Blogs from Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America

Friday 10th may we arrived in Angra dos Reis. Little town famous for its many islands, Ilha grande is the biggest. It took us 4 hours to get there by bus and taxi (150km). Nature is amazing over here but the people are not really our cup of tea, having a tattoo is almost standard and the smiling, friendly brazilians are rare.... Also the prices are out of proportion, especially when they notice you are a 'gringo' (= foreinger). They try to rip you of every time again. When we bought fruit (3 pieces) on a local market, the guy asked us 30 reales (= 13 euro) haha, no thank you. We slept 2 nights in a 'pousada' (= relaxed hostel) at the seaside, Guillermo (on old little brazilian diver) was there to guide us, he ... read more

11th March We got picked up from our hostel in Botafogo between 11am/12pm by the transfer company we had booked online with Easy Transfer Brazil . It felt good to leave!! Nearly everyone in the van was from the UK or Europe, it felt good to actually have a conversation with someone, got chatting to a guy Matt, who was actually staying in the same accommodation we had booked, url=http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g303472-d3248142-Reviews-Studio_Beach_Hostel-Ilha_Grande_State_of_Piaui.htmlStudio Beach Hostel. Off we went in the van, suppose to be about a two hour drive to the ferry port. Driving further and further out of the city of Rio it became to look more rough, still favelas in the hills but all along the side of the road as well. We had pulled up so the driver could refuel, as he stopped a lot of ... read more

After the craziness of Carnaval and rushing around seeing the sights of Rio, it was time for some relaxation on Ilha Grande, an island off the coast of Rio. Ilha Grande really is a place to get away from it all. As the whole island and the waters around it are protected for conservation, there are no cars allowed on the island and you can only reach the island by boat. As a result it is perhaps unsurprising that the island is full of hippies, jocks, British gap year students, and Aussie backpackers. A paradise away from the harsh realities of real life - Brazil's version of The Beach. The first thing I notice as we leave the pier and walk through the dirt roads of Vila do Abraao, the main village on ... read more

After a few failed attempts at trying to get my head around Portuguese I decided that rather than try to navigate my way from São Paulo to Rio that I would buy a hop on hop off bus pass to get me from A to B. The bus pass consisted of transport from São Paulo to Paraty, a boat cruise while in Paraty, a van and a boat transfer to Ilha Grande and then a boat and a bus transfer to Rio, finishing up with a favela tour while in Rio. When I arrived at the pier for my boat cruise in Paraty I wasn't really sure what to expect due to such little information being provided about it beforehand. What it turned out to be was a five hour boat ride around the islands that ... read more

Day 388 Friday 2nd November Yesterday we had checked out the timetable at the bus terminal and we came away with Shelley thinking we could get a 10.20 bus and me thinking we couldn’t get one till 11.10. So this morning after our fantastic breakfast, I proceeded to pack slowly knowing we had all the time in the world while Shelley went at it like a woman possessed. Our hotel had been fabulous so I couldn’t understand why she was in a hurry to leave, but we were up at the terminal by 9.30 where we then had to sit and wait till 11.10 for our bus….I think she is starting to enjoy sitting around terminals. Because we were moving onto a town that doesn’t have any banks I headed off to get some cash while ... read more