably. Then the noise stopped. And we stopped. And we looked at each other. And it started again, closer! I have no idea what happened, but safe to say it turns out I am not a team player in an emergency situation. I overtook Viv in about half a second as we all ran out of the jungle screaming. It was like something from a horror film, I kid you not. We eventually got home,
with high-fives and back slapping, and all joked about how we weren't really scared. Except, we all really were. On my way home at the end of the trip,I met a couple who had seen monkeys on the island, and they said they made funny grunting screeching sounds, so I think this is what it was. But it was scary at the time. I thought some wild animal was going to be stalking the jungle forever more wearing my head as a hat.
We also spent a great day beach hopping via a boat ride around the island. We started out at Lagoa Azul (the Blue lagoon) where we all tried unsuccessfully to get photo's jumping off the boat into the water. The area was packed with fish, which I imagine was because the guides all threw bait into the water for the fish when we arrived, and Adrienne even touched them (the fish - not the guides). It was beautiful, although, once you've done the Barrier Reef, its really hard to be impressed by that kind of thing. We swam about on noodles for around an hour before getting back into the boat and heading to the first
beach, where we swam some more. And on went the day. We stopped at one place for lunch and had grilled fish with salad and rice, which was delicious and all slept in the boat in the sun on the way home. It was loverly!!!
So, all in all, a really nice place to visit in Brazil and very cheap. The transfer there was $40 and the pousada was the same per night. You could spend your days just hiking and beach visiting and after that all you need to cover is the food. I could have spent longer there, but alas alack had to come home to wash some clothes, do another Spanish lesson and pack my bags for the next trip - to a chalet in Visconde de Maua (a mountain retreat about 200km from Rio) with Andreia. Again, not sure about Wifi access, so might be out of contact till we return next Thursday...
Hope all are well, till next time.
xx
L
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