Good Bye Ilha Grande

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Well I am finally leaving this island of paradise tomorrow. The moment I stepped off of the boat I knew it was perfect for me right now. There are no cars on the island and no banks (this is a good thing otherwise I think I may have got stuck here for about 6 months!). It feels like what I imagine a carabean island would feel like - people are happy, smiling and warm and there is regae and samba music all the time. It is no surprise that Brazilians have the bums that they do because they really know how to shake it!! I love dancing here - no one ever looks at me strangley when I am really getting into it.

It also looks remarkably like the island in Lost. It is covered in thick green vegetation and is constanlty surrounded by mist so you cannot really see how high the island actually is. I have been staying in a really cool hostel called Che Legarta. It has a lovely vibe and is right on the beach so I fall asleep and wake up to the sound of the waves lapping at my window (apart from the last 3 nights as I have had a big snoring man in my room but he and his girlfriend have thankfully moved on!).

I have definitely had a good mix of everything I could want here. Plenty of relaxation and laying in my hammock reading, good conversation (the scientists turned out to become my friends!), lots of exercise, some sunshine, a lot of rain (but that has not bothered me at all) and of course some parties and samba dancing - yes the early nights didn´t last too long - I currently have a bump on my forehead as I was dancing on a table (I wasn´t the only one) and samba´d straight into a low hanging beam from the ceiling - I think that must be why I had such a bad head ache the next day.....

I feel really safe and secure here, but this was always a pit-stop to rest and revive myself before I start my real travelling. Tomorrow I will catch a boat back to the mainland and then a bus onto a pretty coastal town called Paratay. The next morning (Saturday) I am going to catch the bus to Sao Paulo. It will take about 6 hours from there but if I went straight from here I would arrive in Sao Paulo in the dark and that apparently is not advisable!

In Sao Paulo I am meeting up with Alex who transferred from work in Sydney to our Sao Paulo office. He is meeting me at the bus station which is so good of him as I was a bit nervous given some of the stories - which I may share once I actually leave the place. As with any big city in SA they can be dangerous but I believe more if you are out at night by yourself - I definitely won´t be and will take every precaution I can and feel really lucky to be able to meet up with Alex.

Well most of the friends I made have left now. Nearly everyone I make friends with seem to be on 2 or 3 week holidays here. I think again it is the age thing as they are more my age and the other travellers (some of who go round in groups of 5 or 7!!!!) seem to be younger. I have met some really interesting people and I think that is one of the really great things about being away that you get thrown together with people whos paths you would not normally cross with. I mean - where would I meet someone who is a PHD student in HIV vaccinations or a PHD student in Cancer research or a Sports Journalist in Dublin (new irish friend) or a Hungarian film producer??? I have spent some real quality time with these people and I´m really enjoying the variety.

Tonight we have another Samba party at my hostel but I am going to try to get a reasonably early night as I will be leaving - saying that though it is only about 2 hours of travelling tomorrow and I should be at my new place by about 12 in time for a siesta.............

I will eventually work out how to get some photos up too.

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Photos

Lilian on the beach
is this NY or San Fran stylee???

The beach it takes hours to hike to
But well worth it!!

Lilian looking lovely
This was a terrible boat journey!!! The photo was taken just before it started!!!

Comments

[A and G]

Good start!
Sounds like a wicked start to the trip mate - great variety of people you're meeting too, better than meeting accountants all day hey!! All good here - Flynn getting fatter, Annie and Leila and Julia with Emily are coming today for the weekend - hooray. Need a good girlie chat!! A, G and F x