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!