http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Brazil , Rio de Janeiro , Ilha Grande en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:43:57 BST Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:43:57 BST Hello everyoneWell we can officially say WE LOVE BRAZIL Let us just set the scene for a moment . . .The landscape is green lush and basically a rainforest the beaches are strips of white sand with warm inviting water and the whole atmosphere just kind of tells you grab a drink and kick back for a while. The drink of choice of course being 'caiprihinias'...what else....We obliged. Ou http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-301208.html To Ilha Grande for more scubadiving I arrived in Rio on Sunday but headed off for Ilha Grande south of Rio on Monday. I heard from many travellers that this beautiful island without any roads or cars and fantastic beaches spread around the Island is worth a visit. I went there with the aim of doing some more scuba diving. I think Ilha Grande is the closest spot to Rio which is not to bad for d http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-297682.html NeilOne overnight bus and a boat ride later we have arrived in Ilha Grande a tropical island off the south coast of Brazil blessed with white sandy beaches and covered with atlantic rainforest.The island is quite large but only about 3000 people inhabit the island plus a few hundred tourists. Weve decieded to stay for a week and soak up the sun and relax before the final leg of our round the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-294929.html We decided to go back on ourselves from Paraty and head to Ihla Grande after being persuaded to go by some fellow nomads. It was only 1 and a half hours on a bus and then a short ferry ride. John at the hostel we stayed at in Paraty booked us into a Pousada hostelhotel which was owned by a friend of his. We were told that a man called William Wallace would be waiting to greet us at the ferry. W http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-292528.html LimaI left you all last time while we were in Lima and Ben was doing his pargliding course. Unfortunately the weather was really bad the next day so he didnt get to fly but the day after we went into the mountains where the conditions were better. Ben got 4 flights in total and learnt a new manoevre which meant he got his paragliding licence That means he is now officially a qualified pilot How http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-292122.html It's Liesel here David has left me with a rather tough act to follow. Here goes....After Praia de Sono we couldn't imagine finding a more spectacular beach but Brazil is full of wonderful surprises and the next day we stumbled upon Trindade a rustic collection of 4 different beaches the 4th being the most unspoilt of all and also only reachable via a jungle trail. For me this beach was p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-291221.html Hello everyoneHad the best time on Ilha Grande Stayed there from Sunday until yesterday morning Friday The weather was horrible on Monday so didnt really do much just hung around with people in the hostel and watched the Germany v Austria game Go Germany o Had another mini catastrophe on the way back from writing my last blog on Monday it wouldnt be normal if i didnt have at least one http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-290071.html HeyOK... now for the last part o ....Well im now travelling solo and loving it Richard wanted to go and visit a friend and it wasnt somewhere were I was really keen to go especially as it was further down south so even colder and we had decided to start heading north to Rio Phil was going to go straight to Rio but I decided I didnt want to go with him I quite fancied going off on my own f http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-288124.html The journey to Ilha Grande went without a hitch despite being a few minutes late for the bus from Rio.. its a good job the South Americans run behind schedule A 2 hour bus ride and 1.5 hour boat ride and we were in Dales idea of heaven.Ilha Grande is a 193km2 island off the coast of Rio. There are no cars so you have to get to the 170 beaches by boat or via one of the many trekking trails. I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-286240.html Beaches and Ball in Brazil Next stop after Rio was Ilha Grande. Our first full day in Ilha Grande was spent on an awesome all day boat tour. It was a fantastically sunny day and we all just hung out on the boat music blasting basking in the sun. We were served water and Caprhinias all day. We got to stop at different beaches around the Island and go swimming and snorkling and the crew cook http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-285188.html Day 237 Wednesday 14 MayEverybody keeps raving about this place called Ilha Grande so I've decided to check it out and see what the fuss is all about.As its not much more expensive and saves the hastle of walking around Rio on my own with my rucksack I booked all my transport through my hostel. The minibus was supposed to pick me up at 10am so I'd had to get up early after only a few hours sle http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-278047.html Friday 2nd May We arrived at 5.30am to Angra Dos Reis Land of the Gods in Rio De Janeiro province. Got very little sleep again as the bus stopped every hour or so and turned all the lights on. Also we were right at the back by the toilet and the bus crowd was a restless lot toing and froing all night As the sun rose behind an overcast sky the first boat to the island Ihla Grande was at http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-274547.html Thursday 17th April9am still felt too early but got up for brekkie then came back to my room and sorted most of my stuff out. Bag is getting pretty full now but doesn't seem worth posting anything back. 11am head out for a last look at town decide to buy the hammock I looked at yesterday although not sure how I'll get it back. Post Office 2.2kg is too expensive...By 12 have been on the interne http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-265182.html Wow. What can I say about this placeWe left Rio on an overcast day to head down to Ilha Grande on the coast. We were warned against it because the slightly dodgy weather by this i mean clouds rather than bright blue sky as the island has very little except for beautfiul beaches for entertainment.So after managing to catch one of the slowest buses in the world to the bus terminal we got the la http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-261323.html With his head in the cloudsHaving arrived in Rio I made my way to the Hotel throughout the 30min journey