TravelStream™ news feed for member monita on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/monita en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 03 Feb 2008 08:37:37 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201613040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201613040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201613040/tpod.html Sun, 03 Feb 2008 08:37:37 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Birthday celebrations started early on the 29th cause we had a plane to catch and had to get the bus to the airport. But made it with plenty of time which was great. Unfortunately our plane was delayed 2 hours so we sat around the airport desperate for some sleep. But got into Rio just fine and found the REAL bus to our hostel. We weren´t anticipating all the traffic and it took over 3 hours to get to our hostel...we were so tired and hungry but we happy to see Meghan and Laura, girls from Montreal who we were meeting. Marie-Claude didn´t fly in until the 30th in the evening. Had a great birthday dinner and catch up session at a mexican restaurant close by and then went for more drinks and dessert before heading to bed.We are staying at Lemon Spirit Hostel in Leblon. It is a cute little place, clean and has lots of info about Carnaval so that is great. Only draw back is the bunk beds. They are 3 high....we both had to sleep on the top the first night but luckily some of the girls checked out and we are now both on the  bottom bunks. The room is a bit crowded with 9 beds and all the gear that we girls carry around..but we are managing. The hostel is really helpful and the people are cool...Nino and Marie-ann  are great...giving us good advise on the places to be and helping make phone calls for us too...security is top notch too and we love the neighborhood. Only 1 block from the beach too!The weather has been on and off and we wake up each morning hoping for sun. We have been pretty lucky...it rains at least once a day and so we re-arrange our schedule around it.On the 20th we walked from Leblon to the other end of Copacabana. When we left it was raining and the sun came out and we all got a little burnt by the end of it. The walk was great and we enjoyed seeing everything. Went to tourist info and spent a few hours with the girl getting more info.Met up with Guillherme and his friends for an evening out in Ipanema. We met ´´Guille´ in Bali last may and have kept in touch. It was a fun night with lots of men approaching us and randomness. Marie-Claude had just arrived and was a real trooper and came out with us.On the 31 our sambadrome tickets arrived and we headed to the beach right away. We have enjoyed exploring our neighborhood and checking out the different parties going on.The last few days we have been packing our days in with siteseeing, parties, eating, beach time, shopping and celebrating carnaval.yesterday we went to the stadium and watched a football game. What a crazy atmosphere!! We definately sat in the right section....we never sat down for almost 3 hours...constant cheering and singing. ..we went with 8 others from our hostel and had a great time..will update more later...right now (Feb 3) it is raining but we are going to head out anyways and participate in some blocos...hopefully get a nap in before heading to the sambadrome tonight!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201137480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201137480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201137480/tpod.html Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:34:59 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Itacare, Brazil

We met Yair from Spain on our bus ride to Itacare - a small beachy, laid back surf/hippy town in Bahia. We had read about it in a Conde Nast magazine before coming and had heard from other travellers that it was well worth the visit.We stayed at the Albergue au Pharol which was ok. No breakfast included but we were able to go out in the mornings and find some yummy restaurants. Lots of good juice bars and cheap food. We especially love Açai , which is a berry from the Amazon that is supposed to be full of vitamins and anti-oxidants...good for you stuff. it is like a blueberry (stains your teeth), raspberry and cherry taste - served chilled like an ice cream pulp sometimes with granola and bananas.We also tried a traditional Bahian dish sold on almost all street corners by women in white skirts and shirts and colorful beads. It is called Acaraje (accent on the last e) and it is a fried -bean patty dish. they stuff it with what looks like cornmeal and shrimp stew. it was very good but also very messy. Itacare is a small town with a main drag - where the good restaurants are and the bars - that leads to its five beaches. All of the beaches are beautiful and seperated by black rock outlets. Our favorite beach - one of the most beautiful we have seen in the world! - was praihna (dont think its spelt totally right) it is a 40 minute walk through the rainforest to get too but it is idyllic ( or `pasturalic`as one couple we met described it!)Everyday at 4 pm on the first beach the Capoeira master teaches on the beach for only R$5. so Monica and Yair joined in the class. Yair had done it before in Montreal so Monica was the rookie - not the only one in the class though thankfully.  