Ilha Grande 3

Most of the island is an ecological reserve and it’s managed to stay so well-preserved (in spite of being on the developed south coast) largely because of its history. It started as a pirate’s hideout, then became a leper colony and quarantine area for mostly European immigrants entering Brazil, and finally a prison for only the most dangerous and deranged criminals. The prison functioned until 1994, also serving as a political rival, erm, retreat for some time, so development has only happened quite recently.

There is still a part of the hospital/quarantine area left and it’s quite a creepy place. It was called Lazareto and you could expect to get stuck there if you were a new-comer to Brazil and you had a cold (or worse). Hell, even if you didn’t when you arrived, you’d probably pick something up before you were able to head to the mainland. Cholera was the main concern. Here’s what’s left:

There was also an aqueduct, built around the time of the hospital, which still runs through the jungle.

After pondering the ruins, we walked past a small waterfall with a pool filled with fat, speedo-clad men, took pictures of butterflies, and sat on the beach until it started raining.

We had an amazing dinner on the beach that night, Brazilian seafood and a bottle of wine, proper honeymoon stuff. 

Ilha Grande 2

Ilha Grande is a popular place for people from Rio, looking to escape the city for a weekend, so we tried to avoid the weekend crowds but we were still plunked right in the middle of the cruise ship season. Every day, at about 10am, two cruise ships come into the bay near the town, bringing throngs of people who wander aimlessly around the tiny town for about 4 hours, buy ice cream and head back to the ship. There is an absurd number of people in town at peak hours; you can barely walk through the streets. The good news is, if you are happy to romp through the jungle for an hour and a half or more, you can find several great beaches and lots of other cool things, that most cruise-shippers don’t have enough time to get to. The bad news is, if you just want to amble down to the pleasant beach ten minutes from town, you’ll probably be sharing a tiny space with a bunch of fat rich people.

We woke the next morning to an incredible feast of a breakfast, definitely the best of our trip. Our pousada was a properly German affair, run by a properly friendly German couple. (Nothing should be dirty, everything should be organized and no one should start their day without at east five or six sausages.) On our first day, we put on our damp bathing suits and went in search of the closest beach. We were still, jet-lagged and waking up early so we hadn’t hit the tourist tidal wave yet.

Here’s a shot of the beach near the town:

We still had to fight for a place to lay our towels though. I did a bit of masculine posturing and sent this fellow on his way:

It started spitting rain pretty soon after we sat down. My wife brought an umbrella so we read for a bit, lying underneath to keep our books dry, but eventually felt a bit silly and went back to our hotel. We sat on the balcony and watched humming birds and cruise ships come and go for the rest of the afternoon.

Hummingbirds are difficult to photograph:

The next few days were still a bit rainy so we took a couple of walks, to escape the cruisers herding through town. Our first trip took us on a short route up a hill near town and down the other side to a small beach. The forest is dense:

Ilha Grande

Hoping for good weather, we took another bus a couple of hours up the coast in the direction of Angra Dos Reis, which is a stepping stone to get to Ilha Grande, an island near Rio. There were a lot more waterfalls on the way there, just cementing this in my mind as a key feature of the Brazilian cultural experience. Angra is not pretty but the photo below shows an interesting element shared by a lot of the towns along this stretch of the Brazilian coast – they are built up the sides of hills. That’s another theme we’ll come back to regularly – things built on hills.


We got there in good time, and after some confusion while wandering around in the rain, we found a small, open ferry that was headed to the island. Fortunately, we had picked up some umbrellas before leaving Paraty so we didn’t get soaked finding the boat.


See the rain. :(

While we hung around and waited for the boat to fill up, I read a bit about Ilha Grande in our guide book. They call it a “pristine island retreat” that “owes its pristine condition to its unusual history.” I’d say, that’s about three-quarters right. They also say that during high season, it can get a bit claustrophobic in Vila do Abraao (the island’s main town). That’s a massive understatement. Still, there’s fun to be had, even at the peak of tourist season.

The highlight of the day was probably seeing a sea turtle from the boat, although I didn’t have time to get a picture of it. The Brazilian guy beside me, who spotted it, seemed more excited about our excitement than about the turtle itself. A lot of the other passengers really didn’t care. Facts of life in Brazil: waterfalls and sea turtles. Yawn.

The boat ride itself was decidedly NOT fun. We got drenched. It started pouring about twenty minutes in and between the rain and the waves hitting the sides of our small vessel, there weren’t many dry spots to be had. To my annoyance, my “waterproof” pack didn’t seem to keep much water out, but I mean, if I just threw it in the ocean (which is a pretty accurate comparison to the amount of water that washed over our boat), I wouldn’t expect it to keep water out, so I was probably being too critical. We decided to stay on the island until everything was dry at least. . .

Paraty 3

On our last day in Paraty we took a boat tour to some beaches and islands nearby. It was mostly cloudy again and rained on the way back but it was still a very pleasant afternoon. We met an unusual older fellow on the trip. He told us that he used to be an unemployed stone cutter (read quarry man?) in Paris until his parents died and left him quite a lot of money. Now all he does is travel 4 or 5 months of the year and write books about his true passion, architecture. Apparently, he’s just finished writing about the traditional huts of some specific tribe in Brazil but he hopes to start work on adobe architecture in East Africa soon. We talked to him for about an hour and then he ambled to another part of the boat.


On the way back we saw a few good places to buy a personal island. I believe the one in this photo is a fancy restaurant. If you make a reservation, they send a chauffeur in a boat to collect you from town.

Overall, in spite of the poor weather, we enjoyed Paraty a lot. There were a few tourists but it wasn’t swarming (though it will be soon as I just found out that it is a film location for the new Twilight movie) and the old town is just so freakin' charming. We could have stayed happily for weeks. But no, we have a lot of ground to cover. Time to move on.

On last picture, my pasty white self gracefully diving off the boat. No Brazilian sun to turn me into a bronzed god yet. Will that ever happen? Stay tuned to find out! (The water was also a little colder than I would have liked. The Arabian Gulf has ruined swimming for me around the world.)