Ilha Grande and the illusive sun
Trip Start
Aug 06, 2007
1
26
36
Trip End
Ongoing
Ilha Grande,
Brazil
Sunday, September 23, 2007
And our initial siting of island lead us to believe we were in for this island treat. We caught a bus 3 hours down the coast - and then jumped on a cruisy motorised old ketch for an hour and half to the island. And arriving with the sun lowering in the sky at 5pm - a picturesque wee village with restaurants on the beach - we decided there was only one thing we could do - dump our bags at our hotel (sweet wee apartments - Ilha Inn Flats) - and head back for a cocktail in the sun. Perhaps for the first time - it seemed that Paul and I couldnt wipe the smiles off our faces at the thought of the next 5 days here as we watched the happy people getting off their day tours on the wharf. It was safe here, the sun was out, it was relaxing and there was tonnes of cool recreation for the week.
You can imagine the gutwrench when Paul and I were woken up by howling winds and rain on the roof the next morning! We pulled the curtains - and the warm breeze that had been blowing through the coconut palms last night was now a howling gale....what the hell....Paul is convinced that the recreation gods are against us. Today we had planned to walk 2 hours to Lopes Mendes - one of the most beautiful beaches in Rio with the best break where you can hire boards. The storm looked pretty nasty - so as itchy as our feet were we decided to stay put for a few hours and see before we started trekking into the jungle! Damn i wish i had a book - wasnt planning of sitting still! The rain didnt reallly blow over - and going stir crazy - we decided to go for a little hike anyway to suss out the path for tomorrow.
Luckily the wind had died down slightly the next day - but was still pretty rainy and we had heard the surf at Lopes Mendes was no good - so we decided to hire a double kayak and go for a tiki tour around - turns out the kayak filled up with water (the girl was pretty laid back and said this was quite normal........yah) and we made it around the bay and found a nice wee place to have an 11am cocktail on the beach in the drizzly rain. These Caprihina´s are strong - it definately spiced up the paddle back around the bay - but we were slightly embarrassed by the lack of distance we made and put it down to the bad equipment.....recreation needs sun we told ourselves....hehe!
The next day we woke up and it was still overcast...but at breakfast the portugese lady who owns the flats came and got us and took us out the back to the deck - and gave us a banana and pointed - it was soooo cool - all these tiny wee monkeys were coming down from the trees for a morning feed of sweet brazilian banana´s - one even had a tiny wee baby on its back - it was so so SO cool to see these wee guys in their natural environment and get so close! After brekkie - we decided it was Lopes Mendes today or never - so we got a wee boat round the island. Paul was almost running down the track (you had to walk 20 mins there) when he heard the surf....even i was, but unfortunately it was pretty dodgey - the one guy that was out surfing was getting hammered and came in quickly. It was not ideal - and Paul took to throwing coconuts on the beach in frustration! haha.
Every night - Paul and I have been sharing this local dish - they give you a huge platter of fresh grilled fish, white rice, grated carrot, beetroot and tomato as well as this rich yummy bean mix - it is so so good. We have been loving it!
On our last day here we decided to go on a boat tour to Gruta do Acaia - a blue cave or cenote that you can dive in. The boat trip took a few hours to get there (on a crudee wee thing named Kawai - with 7 other laid back Brazilians who were all enjoying the sun and tunes being played onboard). Luckily one of the girls on board interpretted the instructions of the portugese speaking driver - as most of the time we had no idea what was going on - and we pulled up to the coast - jumped off onto the rocks and cruised up to where you access the cave from on land (private property - making 10R a person - not bad!). It was really really confined and dark getting down the ladders in the cave - and cramped when all 9 of us got to the bottom - but the luminous blue from the water spilling into the cave was awesome! It was pretty nerve wracking i have to say everytime a wave rolled into the cave and the water level swelled up - there was no quick escape down there! It was intense. And because the tide was up we couldnt swim in there - which was a shame. After the cave - we headed back to the Lagoon Verde for some snorkelling and then onto another bay for some fish, beans and rice for lunch! It was a great day with some lovely people (although it was a little hard not understanding any portugese!). We decided to meet up later that evening for some cocktails - which sounded like a pretty good idea to us on our last night on the island. Unfortunately i underestimated the power of the Caprihina - and had the pain of the next 4 days (yes Im not a born drinker) to remind me of the little bloop! Dóh.
The next day we took the 5pm boat back to the mainland in the pouring rain - and I felt terrible the whole way - drenched we luckily grabbed an cabbie at the wharf who helped us find a 2 star hotel relatively easily.
Tomorrow we are off to Rio with a flight to Buenos Aires booked - woohoo - no long buses - and shopping to come.....as soon as I forget those nasty caprihina´s I will be in heaven! .
Dusk on Abraao
