Week 2: BRAZIL Ipanema > Ihla Grande

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(Mon-Thurs – Rio covered in week 1)

Friday 11th March – Sunday 13th March

So I think we covered off Rio in our first blog. You’ll have to bear with us, we do expect to warm up to this travel writing stuff, as we aspire to actually become funny and entertaining at some point on our journey…

Thanks for all your comments so far, it’s great to know you’re keen on the blog idea.
Also, our skype id is chriskeri2011, be sure to get on that cause it’s also a great way to say hi.

So we left Rio last Thursday (10th March) and jumped on a 3 hour bus ride south to Angra dos Reis, the port for the ferry across to Ihla Grande, ‘The big island’, with some friends from Rio.
In true Chris and Keri style, we made the last boat of the day with minutes to spare which meant Chris’s dome was well in need of a serious mop down. He wasn’t the only one with this need as soon after feeling smug about our miracle window seat position, a bellowing sneeze from the bloke behind covered me like a power jet… aside from that, it was a pretty smooth crossing.

Ihla Grande, what a place, we absolutely love it… and the sun shines here too! Warm air, palm trees, jungle backdrop, oh… and the best waves for mucking about in and not feeling like you’ve just been thrown into top spin in a washing machine. Also great for body surfing or as Chris put it… ‘It’s like flying on a cloud b’ - just wish I had a picture to share with you all for that one!

Let’s not forget what it took to get to this gnarly surf shall we?... If nothing else, so we can bag some credit from you all.. what sounds like the perfect thing to do when you wake up with a hangover and the sun is beating down?
A. Take a 40 min taxi boat to drop you off at the best beach on the island (Lopes Mendes) OR
B. Put on your sneakers, stock up with water, first aid kit, sunscreen, hat, all the essentials and embark on a 3 – 3 ½ hour trek up and down through the jungle, infested with black and yellow striped snakes, to reach the same beach… we took B, and loved it! Yeah, at least that’s what I kept telling Chris when the quad burn kicked in. Actually what I really said was… don’t ask me any questions, I can’t think right now I’m breathing instead. All good training for the Patagonia trekking we have planned ahead, right?

The second day was spent relaxing and soaking up the sun on a boat trip. Really relaxing once we settled into ‘prime position’ … NOT – at the back of the boat where the skipper was using a piece of cord as a throttle and a piece of PVC pipe for the rudder. Interesting techniques, creative even.
Didn’t take long before we were jumping off the back, with somersaults and snorkels, into the warm water and lying flat out on the gorgeous beaches.

We could have stayed here for weeks, such lovely local people and a great vibe. But Sunday came, and it was time to move on. Cue a white knuckle 2 hour bus trip down the coast to Paraty. I liked to call it a roller coaster ride – it got fun after we managed to get around 5 or so corners successfully.
More about Paraty next time..

As it is, we’re currently sat sipping yet another Caipirinha waiting for our first overnight bus to Sao Paolo… We’re not going to lie to you… we’re also cowering from the rain shower that just started, toughing it out under a parasol in the beer garden of our hostel. At least the laptop is not getting wet!

Bye for now.. Keri & Chris xx

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Photos

Ihla Grande:Abbrao
Setting off on the 14km round trek to Lopes Mendes

Ihla Grande
Views after the climb

Ihla Grande
Broken bridge along the way