Blogs from Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 20

He had fiery red hair, which increased the chances that he spoke some English. Indigenous Brazilians do not have fiery red hair. Jonathan and the sixteen tons of cargo on his back are from Israel. We met him on the bus down to Angra Dos Reis yesterday, and moments later, we were all on a ferry to Ilha Grande. Ilha Grande (translated literally, "Big Island") is a big island. At one time, it was a place pirates went to hide their booty. It was later a leper colony, then a penal colony, until finally, now, it's a place Brazilians go to show off their booty. It's also the home of Praia de Lopez Mendez (widely considered Brazil's most beautiful beach), heavily increased Easter weekend prices, and not a single goddam ATM. As a way of both ... read more

So apparently the blog site wasn´t allowing pictures to be uploaded adn that is why there were none on my last update. I thought I would take this blog to tell a brief story.... When we got to Ihla Grande we, like many of the other backpackers on their way there did not have a place to stay. We moved quickly to get ahead of the pack and search out our poussada, or the elusive hostel. As it turns out pousada after pousada was full, even the ones that were handing out flyers at the docks. The other problem was that the ones that were not full cost about 40 R each a night - far out of our budget. Anyway, after over an hour of searching Jord stumbled upon this place (we had split up ... read more

Ilha Grande is a quiet Island just off the South Coast of Rio. It is covered with Atlantic rainforest, has only two cars (ambulance and police car) and has loads of quiet clean beaches which can only be accessed by boat or long walks. The first day was spent getting famliliar with our surroundings and catching up with things. The intention was to update the blog, unfortunately internet access on the island was that slow it seemed to be via WAP, so we gave it up as a bad job. The night was spent with an Irish couple (Sarsha and Peter), a Curitiban couple (Phillipe and Marsha) and a couple who were at university in Rio (Isabella and Fred). We drank Cachaça, vodka and guarana and talked about the corruption in Brazil, their love of football ... read more

So we made it to our second stop, Ilha grande after a bus and ferry ride. Found our little pousada and dropped our backpacks and had much needed cigarettes and alcohol! Those backpacks are seriously heavy! Due to Jem´s disability we decided to just spend a few days soaking up the sun on a few of the island gorgeous wee beaches. However this proved more difficult as it was a mission to get to any beaches - climbing over rocks etc so Jems feet really didn´t get the rest they needed. However the beaches, when we finally got there were really nice and never too busy. Our second night we decided we needed to let our hair down and so went to a little bar at the port - note to travellers the drinks are pretty ... read more

We arrived in the small town of Angra dos Reis late, and missed the public shuttle boat to Ilha Grande. At first I was worried we would have to find a hotel in the crummy little city, but those fears were unfounded. In Brazil, you can always get around the official way if you have a little patience, and more importantly, money. We (and by we I mean they) asked around a little, and met a Brazilian guy around 21. While I do not remember his name I do remember the large tattoo of a mermaid that covered his calf. He was on his way to Ilha Grande as well, and he told us about a boat for 20 reais (10 dollars.) The four of us went to get some food and when we finished the ... read more