After Paraty we took a 2 hour bus ride to Angra dos Reis to get a ferry over to Ilha Grande, which is reputed to be one of the best islands for beaches in Brazil. There is only 1 ferry per day which is at 3pm and we arrived at the port around 1pm. Luckily we didnt have to wait long because so many other people were there waiting to go, we got on a schooner with a load of other people and got chatting to a couple of guys. The crossing wasnt too bad, although where we were sitting was getting drenched by sea spray so we had to move in the end to another part of the boat. It took around an hour and a half to get to the island and oddly enough, as soon as we arrived it clouded over! We were about to go get our bags but one of the people from the boat said they would pass it over and so just to get off. We got off the boat via a very big tire on the side of the platform(!) and saw that everyone else seemed to be getting their bags themselves! We were stood looking at our bags still on the boat for about 5 minutes with no one going to get them when we decided that we had better try and get back on to get them as other people were getting on the boat! Just as I was about to board again, Ruth called me to say that some bloke was getting them off... I dont think he even worked on the boat and there were definitely some looks towards us as if to say, you should be getting your bags yourself! But we were just doing what we were told!

Anyway, after a 10 minute trek to our hostel, we were shown to our private apartment which was only about 5 minutes from the actual hostel. By this time the sun had come out again, which was good, but then we discovered that to get to our apartment we had to climb around 80 steps! Not good in the blistering heat with a heavy backpack on! Once we got to the apartment, we discovered that it had an amazing view of the beach so that climb was worth it... although the apartment itself wasnt all that clean and had an ant infestation in the kitchen, along with a spider web infestation in every room! We got ready and around 6pm we set out to discover what was around the area we were staying in. On our way to the main stretch in the area we bumped into one of the guys we had gone out with in Paraty and we said we would meet up with them later on for a drink as it was their last night. We had a wander around, which didnt take long as there wasnt lots to see or do as the town was very small. We went for pizza in a nice little restaurant and then to get some supplies from a supermarket for our breakfast the next morning. On our way to the supermarket Ruth saw some of the lads from Paraty but it looked like they were having dinner and we needed to get stuff from the supermarket and take back so we didnt stop. After getting back to the apartment and getting ready to go out, we made a very slow decent down the 80 or so steps in total darkness, spotting some wierd possom type animals in the trees on the way down! We went for a caipirinha at one of the bars, then went to find the lads, but they had gone. Instead we went back to one of the only (what seemed like) open bars in the town and had a couple more drinks. As we were waiting to be served we noticed a load of people looking under the tables and getting their cameras out. We looked to see what they were looking at and laughed as we saw the biggest crab ever walking around under the tables and chairs! We watched as it wandered up the ramp, into the bar, disappeared somewhere before walking back out of the bar a few minutes later (probably forgot his ID!). Then it wandered back down another ramp and crossed over the path where everyone stopped to let it walk passed while laughing and taking photos! It then disappeared off to the sand. Quite amusing. We didnt have a late or drunken one because we only had 1 full day in Ilha Grande and didnt want to be hungover.

The next morning we decided to go to reportedly the best beach in all of Brazil, Lopes Mendez. We paid R$20 each for a boat there and back, which took around 45 minutes. We got off the boat onto a beach that was by far NOT the best beach in Brazil! Loads of crap was washing onto the shore and there was no one around! We then saw people trekking through the forest and discovered that you then had to trek to get to Lopes Mendez! The trek was tough! It was around 37 degrees and a lot of the trek was uphill, thankfully with some shade at times. All in all we were walking for around 30 minutes, hoping that it was all worth it! It was! We arrived at Lopes Mendez and the first thing you see is the beautiful white sand and a very shallow shore of clear sea. Then you notice the squeeky sand when you walk on it! It really squeeks with each step! The only drawback was that there was no seats or umbrellas for shade, unless you brought your own. For shade people were just sheltering in the forest area lining the beach, which is what we did at first. After a bit of sitting, reading and people watching, we lay in the sun for a bit and went in the sea. The sea was cooler than Trinidade beach, which I still think was more beautiful than this one, but was still warm. The shoreline was very shallow and seemed to go on for ages, so you could walk out really far and the water still only be up to your waist. We needed to trek back to the beach with the boat on to catch the 5 o clock boat so we left just after 4 and headed back to the apartment to get changed. By the time we got back to the apartment it was around 6.30pm and so we decided to just stay in, ready to head to Rio the next morning. Besides, it wasnt an amazing nightlife that we experienced there with only 2 bars open!

We had arranged to pay a little extra for something called Fast Connection, which got you a boat across to another port on the main island and a taxi ride straight to your hotel. We thought this would be better than trying to get around Rio with big bags again and we were glad we did it. We left Ilha Grande around 11am and arrived in Rio around 2pm. That is our next blog...