It was tough but really fun to try. The master spoke only in Portugese so it was tough to understand but a great work out ! that evening we went to watch all the EXPERTs in a Capoeira show. It was SO impressive. they were so good and fast and not too shabby to look at either - RIPPED bodies. REALLY cool to see... took more videos but waiting to post them on high speedThere is a bar on the main drag called Favela which we really liked hanging out at. You can drink on the street out front and buy off the beer cooler man - R$2 per beer! It is a chill place to hang out and people watch and meet. Lots of beautiful people. as the magazine described it , it is surfer boys and their willowy girls....on the last day we rented a surf board and tried for HOURS. it was REALLY fun. Anita was not feeling 100% - could have been a case of Dengue Fever but we arent sure. But she still did well on the surfboard. Monica was TOTALLY waterlogged after about 3 hours or so (on and off) but it was so much fun!we  now look like a basted christmas turkey - roasted and someone has got to get us out of the oven! we are SO tanned its ridiculous!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201393680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201393680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1201393680/tpod.html Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:18:39 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Salvador, Brazil

After one of our more comfortable overnight bus rides we arrived VERY early in the morning into Salvador. We took some time to wake up and grab a coffee before venturing out to find the bus to our hostel. Didn´t find the bus so we grabbed a cab and arrived to Hostel Sao Jorge...which is located in the historical center of the city...otherwise known as the Pelourinho. It is named after a torture device used against the slaves...basically whipping posts, but the name has stuck despite this history.Walked around the historical area during the day and enjoyed more people watching; workers setting up things for carnaval and eating different ´street´ delicacies. Took a nap in the afternoon cause we weren´t doing great. But felt a bit better after that and went adventuring for the evening. We are being extra careful because everyone we have met has told us to watch out in Salvador...so we are taking nothing with us except a little cash. It´s been hard to leave the cameras behind because we have seen so many things we wanted to take pictures of but we are being on the safer side. Came across a concert the first day...watched some of the sound check and then came back at night and enjoyed the samba, carnaval songs. The 20 piece band played for over 2 hours and everyone was just dancing and having a great time..The band´s name was Arrumba. We tried to keep up with everyone and are getting better...the hips still need a lot of work.Before the concert we found a little restaurant where a lady was playing her guitar at so we sat down and had some beers and food there. we tried the moqueca de peixe; like a fish stew...a specialty of the Bahia area..On Saturday night while listening to the lady play we had 2 guys sit down with us for our last beer. Joshua- very nice man, who is from salvador but now works in Germany...wants to come and visit Anita in Canada sometime...fell in love with her!! And his friend Wellington...aka the black Hulk Hogan...chatted up Monica and wanted to show her around the beach the next day....she was not too interested...but was good for some laughs.The nights in Pelourinho are quite magical...it is all cobblestone streets and old buildings...There are drum groups walking by playing their drums and some singing all thru the day and into the night.. Carnaval in Salvador is more about the drums and the different blocos all walk the streets practicing the week before carnaval. There is so much activity and prepping for carnaval it is very exciting. Characters in the streets, bands playing, random concerts. On Sunday we got sidelined by a massive amount of people, drummers, jugglers, etc walking down our street. But we joined them later in a square for some dancing and drinks. Our first ´bloco´. Which is like a block party. this one called Ensaio do Bloco do Afro Olodum...Africa do Sul group. It was so much fun dancing to the drums and the singing with thousands of other people in the old square. Got a caprikosa...which is the same as a caprihana except with vodka...so good!! Sunday we headed to the beach, which is a 15 min bus ride away. It was totally packed...but still a nice area. Porto do Barra beach is apparently one of the best...but we didn´t think so. After walking around a bit we found a small area with not too many crowds. This lady came and sat right next to us with her 2 kids cause she liked to hear people speak english!! Then Joshua (on his way home from church!!) spotted us and came and talked for a bit.Took the bus back and did some more walking around the historical center. There is so much activity and prepping for carnaval it is very exciting. we are very glad that we have had this time in Salvador because it gives us the chance to experience the two biggest carnaval parties in Brazil.Today we did some shopping and just took it easy....we head to rio next to meet up with Meagan, Laura and Marie- claude ...girls from Montreal for our carnaval celebrations.