Blogs from Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 10

We arrived in Ilha Grande on thursday night just as the sun was setting. It was the nicest sunset I have ever seen!! The sky was so red as the sun set over the mountain backround of Rio De Janeiro.....v.romantic!!! We went on a 2 and half hour trek through rainforest to get to one of the nicest beaches called Lopez Mendes. It was a tough trek uphill through the mountains but so worth it when we found deserted beaches and clear blue sea...good times! Beanie fell on route and twisted her ankle....bad times! We hit the town on Friday night and mingled with the locals, drinking Caiprinhas and dancing Samba with a few interesting local boys. Its a bit hard to dance samba after so many cocktails and I may have done a few bad ... read more

Nach einer relativ stressigen Anreise (durchgefeierte Nacht in Rio, morgens um 5 mit dem Bus nach Mangaratiba, gerade noch so die Faehre bekommen...) kommen wir Dienstag Morgen auf der Trauminsel Ilha Grande, ca. 150 km suedlich von Rio de Janeiro, an. Die erste positive Ueberraschung besteht darin, dass sich die Empfehlung unseres lieben Chaos-Hostels in Rio als absoluter Volltreffer herausstellt (wir haben ein wunderschoenes Doppelzimmer in einer ruhigen Pousada mit genialem Fruehstuecksbuffet) und die Reservierung sogar funktioniert hat! Leider hat aber auch der Wetterbericht Recht behalten (wir haben uns in guter alter Torres del Paine - Manier angewoehnt, diesen bei unserer Planung einfach zu ignorieren) und so faengt es bei unserer Ankunft erst einmal so an zu regnen, dass wir uns in den ecuadorianischen Urwald zurueckversetzt fuehlen. Aber alles halb so schlimm, denn wir haben... read more

Ilha Grande - Brazil´s grand islandWe were wistful leaving Rio de Janeiro given how much fun we had there, but the pretty boat ride (complete with dolphins playing in the sea) was enough to keep us entertained, combined with the reputation Ilha Grande has for being one of Brazil´s most stunning islands. What we found was just as expected, but for all the Australians reading this, the island is similar to the beaches back home which made it a little homesick for jean indeed! We did manage to squeeze in a few sights between bites and sausage dog spotting however....City highlights: Flashy speedboat ride to 7 different beaches that included activities such as snorkelling with fishies in crystal clear blue water, climbing into a deep ravine to view the flourescent acquamarine water in an underwater cave, ... read more

L´ile la plus grande du Bresil est a quelques heures seulement de Rio. On y a passe une semaine ou plage apres plage, caipirinha apres caipirinha et samba apres samba (tous les jours il y a pretexte a la festa!)on s´est relaxe, histoire de se preparer au retour! Superbes paysages, mer claire, gens toujours aussi adorables, Ilha Grande est vraiment un coin de paradis! The biggest of island of Brazil, Ilha Grande is a little place of heaven. Beautiful landscapes, clear water, nice people, more and more beaches, caipirinhas and samba bands (everyday seems to be a pretext for a festa!) and we relaxed (life´s a beach) and getting sloly ready to go back to reality...... read more

Hello everyone! Well, 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. Our first taste was the really cute town, Paraty. It is an old colonial town on the beach surrounded by lots of little islands. The whole atmosphere is charming and many hours were spent wandering around and having the occasional ice-cream. It was a beautiful antidote to our 24 hour bus ride. Oh, we didn´t mention the 24 hour bus ride??? How negligent! Brazil is a ... read more