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So Ihla Grande......
Its situated about a mile and a half off the mainland of brasil, but when you arrive there, you could be a world apart, Its so different from the mainland. Its got countless beaches and coves, all with white sandy beaches, and crystal clear waters. Its like a tropical island on the carribean or something.
So the idea with this was to have a bit of a relax period after carnival. We got to the island by a small fishermans boat, and along the way saw masses of oil tankers just anchored. We guessed that it was a place where they waited or something, as most of them had crews doing maintenance on them. We then saw what we thought was a Submarine surfacing.....it wasn't, it was just an island with a lighthouse on, but if you look at the photo, you can sort of see why we got mistaken....right!?!? Anyway, the boat ride took us about 80 mins, and for a small boat on the open sea, was quite a pleasant one, and we were greeted by this small jetty on a quiet beach. We had chosen good!
Our hostel wasnt that bad also. It was about 35 degrees when we got onto the island, so we settled for the first hostel with a decent shower, and a fan in the room.Turns out it was one of the HI hostels, but that was ok. We showered up, and then headed back down to the port where we came in. It was about 3pm now, so we didnt really have time to go and explore properly, as it is quite a bit island. So we settled for some late lunch, and a few beers, then later a few jumps off the pier to "cool" down. Obviously that was just an excuse for me and Stu to act like children again. I dont know what it is, but im sure a few of you can agree with this, it is actually really fun to jump off tall things into water! So anyway, that wasted most of the first day, so we went back to the hostel, played poker with a few "bevvies".
Next day we got up early, and even earlier than we thought, as the clocks changed, and what we thought to be half 8, was in fact half 7, but that was ok. Felt good to be up early for a change. Today we were going over the other side of the island to supposedly one of the best beaches in the world! To get there, we had to take a small taxi boat, and then hike 20mins. Both of which were fine, and because we had got the first boat over, we were pretty much the first people on the beach when we got there. The sand was perfectly clean, a complete contrast from that on Copacabana, and when you walked over it, it made a squeaking noise. So anyway, we set up camp in some shade, and then we had the chance to act like kids again, and went and played in the waves! you can see on some of the photos, although all of me seem to be when im inside the wave! but it was fun none the less. The rest of the day was spent doing more of the same, reading books, and climbing trees! All in all an awesome day. The beach itself looked like something out of Lost, in fact the whole island did, Well a cross between lost and Jurrasic Park!
We were only planning on staying on the island for 2 nights, but when we found out we only got there at 3pm the first day, we decided to stay another.
The next day was another early riser, and the breakfast at the hostel was amazing, so that was a reason to get up in itself. Since getting to S.America, all the breakfasts have consisted of have been bread, jam, tea, coffee, and if your lucky, some fruit! This one had fresh melon and pineapple, bread with cheese and ham, cake, cold milk, then the usual, so a welcomed break! Anyway, today we had decided to go rent some snorkel gear and go check out some coves.
To be honest, the snorkelling was a bit of an anti-climax, but was ok, and worth the 7 reals paid to rent it, although most of the day was spent lazing on the beach. As it was our last night in Ihla Grande, we decided we would go out and see what the "nightlife" was like, but by the time it came around to going out, we all felt too tired to and didnt, but instead spent the evening just sitting around the hostel. The three Slovenian girls i first met in Cusco also came over to join us, so it was nice to see them again.
Another early rise, but for a reason, we had to get out ferry boat back to the coast, as me, alex and james were heading over to Iguazu, and Stu and Caroline were going up north again.
If you ever come over to Rio for the carnival, i recommend you go over to Ihla Grande for a few days after it, as its an amazing place, and the perfect place to stop to revamp the old system!
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