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200957900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200957900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200957900/tpod.html Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:49:40 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Trancoso, Brazil

We decided that indstead of lugging our packs to Trancoso we would go by bus and walk back to Arrial D´Ajuda...about 15 kms....we had heard it had been down before and could be a good walk.We headed out  and took the bus to Trancoso and spent a few minutes on the beach there. Another beautiful beach...surrounded by palm trees and white sands.Started walking and took a break an hour in on a deserted piece of beach to do some tanning and cool down in the water.We came across a blue lagoon and since it was a full moon that night the tides were crazy high. We hadn´t timed things right and the ocean water was coming in fast...we thought we were done for and would have to turn around and take the bus back to our hostel. But after sitting down and thinking about it...a vendor crossed the slowing river carrying his wares on his head..That did it...we knew we could cross to the other side!!! After lots of laughing and sputtering we made it. Monica could touch bottom but Anita had to swim...none of our stuff got wet though!!Then our next obstacle was some cliffs that ran into the water. Not high but menacing enough from afar. So we decided to try taking the road around...but it ended up turning the wrong way so we turned back towards the beach. We made it across the cliffs just fine...a bit of rock climbing in bathing suits!! And we proud that we avoided another obstacle.Passed the club med on the beach...very nice property! Thought we were being smart again to pass another lagoon and attempted to head inland but again...the road never crossed and the water didn´t end up being more then waist deep anyways!!The walk was beautiful...took us about 5 hours with lots of breaks and about an hour lunch stop but well worth it. some of the best beaches we have seen and met some great people along the way. Our hot rasta waitor at the halfway beach restaurant...a family from chile, argentinian girls. We also loved looking at all the HOT men walking by....some very beautiful people in Brazil...Got off the beach just after sunset again and spent the night having dinner with our roomates and talking with our Argentinian neighbors (4 guys) who were singing playing the guitar and singing for us. Lots of laughs.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200783540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200783540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200783540/tpod.html Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:47:33 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Arrial d´Àjuda, Brazil

We were very happy to make our move across the river to Arrial d´Ájuda. It didn~t take too long...just a 5 minute ferry ride and a 10min bus ride and we found our next hostel. We bunked up with 2 english girls (one was Brazilian as well) and enjoyed our time so much we decided to stay an extra night!We headed straight for the first beach we could find and settled down. Stayed away from the crowds. Something we have learned here is that the Brazilians enjoy sitting in plastic chairs, and tables and having service though out the day, so most congregate in front of the beach side restauants. So we walk 10 meters or so either way and can have some peace and quiet on our towels in the sand. The beach was nice, although a bit dirty. We hadn´t taken the suggestions from our hostel owner and went to the closest beach instead of walking down a bit further. We later found some amazing pieces of beach not too far off. We had heard that there was a lambada school that allowed people to watch their classes so we went out in search of it. Maps weren´t that great but we walked along the shopping street and did some browsing...much to expensive for our travelling budgets!We were just on our way back to the hostel when we saw in the main square a huge crowd of people and loud music. We found the lambada dancers!! It was soo amazing to watch...such great dancers, everyone having a great time. Old dancing with young, all kinds of people. No pretensions here. If you enjoy dancing the do it! We were just in awe of everyone. Then after about an hour the axe dancers came in. So much energy and looks like so much fun. Monica took some videos but we will post them when we are