Cabo Frio

After spending 4 hectic nights in Rio (a full post about my week in Rio will be coming after this!) I decided to go up north for 2 nights of chill in an area called Cabo Frio which is well known for its incredible beaches. It was around 3 hours drive from Rio and I slept most of the way due to being very hungover and getting in at 6am and getting a coach at 9am... ouch! 

I was staying in this cute hotel literally a stones throw away from 1 of the main beaches in Cabo Frio called Dunas Beach. I arrived mid afternoon and spent most of the day on the beach which was pretty much empty! It was such a change from the beaches in Rio. It was really windy so there was lots of surfers hand kite/wind surfers out in the sea. The sea itself was pretty dam cold (thankfully it was about 35 degrees outside of the water) but the area is known for this hence the name Frio meaning cold! 

The next day I took a taxi to a beach called Prainhas do Pontal do Atalaia which was about 20 minutes away from my hotel. It was known for being one of the most beautiful beaches in Arraial do Cabo (the town next to Cabo Frio). It was so busy when I got there because it was Christmas holidays in Rio so there was lots of family’s, also there are many boat trips you can take which stop off at the beach. 

I managed to find a quieter area of the beach and spent around 4 hours soaking up the sun! The water was thankfully a lot warmer here and crystal clear so I even went snorkelling for a little bit and saw lots of tropical fish. 

I decided to get a water taxi back to Porto do Forno and from there I walked to another beach called Praia do Forno as it was late afternoon the beach was a lot quieter and I stayed there until sundown.

Cabo Frio was lovely to chill out for 2 days but I was happy to be going back to Rio for the final 3 nights of my time in South America! Cannot believe the last 3 months had gone sooo quickly! 

Ilha Grande

I left Paraty early in the morning and got a bus for around an hour before getting a 2 hour boat ride to the beautiful island of Ilha Grande. I was actually the most excited about visiting Ilha Grande out of anywhere else in Brazil! From when I researched it, it just seemed like it was the perfect place to go to party but with a good balance of chill out during the day. Lots of cool beachfront restaurants, bars, cafes and hippy shops! The island is very similar to the Gili Islands in Bali but much bigger. They still don’t use cars on the island so if you want to get around you have to walk, cycle or take a boat! 

I arrived around midday and the sun was shining - time to tan!! After lunch we visited a beach about 20 minutes walk from the main port which is famous for the black sand. Sadly it decided to rain on us on the way back to the town and pretty much all of the evening!! Luckily in time for dinner and drinks on the beach the rain went away. I had a lush seafood spaghetti (probably one of the best I’ve had in ageeees!) and caprihinas for dinner! The barman very kindly gave us all one for free - thank you! Earlier in the day I actually brought a bottle of Cachaca to take home so I can make caprihinas myself at home! My new favourite drink!

The next day a group of us set off early on a boat trip around the island. The sun was out and the weather was perfect for snorkelling! We visited an area called the green lagoon with crystal clear greeny/blue waters. We were really lucky as there was no other boats in the lagoon at the time so we had the best visibility - I saw a turtle while snorkelling which was amazing to see! Also saw loads of other fishes, sadly not nemo! We also visited 3 beautiful private beaches which was so nice as there was no one else there! You could only access the beach via boat so we had the beach all to ourselves! 

In the afternoon it rained again (apparently this is quite common in Ilha Grande!) so I just spent the afternoon exploring the shops and eating ice cream. Our accommodation had some nice undercover hammocks so I chilled out in there and took some time to plan the next week ahead. More beaches I think! 

For dinner we went to one of the best pasta restaurants on the island... The pasta was made fresh and was sooo good (so much so that I forgot to take a photo!!) 

The next morning we were going to be heading back to the mainland and on to Rio de Janeiro!! Exciting! 

Paraty

After spending 2 days in Iguacu it was now time to head to the beach in Brazil yayyy! I took a hungover flight to São Paulo which took around 2 hours. I sadly wasn't going to be spending any time in São Paulo, so it was a 6 hour bus straight to Paraty! When we finally arrived in Paraty it was actually raining, not what we had planned! We headed straight for dinner to a Thai restaurant and hoped for better weather the next day!

Thankfully the next day the weather was sunny! I did a walking tour in the morning... I know I said I wouldn't do anymore walking tours but I only had 1 day in Paraty so felt like I should learn more about the town before going to spend the rest of the day on a boat getting drunk! The town of Paraty was so pretty, lots of streets filled with coloured houses, cute shops, restaurants and cafes. On the tour they said many of Brazil's rich and famous own houses in Paraty and nearby beach towns. I didn't see anyone I recognised though!

For the rest of the day I'd planned to go on a boat party - they say there ain't no party like a Paraty party and it was defiantly true! We stocked up on the local cheap booze (Smirnoff ice to be exact!) and set off on the boat party. We were on the boat from midday till sunset at around 7pm and it stopped around 5/6 times at various places where we could jump off or swim over to the nearby beach. They were giving us cocktails and there was even a bbq serving up kebabs, dream combo! I'd actually been looking forward to Brazil ever since I landed in South America in October, mainly because I'm such a beach/sea baby. I certainly wasn't disappointed the water was so blue and the beaches were white and not full of tourists!

My next stop was the beautiful island just of the coast of Rio de Janeiro called Ilha Grande!