it wouldnt stop raining. There was little time to explore Rio and we left the morning after but before then I walked down to Cobacabana Rios streets approach mountains a contrast to the city life.Took a bus to Ilha Grande big Island had a good start to the trip with drinking Caprianas http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-260728.html During my time in Rio de Janeiro I took two trips to the big island Ilha Grande it sounds so natural in Portuguese but translated Big Island clumsy. It is virtually road and car free a natural relaxed paradise just a few hours from the hustle of big city Rio.For most of it's history as part of the country of Brazil Ilha Grande was a high security prison off limits to the public the m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-258885.html I know I just wrote a long entry but I am trying this new strategy that is all about not waiting several months between blogging trying to post shorter more frequent less intimidating entries... see how it goes.From Rio Dave and I had the idea to go to Ilha Grande about 2 hours south west of Rio and do some long treks. We wanted to hike around the entire island camping in different locations ea http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-257707.html It was a fantastic start to our time in South America as we enjoyed three world class attractions in our first three or so weeks on the continent Easter Island the Rio Carnaval and Iguazu.Easter Island is now known as Rapa Nui by its inhabitants but one of its early Polynesian names was Te pito o te henua or The NavelBellybutton of the World socalled because of its isolated position in http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-256134.html We know we already claimed we found Paradise two blogs ago and we hate to sound like brats but we are pretty sure this time we found Paradise. For real.The final leg of our Brazil trip was spent on the famed Costa Verde the coastline between Rio de Janeiro and the Sao Paulo state. The Costa Verde can be described as hundreds of miles of tropical coastline and islands with one perfect beach af http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-255181.html Kazza says From the moment we read about it in the travel books we knew we wanted to visit the island retreat of Ilha Grande. The island's history fascinated us first it was a hideout for pirates then a lepor colony and finally a prison for some of Brazil's most violent criminals. All that remains of these now are some ruins amidst tropical beaches and virgin Atlantic rainforest.First we travell http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-251422.html Ilha GrandeAfter Rio we headed down the Brazilian Coast to a little island called Ilha Grande for some relaxation because Rio had just been so exhausting. The weather improved i.e. it stopped raining which is good when one wants to lie on the beach. Ilha grande reminded me a bit of some of the Thai islands lovely white sandy beaches no roads to speak of just green rainforest covering http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-249690.html With so many awesome memories of Rio sat on the bus winging our way away from there it was hard not to feel a little down. The carnaval was for me one of the real highlights I was looking forward to during my time out here and it certainly didnt disappoint.Of course im not one to dwell on the past...well except for that time I had my pants pulled down in the school library in front of everybod http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-249224.html Hello everyoneWell where do I start we left Rio about a week ago and got the bus down to Angra dos Reis where we then got a ferry across to Ilhe Grande. There are no banks and no cars on the island which makes for a big change from Rio. We eventually found our hostel Over Nativa there was NO signs at all and tempers were getting frayed but alas with some help from a man who spoke no english we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-248047.html ...The best beach in Brazil Madness at the Maracana Rocinha Favela and wooing favela style...Hello there things good Its time for another installment of my now world famous blog and what an installment it promises to be. Its been an action packed week so lets get straight down to it.The big Island or Ilha Grande to the natives is where we kick off after last weeks three day stint in Rio http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-247653.html After our first stint in Rio which I am holding back from blogging on until after we leave for a second time we took the popular trip down to Ilha Grande or The Big Island approximately two hours south of Rio off the coast.After a short bus journey we boarded the first boat we saw which had a man enticing us on with shouts of beer cerveja mucho beer mucho cerveja and we helped out with t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-246329.html Today was a fabulous day because we got to go Kayaking in the Atlantic Rach and I saw a live starfish for the first time it was bright orange and bigger than my face. Crazy. I also had one of the sweetestmost stupid kayaking experience of my life. Rachel and I were kayaking in some coves protected from the waves and winds so we didnt wear our life jacket. bad choice Well we ventured o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-244289.html Seems like a while since i did one of these however here goes...Ended up heading to an island down south to learn some scubaskills which involved or so we thought getting on a bus outside our hostel and everything beign sorted out for us. Not the case when the entirely useless man working in the hostel doens't actually book anything and keeps telling you it will all be fine. Well daniel i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-243796.html Endelig i Rio Der ble vi moett av to blide og solbrune soerlendinger som vi skulle tilbringe noen dager sammen med paa Ilha Grande. Etter en liten time med skravling og nye billettkjoep satt vi paa bussen igjen en totre timers busstur til Angra Dos Reis hvor vi igjen skulle videre med ferje til Ilha Grande. Saa etter over 30 timer med reising var vi endelig paa plass paa denne fantastiske o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-241115.html We were told that no visit to the state of Rio De Janeiro would be complete without a stop in the famous Ilha Grande a large island situated a short ferry ride off the coast of Brazil. We boarded our bus to Angra Dos Reis and upon our arrival there were befriended by a Norweigan couple Gry and Glen to split a cab to the ferry for the ride over to the island. On the ride over to Ilha Grande w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-240037.html