Leaving the fabulous Rio de Janeiro, we headed for the island called Ilha Grande (Big Island), off the Brazilian coast south of Rio. It is known as one of Brazil’s most beautiful places.
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| Leigh on the ferry to Ilha Grande |
Faced with multiple taxis, two bus rides and a boat to get there, we instead used Easy Transfer. They picked us up at our Rio hotel, and took us directly to their own ferry to get us to the island.
Happily, the ferry delivered us to the end of the island where our pousada was located.
There were no footpaths or roads there, so we had to lug and drag our suitcases through about 500 metres of soft sand.
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| Marg viewed from our pousada balcony on Ilha Grande |
Puffing like crazy after this exertion, we found our accommodation, the lovely Pousada Ancoradouro (Golden Anchor) nearby. It was right on the beachfront.
We were delighted to find that our room had a balcony that looked right out over the beach.
The beaches here have lovely golden sand, and because we were in a sheltered bay, there were gentle little waves.
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| Leigh before dinner on the beach at Ilha Grande |
Later, we walked along the beach finding several restaurants with tables arranged on the sand right down to the water.
Selecting a beach table, we ordered then received our meals. But they were sized to share between two people (we realised too late), and were both expensive.
Not to be deterred however, we enjoyed many delicious meals on the beach while we were there. All this while sitting at a table facing the bay and the boats, and watching the tide come in. It was wonderful.
On several occasions, we enjoyed the local speciality of fish and banana stew which was very delicious.
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| Marg in Vila Abrão, Ilha Grande |
Our village, Vila Abrão, consisted of one main street with little side streets lined with small houses, numerous pousadas, some touristy shops, and several small food shops.
There are no cars on the island, and everything has to be bought in by boat, so living here is expensive.
We walked in both directions from our pousada, and found numerous delightful little beaches full of people enjoying the sun.
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| Tiny marmoset monkey in the forest of Ilha Grande |
On one walk, we saw the ruins of an old jail where some of the most dangerous criminals in Brazil were once kept, and which is now teeming with tiny marmoset monkeys.
We also saw an aqueduct that was built in 1893, out of stones carved by slaves.
The next day we decided to walk to Palmas Beach on the other side of the island. This involved a long, very hot trek up through the native forest, then a steep walk down over many tree roots, to the beach.
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| Arriving at Palmas Beach-Ilha Grande ocean side |
After exploring the beach, we stopped at a cute café for burgers, fries and a beer.
Boy did it taste good, sitting at a table on the sand, under an umbrella, having our feet lapped by the encroaching waves.
We contemplated catching a water taxi back but none were available until a lot later in the day. So we walked back arriving at our pousada rather hot and tired, but pleased we had done it.
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| Leigh in lovely Ilha Grande |
A few days later, we carried our suitcases back over the thick sand to the Ilha Grande wharf – but one case between two of us this time.
We were going to catch the ferry back to the mainland then get a minivan to Paraty, our next stop. Paraty is promoted as one of Brazil’s most beautiful towns and we looked forward to spending a few days there.
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| The port at Paraty |
We were a short walk away from Paraty's historic old town, so we were soon walking out to explore it. Everything in Paraty is close so it's very easy to get around.
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| Marg in Paraty's beautiful historic town centre |
And it is very beautiful. It's full of quaint and colourful buildings that have interesting, multi-hued borders, and windows. The colonial architecture here has been preserved unchanged for 250 years or more, and the locals seem, justifiably, very proud of it. We loved walking around there.
The streets are cobbled with very large and differing shaped stones. Definitely tricky to walk on, but it meant that it was too rough to drive on and so was car free. However, you do hear the friendly clip-clop and clackety-clack of a donkey and cart from time to time.
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| Leigh in Paraty's beautiful historic town centre |
The town is bordered by two rivers and the sea with a main canal running through the town. The rivers and canal are lined with brightly painted boats that compete for tourist business.
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| Marg beside the canal at Paraty |
The waterways are very tidal, and when the tide is low, the boats are stranded on very sticky looking mud, which is rather smelly. However, this doesn’t detract from the charm of the place. It is very lovely.
The old town has an interesting and historic system of street cleaning. When the seawater rises every month, the water enters the old town through special openings in the seawall.
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| Paraty street with channel for tidal sea water |
The water is shallow and the locals use little bridges or wooden beams to span the flooded streets.
Then, in the old days, as the water receded it took the rubbish with it. Now-days the rubbish is dealt with differently, but it still floods.
In those days, Paraty was also the main port where gold arrived via Brazil's 'gold route' (for example, from Ouro Preto where we recently visited). It was then shipped from Paraty to Portugal.
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| Top L: Church Nossa Senhora das Dores; Church Lady of Remedies Lower L: Boats on tidal beachfront; Colourful historic houses |
The port, the buildings, the boats, and the surrounding area, made a great place for us to relax and sightsee. However, a few days later, it was time to move on again.
This time we are catching a bus to São Sebastião, in order to get to Ilha Bela (Beautiful Island).
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