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Published: March 19th 2012
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Five days before venturing to Ilha Grande, I had never heard of the place. Then other travellers spoke to me of an island that existed off the coast of Brazil, replete with tropical jungle and secluded beaches of soft white sand, lapped by ocean waters of varying shades of blue and aquamarine. Access was only possible by boat and cars were forbidden. With tales of partying and bonfires on the beach, this was one place that I just
hadto visit.
After being happily trapped by the charms of Rio, I finally set off with another backpacker who had found himself unable to leave Rio for the previous three weeks. Felix and I made our way to the bus terminal in the hope of catching the 9am bus. We arrived at 8:52, bought a ticket at 8:56, boarded the bus at 8:58 with our backpacks still on and the wheels rolling before we had even taken our seats – the last two. It was a near thing, but we were on our way.
The bus dropped us off on the side of the road in tiny Conceição de Jacareí, so we wandered towards the ocean and purchased a ticket for
the next schooner to depart for Ilha Grande. As we sailed through the troughs and I got drenched by the spray under a proud sun, something just felt right. As we docked under the watch of the rising jungle, I prepared myself for the barrage of touts trying to lure me to hostels and pousadas, which was my previous experience on foreign tropical islands in places like Thailand. However, the Brazilian people are just too laid back to care, so Felix and I wandered into the small village unhindered, with only one person approaching us to offer assistance in the form of directions to the hostel that I had booked. In fact, many people that I spoke to during my time on the island commented that it felt like the Thai islands, but better. One guy that I shared a dorm with explained that he felt like he had walked into the book/film ‘The Beach’. It had that feel of an untouched paradise that not too many people beyond Brazil and Argentina were aware even existed. If Ilha Grande isn’t paradise, then I’ll be content to never discover it.
I spent my days on the island venturing to secluded
beaches, either by foot or boat. My favourite day was a full island tour, which consisted of an entire day aboard a boat, stopping off at roughly seven different beaches to either laze around on, or swim with the fish and turtles. My favourite beach also had a freshwater river running into it, where I went for a swim with the view of the river disappearing into an uninhabited valley, densely populated by tropical plants and trees. I even found a rope swing on one bank of the river, which was too inviting to leave unattended. Another day I had a new experience when I crawled like a crab through a dark narrow cave, to be rewarded at its base by a view of water being illuminated by the sun in a dazzling trick of light. The surface of the water seemed to be iridescent, exhibiting a luminous blue in the black expanse. Once I put on my snorkel and peered into the water, I could see the green ocean far below me, with multitudes of fish swimming at the grotto entrance.
The island once served as a prison and when we saw this structure, one of my new
Argentinian friends commented that it must have been the best prison on earth. Indeed, it would have been tempting to commit a crime to be sent here for ‘punishment’. At other times, the island served as a quarantine centre to try and prevent the spread of cholera from the migrating Europeans who were intent on settling in Brazil. Another thing that captured my attention for a while was when I saw an old stone aquaduct in the jungle, which still services the main village of Abraão with fresh water from the hills.
With no access to money on the island, Felix had to return to the mainland after spending a night sleeping on the beach and a loan from me to catch a boat, but I had enough money to stay a few more days, so I did. Leaving paradise was not high on my list of priorities. Each night was spent drinking cheap caipirinhas and cheap supermarket beer, before venturing to one of the two party hostels which are located on the water’s edge. After 11pm, guys have to pay a cover charge, but Felix and I thwarted this overt sexism by gaining access via the ocean!
With the boat tours, beach visits and nightly parties, it doesn’t take long to get to know the other people on the island and I have made some good friends who I intend to visit in the near future. Unfortunately the time had to come when I had also used up all of my currency, so I took a transfer back to the mainland, dozing on the boat and glancing back at the island as it became progressively more undefined in the humid haze.
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