back in Canada. The energy was great and even though we didn´´t participate we fell in love with the dancing and some of the dancers! Lambada is very sweaty and raunchy and was banned at one time. Axe is almost like dance aerobics with lots of hip gyrating and grinding. the guys LOVE it and we LOVE watching them - so hotThe next day we  ventured a bit further south on the beach and found some beautiful spots a few kms down. Great sand and blue blue water. We didn´t want to leave the beach. Lots more people watching...lots of characters...saw a dog with dread locks...that was a first.Had a late lunch of whatever was going by...there are vendors walking up and down the beach all day...we had kibe (deep fried wheat wrapped around ground meat - basically a falafel with meat inside), corn on the cob, and fresh pineapple...then ventured to a restaurant for a beer, which is almost cheaper then water.On our walk home along the beach we stopped in at another bar because the dancers from the night before were preforming again...and this time everyone was joining in and learning the axe dances. We watched and tried to learn a bit...then one of the dancers came over and tried to teach us how to samba...we have lots of work to do!!! But we had a great time and walked home to the light of the (almost) full moon.We had access to a kitchen so we have been very creative with the dishes we have been  making...using fresh veggies and with limited supplies we ended up making a very good salad dressing curry...didn´t look good but tasted great!After dinner we went out walking on the streets again because every Sunday there is a Forro (pronouced forho). Another form of a couple dance here with a live band, lots of cowbell and guitar, and much sexier then the lambada which we found a bit more raw. Again we tried to learn and make our hips move the way that some girls can but it is going to take a lot of practice. The couples dance with their foreheads very close together and the man will  often stop moving and the girl will just grind on his leg....Had a caprihana at a make shift bar and met a French man who spends 2 months every year in Arrial because he loves it so much...gave us some good tips and made us realize how much of our french we are losing!!Went back to the hostel for some internet and ended up watching American football...saw the NY Giants win...looking forward to hearing about the superbowl outcome.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200609540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200609540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200609540/tpod.html Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:43:10 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Porto Seguro, Brazil

After another VERY long bus ride we arrived in the early afternoon to Porto Seguro. Found an HI hostel that was recomended by someone in Ouro Preto and went out to explore. Porto Seguro is a coastal town that is the `heart`of Bahia. It is believed that this is where the Portugese first settled.We walked through the old city. It was quite magical. Quiet and so colorful. Each house was a different color, it looked over the ocean from the cliff top, and there were just small shops lining the street. Very calm compared to the hustle and tourist bustle in the main city. We tried some yummy coconut candy  as a treat and just enjoyed the quiet. After a 2 hour session of much needed laundry (hand washing!),  we headed out.Went down to the main street and walked along, did a bit of shopping and mingled with the Brazilian tourists. It was a big week in Porto Seguro and everywhere was packed. At night we walked along Alcohol street (named so because of all the bars on it) and enjoyed people watching and more shopping. Monica got herself a brazilian bikini!!! It looks HOT! There was lots of entertainment in the streets including bands, singers, dancers, capeoira dancers. It was amazing to watch and really introduced us to the Bahia culture. There are 2 very popular beach club bars (that we didn´t go to) Barramare and Axe Moi...but heard there were great for dancing day or night!There were vendors all over the streets selling lots of trinkets, clothing, etc. Our favorite were the ones selling CD´s and DVD´s because they had a television that played there wares. The Axe dance is very popular in the region and it is basically a dance aerobic workout...great to watch, so much energy and all choreographed steps that everyone knows!Decided to leave the next day and check out Arial DAjuda...we had heard that the beaches were a bit nicer and there were more international tourists. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200424980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200424980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200424980/tpod.html Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:42:55 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Ouro Preto, Brazil

