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. . .
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. . .
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