Ilhe Grande

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Day 93

Yesterday, we arrived at our hostel on Abraao beach at around 5pm and, unfortunately, were greeted with rain. Nevertheless, we headed down to the beach in our rain jackets and managed to have a very pleasent night under an umbrella with a fish dinner and a few caipirinhas whilst listening to some really cool live music.

This morning, hoping to catch the best part of the day before the weather turned bad again, we took a speedboat to Pouso beach, then took a 40 minute walk to the beautiful Lopes Mendes beach. Despite the overcast, and showery weather, it was still 25-30 degrees and we had a nice day at the beach. Around 3pm we headed back to Abraao beach, this time by foot. It was a beautiful, but exhasting trek through the rainforest, up the mountain, and back down the otherside, which took 3 hours or so in total.

In the evening, we met the three South Africans we had met in Paraty for a BBQ on the beach and a few caipirinhas.

Day 94

Today we set off trekking again, this time on another trail which went via an old aquaduct and a waterfall. Like yesterday, the trek was uphill and quite tiring in the heat but was good fun working our way up the rocky paths through the jungle. The waterfall (Cachoeira da Feiticeira) was crowded with noisy Brazilians who were holidaying in Ihla Grande so we quickly moved on and headed for the beach.

When we arrived at the next beach, which was small but pretty, the place was again heaving with Brazilians and we were quite disappointed, but after having our picnic in a quiet-ish corner, a boat came and picked up virtually everyone so we soon had the place to ourselves! The sand was beautiful and the water was a lot calmer than the beach had been yesterday so we enjoyed a swim and a relaxing read on the sand before starting the hike back. It was a little easier than the trail had been yesterday and on the way back we stopped at some ruins and an old derelict prison that used to be in operation on the island in the 50s.

Back at the hostel, after a long cold shower and a power nap we headed out for food and drinks with the South Africans and enjoyed a bottle of red wine and a seafood stew!

Day 95

Unfortunately we only had a half day left on the island as we were scheduled to catch our boat and bus to Rio at lunchtime. The weather was still overcast so we had a bit of a lie-in, packed up and strolled through the town before heading to the pier.

Although Ilha Grande had been really fun and we had particularly enjoyed the various trails to the beaches, the weather hadn't been great and the island was a lot busier than a few of the others we had visited on the trip. Nonetheless we were sad to leave but really looking forward to our next and final stop Rio de Jeneiro!

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Photos

Beautiful beach, but no sun!
We stayed just off Abraao Beach

A view from the top
We had to work our way up and down the mountain to get back to base