Ouro Preto is the former capitol in Minas Gerais - the gold mining state inland Brazil. It is where Brazil gained it´s independance from the Portugese. The town has been preserved as a piece of history, the hilly streets are still cobblestone and the houses are restored to look as they once did. There are no modern buildings in the town. Nobody walks fast here because the streets are too steep and walking on the cobblestones is wonky. It makes it a bit more magical that you have to go slow to appreciate the town...or you could go fast and have an asthma attack!Ouro Preto is also a University town so there is a young vibe and the pubs are lively. There are several Republicas to stay in - like student residence or a frat house. We opted to stay at the hostel which was okay too. We met two nice English girls as well as Bruno from Rio and Rick from Olinda. They both gave us a lot of advice and it was fun to talk about Canada, the States and Brazil with them. Both boys made sure we knew that Ouro Preto was `´THE town where we gained our INDEPENDANCE!`` said with fist raised in the air! Bruno also wanted us to try out the Ouro Preto tradition of having a few beers and rolling down the cobblestoned ``right`` street and then ``left`` street. Apparently he had done it 4 times the night before and it was a blast. we passed - not sure what we would have told our health insurance....We explored the museums and churches and enjoyed the architecture of the town. We learnt a lot and it was exhausting! Barroque, Roccoco style, Aliehanjdra(not spelt right  at all) the famous sculptor, gold mining, slaves,  etc...very different from the beaches. worth it!we tried a few of the local dishes too - a traditional gold miners lunch called Feijao Tropeiro which is beans seasoned with cassava flour with a side of pork chops, fried egss, sausages, rice, some greens and pork rinds....heart clogging...so we went running in the morning on flat ground and spent a long time walking the hills to try and burn it all off!we also tried pao de queijo which is cheese ball bread (yummy) and other happy hour snacks with our cervejas. we learnt about the most popular soap opera here called Two Faces. apparently translated all over the world. dramatico!We have made some more observations about Brazil life.... there is no problem with public displays of affection. people are making out everywhere - including in front of anita at the hostel breakfast.Also find portugese a tough language because you cannot speak it phonetically. R´s sound like H´s (Republica and Reais), T sounds like Ch, and there are lots more! when we pull out the book to try and translate something it takes us several tries to make it sound right...Tough stuff!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1199392320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1199392320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1199392320/tpod.html Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:25:34 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Sao Paolo, Brazil

Arrived during the heat of the day and got some info at the airport. Making phone calls to hotels was tough but we made it onto the bus and downtown. The christmas present from Crissy came in handy right away (Brazilian portugese phrasebook).We walked through hilly Paulista area to find our pousada Dona Zilah. It was a bit on the pricey side but we wanted to have a comfortable sleep and we had been warned to stay in a secure place. We enjoyed our stay there...great breakfast and friendly staff.We spent the first day basically trying to order and find food in portugese. We didn~t have much luck and ate some pre- made sandwiches. Got caught in a huge rain storm and realized that since it is the rainy season our pnchos would be necessary everyday! Went back to the hotel and monica fell asleep at 6 30pm but Anita amused herself by watching movies on tv and trying to understand the portugese shows. There were some subtitles for the movies so she was able to pick up a little bit.The next day we did a walking tour of the centro (lonely planet!!) and enjoyed looking at all the architecture, the people, the colors, and everyday life. Lots to see and a very interesting city. Spent some time riding the metro and decided to get off early to walk the Paulista walking tour and got caught in another crazy rain storm. But we had our pnchos this time so we were a site for all the people huddled in the stores. (Anita has a red poncho and Monica has a green one...so hot!)Had dinner at an italian restaurant...so good...too much ravioli. The family next to us helped us order ...we re getting better.Next day we explored a posh shopping district (saw a bunch of brazilian models outside an agency...we wanted to offer them a sandwhich) and headed out to catch our overnight bus (15hours) to the Foz do Iguazu.We have enjoyed people watching and checking out all the different outfits. Lots of skin shown on men and women. Lots of colors. Also such a variety of platform sandals to go with all kinds of outfits. We may need to pick up a pair.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1199826000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1199826000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1199826000/tpod.html Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:07:24 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Parati, Brazil

