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Published: November 7th 2012
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Not so great is how I always manage to be hungover when traveling to a different place. Makes sense in a way because the last night in a place you want to make a big one. So after a couple hours sleep I got into the mini van that would take us to Ilha Grande. We drove round several hotels and hostels to pick people up. There were about 12 of us in total, 4 of whom were hungover. There were 3 English guys who got in, didn't think it was possible but I think they were more hungover than I was. Everyone on the bus was really friendly and got on really well. Took us about 2 hours to get to the ferry which would take us to Ilha Grande. Another great experience with a Brazilian driver. I think this guy knew how hungover we were and actually sped up for bumps in the road. He found breaking really hard for no reason funny to. Or perhaps that was just all in my head. The ferry was a large open boat which made a nice change from the cramped bus.
The weather really hasn't been great the last few
days so pulling into the docks at Ilha Grande wasn't as great as it should of been. It's s really large island but the town itself is quite small. It stretches along a small beach and extends a few streets back into the jungle. Oh yeah, the island is absolutely covered in beach and tropical looking jungle, look a little like something out of Lost. There's no big hotels or buildings, just small restaurants all along the beach and little hippy places in-between made from wood and there's small gardens everywhere. Got off the boat and first thing I saw was a circle of 6 hippies with tambourines chanting something incoherent. Haven't quite gotten to that stage yet so fear not.
The hostel is called Biergarten, I hear it was originally a restaurant then they added the rooms to it. Nicest place I've stayed at so far. In a 4 bed dorm and there is actually a mattress which had made sleeping possible. There's a nice bar and restaurant and a couple of hammocks upstairs to chill out on. The owner, Victor, is incredibly nice. He puts up flags of the different nationalities of guests that are staying. First
thing he said to me was to apologize for not having a HK flag. Really nice guy.
Such an amazing atmosphere here on the island. Only noticed once I'd left but in Rio a part of me was really cautious all of the time. So many people from the hostel had been robbed whilst I was there so that was always on my mind. Being here is the most chilled out and relaxed place I've ever been to.
Monday, first day here and my roomies, and a girl who got here a day before me from the rio hostel decided to hike to Lopez Mendes beach. We asked people over breakfast to join and ended up with a group of around 12. The hike took about 2 hours through so pretty steep jungle. Still suffering from a bit of a cold this wasn't a world of fun. We then walked across 2 beaches and finally, sweating from every possible place, made it. The beach was beautiful. The weather had cleared up some but was still a bit cloudy. Borrowed a football from a vendor for $15hkd for the day. Had a game of 2 on 2 with Brits
versus Germans. We did not do well at all. 3 Brazilian guys came along and asked us for a game. We suggested mixing teams up as they'd embarass us but said will give it a bit and if needed to we'd change. We destroyed them. Rather proud that beach football against brazillans and in the end they said we should mix the teams. No they weren't children, deformed or demented in any way. Took some cheesy group photos (didn't use my camera so will have to wait for those pics) then got the boat back to town. A little way through the journey smoke started billowing out of the engine room and then the engine died. The boat guys were a little preoccupied with trying to restart the engine, which must have been on fire by this point, to notice we were drifting straight towards a giant rocks along the coast. A hasty anchor drop stopped us a few meters short of watery destruction. After about half an hour we were rescued. We all went out for a huge dinner following that. 3 more girls that we met at the Rio hostel arrived so we all went out to the
only party in town, this place is that small. There were dogs running around on the dance floor which was amusing. We were exhausted from the day so called it a night. On the walk back along the beach we looked up and I have never seen so many stars before. It was incredible.
Today has been another hike and beach day. We hiked to a waterfall which admittedly was really disappointing, and then headed to a small secluded beach. The water is clear, The sun is out and we have bob marley playing. The night life has been pretty good fun. There's only really one place to party which is the Aquarius hostel which is at the end of a beach. Spent almost everynight there which was good fun. They have a crazy amount of wild dogs on the island and several of which spend most of their time chilling on the dance floor of this bar.
Decided to extend my stay in Ilha Grande and extra night because the people i've been with are all staying another day, and a few of us are traveling down to Paraty together. Unfortunatly the Biergarten hostel was full so
needed to move to another which was no way near as nice, but cheap so not a problem. Hiked again to Lopez Mendes and spent the day at the beach with a small group. The weather was good for all of an hour and they got pretty horrible. We got the boat back to town which was one of the scariest journeys i've done so far. The waves were throwing the boat around and we were awfully closed to the rocks at one point. We did however manage to see a penguin and a sea turtle. The lady next to me explained that the penguin would have come up on a cold current which explains the bad weather and gotten lost, and ended up there. Sadly it would not have long to live there. The turtle was awesome.
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