Wednesday 1^st March 2017

Transfer from Rio to Ilha Grande by posh aircon coach.  Through some beautiful scenery with virgin rainforest one side and the sea the other.  Only 7% of the rainforest left so steps are finally being made to preserve what’s left.

We took a Huge RIB (seated 50 passengers with twin 300hp Yamahas on the back) from Angra dos Reis across to Ilha Grande which is part of the State Park and Biological Reserve.  Its history was a notorious pirate lair, then a landing port for slaves – the former is still milked with various ships tarted up to look like pirate ships!  There are allegedly 365 islands with Ilha Grande unsurprisingly being the largest. However, bit of artistic licence, many of the islands are little more than rocks, but the whole area is totally gorgeous with rainforest coming down to pristine white little coves against an emerald sea. There are no cars and no roads either, just trails through the forest and a quirky little hippy-ville town called Vila do Abraao. A fantastic cruising area.

Once unpacked, Iain and I left all the sensible Aussies in the pool and went for a walk in the scorching sun. We found an old prison, now completely overgrown, which had also been used to incarcerate new arrivals to Brazil to ensure they didn’t bring in cholera (similar to the US Ellis Island). Also followed the laughter to the top of a waterfall where the local kids were daring each other pool diving. Beside this was a huge aquaduct which although looking overgrown, still services the town.

By the time we started walking back we were melting with the heat so jumped into the warm sea by some Seychelles-looking boulders, and cooled off before our return and cold beers in the pool.