24 hours spent on a bus brought us here, Parati. We were soo happy to be off the bus and happy that Historic Center Hostel was able to find us 2 beds in their bed and breakfast. We have enjoyed walking the cobble stone streets that are sometimes flooded by high tide. Mingling with the other tourists (mostly brazilian), enjoying coffee and walks up to the old fort. The historic center is quite magical and very well preserved. It is now a unesco heritage site. All of the different colors of doors are great against the white stucco houses and clay roofs. At night we heard a marching band practicing and around the corner another group of about 50 people were playing samba beats and dancing. It was awesome to hear, so loud, and got us excited for carnival.We had planned to only stay 2 nights but we were told to check out a beach close by called Trinadade. It was an adventurous bus ride over the mountain but definately worth it. The beach was beautiful and packed with people. Gave us a good chance to study the brazilian beach wear and are workingup the guts to maybe buy a dental floss bikini for ourselves!Tonight we have a BBQ at our hostel and may have our first caprihina. More news to come. BBQ was delicious. lots of caipirinha´s which are very strong but we loved them. some samba dancing... and too much yummy sausage. also tried a coconut cake off a street vendor...so yummy
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200173340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200173340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monita/australia-2007/1200173340/tpod.html Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:49:17 -0500 Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia; 2 sisters and a year of adventures

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Ilha Grande, Brazil

After some bus rides and trudging through STEAMY HOT - 40 degrees (but colourful) Angra Dos Reis we caught the ferry to Ilha Grande; Brazil´s largest island and a popular tourist and vacation spot . Gorgeous views of the coast and the island from the packed ferry. Ilha Grande has no cars and it was a relief - although the pedestrian traffic had us caught in a few jams! It is HIGH season for summer vacationing rio (cariocas) and sao paolo (paulistanas) residents and we arrived on a Friday afternoon.Ilha Grande has a history of Pirates, a quarantine station for colonists and it was used as a maximum security prison until 1994! some of brazils notorious gangs formed here. The island has several well marked walking trails that you could technically follow for days. we chose a short one and went exploring the Lazareto ruins. It was used as a quarantine station and then a small prison. spooky! Also saw the old aqueduct and a big well where the slaves were chained to the rocks and they could bathe in the rock pool.We stayed a cute hostel called Overnativa which was ok except for the room was WAY to small for 6 girls...The Island has 150 beaches (only?) and we walked to a few more the second day. a cruise ship was day tripping on the island for the saturday which brought the people count way up ! so many people! but still beautiful to walk and explore ( and burn my bum in an attempt to look like a brazilian by making a wedgie - monica). we did all of our hiking in our haviana sandals! (a brazil obsession) still okay comfy on the rainforest trailsNight time exploring was cool to - wandering and people watching (no shortage of people to watch). Saw some more samba and enjoyed the warm eveningsSunday was overcast so we decided to be ambitous and do a big hike. We trekked to the other side of the island to the beach and town of Dois Rios - the site of the now imploded maximum security prison. Because it was so overcast and seemingly on the verge of a rainstorm, the town seemed like a ghost town. old buildings were quiet, no one out walking the streets and old street lamps lining the deserted roads. the grass was overgrown and it was a BIG change to the other side of the island that we were used to. We walked through the ruins of the prison which was eerie in itself and it was interesting to explore.Stopped on the beautiful beach of Dois Rios before returning over the top of the mountain.   On the way we saw the soldiers bathing pool - which is a roack pool at the base of a small waterfall. very pretty. A big 15 km trek! we wore shoes this time! and the rain held out - only a little thunder and heat lightening into the night. Ilha Grande is a beautiful and relaxing place despite the crowds. we saw so many beautiful butterflies and birds and flora and fauna ( not the deer) and some small monkeys. Also tried our first Sacole(accent on the e). It is basically a freezie in a plastic bag. we laughed because it is like a frozen juice filled condom! a very popular treat here for only R$1! delicious mango!
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