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What a Grande one…
So I say a sad farewell to Haifa & get in an expensive taxi to the Bus Terminal, then it's a 3 hour bus to the port & another 1 hour ride to Ilha Grande. I didn't really have any expectations of this place because the weather had been so terrible but on getting off me, & the girl I met on the boat Sjauke, decided we had fallen slightly in love with this little gem :)
The Island is a reasonable size but there are only certain parts you can get to certain ways (boats or hiking), plus some places humans aren't even allowed to go! The place was heaving because there was one day left of carnival, luckily Sjauke managed to squeeze into my Hostel (Overnative Green ~ really sweet family run place) & we decided to head out & enjoy the last of the Carnival fun.
First we headed to a restaurant I had my eye on as we came in. It's called Kebab & I recommend anyone going to Ilha Grande to 100% eat there, nom nom nom. We had Thai wok & it was divine & SO nice to eat something other than red meat or chicken & rice (also the cocktails weren't too shabby either).
Well, this little island had come alive with carnival spirit. People were dressed in drag, men dressed as black women with huge lips, a mummy, a man being sprayed with shaving foam stuff by all the kids, plus a band & just a general party atmosphere. This was nice though & much more family orientated & something I appreciated after the shenanigans of Rio! We had a laugh, had some booze, took some pictures & got told we were beautiful ,so all in all a standard night ;)
The next day the weather was amazing!! Finally some bloody sun!!
We headed to a beach called Lopes Mendes, but first we had to hike 2hours there. I know most of you would be like 'why didn't you just get the boat?' but to me hiking/walking/climbing is all part of the adventure & sometimes you can see so much more. It wasn't easy, it was hot, some really steep parts & climbing over wet rocks, but I really enjoyed myself & on route to the beach we stopped off at a little cove. This was a really lovely little bay area with still, cool, water & a couple of camping grounds, we played around in the water for a bit then headed onto the next part . Overall we went past about 4 coves & finally hit Lopes Mendes, what a beaut! This beach was wide, white sand and beautiful with crazy arse waves smashing everyone about (they loved it), we hung here lapping up the sun for a good couple of hours then went & done some rock posing for a laugh.
The next day we decided to do the other trail on the other side of the island, this time there was a group of us & we first headed to a natural pool caused by the waterfall, this was ice cold but in a lovely way & we spent some time splashing about & slipping out, we then headed on as we wanted to find this amazing waterfall that people had spoke about. It seriously took about 2 hours of climbing up steep hills that were slippy muddy & a lot of sweat & tears to finally reach the divine waterfall, unfortunately I would say the waterfall is more a watersplash, im not sure if this is just because I've seen a few now but we were all slightly disappointed we'd trekked so hard for this (even placing bets on who would stack it first on the mud & how many times), anywho we manned up & myself & Sj hiked back while the others cheated & got a boat ;)
I left for Paraty the next day, which in itself was a mission as alas me no speaking la Spanish but finally made it there after a bumpy bus ride. The girls, Rachel & Marisa, were waiting for me & we decided on a plan for the next week going on the weather. Basically the weather had been sh*te in Rio, only ok for one day in Ilha Grande & also bad in paraty, on looking at the 10 day weather forecast is seemed Floripa was set for sunshine all for the next 4 days WAHOOO. So, on deciding to just leave we had to try & unbook our nights accommodation at the Hostel & try & get the girls their money back on 2 nights previously paid for, this was not easy & in the end we were bribed…their money back & nights canclled for 100% reviews on Hostelworld, even though the rooms & Hostel were sh*te!! Easily blackmailed we agreed & set off for the glorious sunshine of Floripa!
5 hours late & about 20 hours later on the nightbus we finally make it to Floripa…no glorious sunshine, rain. Not surprisingly the day we left Paraty the weather was amazing, not a cloud in the damn sky, & now we were here with storms lol. Not to let it cloud us (literally) we booked up for P12 to party the afternoon & evening away at a pool party, this party is one of the best I think you can goto here, think Ibiza, think massive pool with double beds all around it, heaven!
Ok, so its pissing down with rain but the place is still awesome, me & the girls are already heady from a couple of drinks at the Hostel & our night basically goes like this:
Must eat so order the pizza to share, it's basically the size of a small donut but as flat as a pankcake. We eat this in 20seconds (first mistake of drunk club…eat enough to line the belly)
Start on the cocktails, there strong…hide from the storm & then dance like lunatics
Managed to avoid being chucked in the pool all afternoon but come night time I decide to jump in off my own drunk accord, clothes left in the club, me running in bikini through it.
We're all starting to get wasted, Marisa gives into the man whose been stalking her all night & kisses him. Rachel kisses a random older man whose bought us all about 3 bottles of champagne, to say thanks of course (taking one for the team)
On the way home I puke in the van NOT on someones lap as the gossip the next day said…just on the floor & maybe on someone elses feet. Rachel makes up a new move called *The Bulgarian* & luckily Marisa keeps herself out of most of the trouble apart from forcing Rachel to lick her gums.
The next day death awaits us all & I think we might all be about to meet our makers, we struggle with basic things like moving & Rachel braves it down to breakfast to get met with all the gossip ;)
Floripa was a mixture of chilling & getting drunk, all in all a really nice area & somewhere I would like to head back to one day to do a little more than eat & drink :)
Next we head off to Iguassu falls, it's another 20 hour night bus ride so we book ourselves into a triple room in a Hotel for a treat. We haven't got time to sample the swimming pool in the glorious sunshine so we eat & quickly dart for the falls before they close at 5pm…we make it with 2 mins to spare THANKGOD & spend about 1.5 hours taking in the beauty that is Iguassu. WOW, is all I want to say on this matter, check the photos for yourself, breathtaking.
The next day we grab a cab who takes us to the border & over to the Argentinean side, it's so much easier doing this as otherwise it would have meant 3 buses & walking, he only charged us about £10 I think it was too, great deal & much recommended to do it this way. Anyway, the Argentinean side is just as amazing (see pic's) but in a different way, kind of more panoramic. We spend some time bumbling about that area & then get the night bus again down to Buenos Aires…
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