Ilha Grande, an island between Rio De Janeiro and Sau Paulo, was the perfect place to end our time abroad. Fellow travelers raved about their time on the island, so we couldn't wait to get a taste of the paradise ourselves. We arrived at Abraao Village, the only real town to speak of on the island, to beautiful weather and made the most of the afternoon sun by relaxing on the beach before meeting up with our new Aussie friends Dave and Nicole for a Brazilian barbecue.
It didn't take us long to adjust to the pace of life on the island and the first day we took things easy with a gentle hike up to a waterfall (about 5km from the village), explored some prison ruins and spent some time on a quiet beach. The following day, we booked a boat tour to see half of the island which stopped at 7 incredible snorkeling locations, including an old helicopter wreck. It was a beautiful day and some of the little coves with their turquoise water and white sand were a fitting advert for paradise.
There were only a handful of vehicles on the island, the majority made up by the police force with a fleet consisting of a single beach buggy and a couple of quad bikes. It was hard to take life seriously in a place where the patrol officer, cruising around in a beach buggy with a wife-beater and fake ray-bans, looks more mischievous than official.
Ilha Grande boasts over 100 beaches, with one of the largest being Lopez Mendes, on the other side of the island. It was a fairly tough 2 hour hike through the jungle to reach the long stretch of uncommercial beach, with fine, squeaky white sand, a few surfers, one local selling "Cervejas" (beers) and "Cocos" (coconuts), and a few bronzed Brazilian bodies (& of course the odd pasty/pink European!). The best part about it is how untouched and quiet it is!
Our last 3 days were spent alone on the island, as our Aussie friends moved on their next destination, allowing adequate time for us to reflect on the past 13 months abroad. What fun it has been! Our flight home departs from Sao Paulo so we continued south to a little coastal town called Paraty for our last 2 nights in South America from where we have a transfer directly to the airport.
Paraty reminded us a lot of Colonia (Uruguay) with its 'old town' and cobbled streets. Our hostel had a great communal area, so we ate dinner there on both nights, sharing stories with fellow travelers over a few drinks and for the first time on our trip, wallowed in the swimming pool (as temperatures hung around 35'C).
It is hard to believe that it's time to bid farewell to this colourful continent, but the memories will remain with us forever. It's difficult to articulate our emotions as this point, as we complete one chapter and move into the next. All we know, is that love South Africa and can't wait to get HOME!
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| Arriving at Ilha Grande |
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| An evening swim |
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Our walk to the waterfall
Bottom Left: An old aqueduct leading to the prison ruins |
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| The full moon from the pier |
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| Snorkeling fun (middle pic: check out the sea horse!) |
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| The 'half island' boat trip with Nicole and David |
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| Some beach time |
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| Beach restaurants and taxi boats, Ilha Grande |
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| Paraty |
