21st – 27th February

On Friday, we reluctantly checked out of the Miramar, took some final pictures and were picked up for our transfer to the island at 10.30. Two hours later, having circled Copacabana within a 2 mile radius of our hotel several times over, we finally left town. Our bus was mainly made up of Europeans and we spent a fair bit of the two hour journey to the port chatting to two girls, Milly and Holly, from Clapham who had arrived on holiday the night before and who were getting some rest before Carnaval. Just as well as on the island we pretty much saw them every night! In sweltering heat we were then taken (after our relaxed-to-the-point-of-horizontal escort had picked up his lunch with everyone waiting and sweating with their backpacks in the baking sun) to our boat, the Aquaholic. An hour’s crossing and we we finally arrived on the island of Ilha Grande, surprised to see a bustling beachfront with a queue stretching down its length (not what we’d imagined for our idyllic island stay) but breathed a sigh of relief as we found out it was temporary traffic from a cruise ship anchored nearby for the day. As we learnt, things were a lot quieter after the weekend…

Alighting on the dock and a 100 meter walk later and we were at our beachfront Pousada – Recreio De Praia – and checked in for our six night stay (our longest of the trip!). Unpacked, we did a quick circuit of the small village – Abraao – before settling at a cafe/bar on the beach for Lula (lightly battered shrimps) and beer. The remainder of the afternoon was spent lazing around the pool before we showered and had a dinner of grilled fish (having had enough of steaks for a while) at a place on the beach where we were to become regulars (so much so the waitress chuckled every time she saw us coming).

And from there we settled easily into island life and the days fast merged into a blissful blur with our time on the island consisting of:
– Our daily stroll to the nearby Praia Preta beach for a couple of hours sunbathing and swimming in the cool sea (any more than 2 hours and it just got too hot though one day we did venture for a walk in the forest to see a natural pool and ruins of an old aqueduct.)

– Settling in poolside at the end of day one to grab what we thought would be a couple of hours sun before it set, only to find out it went down fast just after 5pm. In the following days we realised the best way to fill this pre-dinner period was with beer, crisps and books instead
– Listening to the hourly bells from the neighbouring church, except at noon and 6pm when it belted out a classical number

– Jason averaging 4 decent naps a days – it’s very tiring doing nothing. (Pictures available on request)
– Dining out on local dish moqueca (fish stew with rich and porridge). Delicious.

– Nightly entertainment listening to the samba drummer band in the little square, one bar playing a rather bizarre Brazilian version of Rod Stewarts ‘If you think I’m sexy and the wristband seller making the same bad joke every night
– Watching kids and adults gather each night to try and walk the tightrope between the palm trees. You could definitely spot the locals, their balance unaffected by the caipirinhas that everyone else (including us) were drinking

– Being followed down the road by a pack of dogs on our first night before they finally settled at our feet as we ate (first having peed against the seat)
– The crepe place being closed every time we’d geared up for having one (even on pancake day!) We felt obliged to squeeze one in on the final night
– Playing our wedding playlist for the first time since we’ve been away, only to realise it was exactly six months to the day since we got married!
– Tottering down the beach to have a rare late night out at the party (I.e. hostel) end of town, only to realise we only had enough cash for one drink each – though luckily the crazy brass band playing pop songs provided great entertainment. The only downside was listening to some very drunks Brits and a GAdventures tour guide talk rubbish
– And finally saying an emotional goodbye to the genuine Roy Bens sun glasses that Charlie had bought back in La Paz that fell apart with just five days to go, plus a lot of other (very smelly) clothes that had served us well on our travels but we had just got fed up of seeing each other in.

So on the final morning it was time to say goodbye to Ilha Grande and board the Aquaholic back to the mainland for the long slog by mini-bus back to Rio for our final few days.