We spent two glorious days in Rio de Janeiro... soaking up sun on famous Ipanema Beach and exploring the city. We moved on rather quickly though to get to Ilha Grande, and island off the coast of Angra dois Reis, Brazil. We took a ferry ride for about and hour and a half, got off the ferry, and quickly realized that everyone with a pulse from Rio de Janeiro had come to Ilha Grande the day before. ALL, I repeat, ALL of the hostels were booked. Amy and I left Cortney sitting in front of a hostel with our new friend, Bert, who gave her ice water and tried to talk to her in Portugese (sorry Cortney), in search of a place to stay. After wandering through the streets for awhile, we finally found a campground that would take us for what Amy heard as R20 (about $10) for all three of us. We ran back to get Cortney and quickly set to pitching our tent about 5 inches from the nearest one. After kicking about 2 pounds of sand into our tent while organizing our stuff (just so we could exfoliate during the night), we went to pay and discovered it would really be R20 per person. We grumbled and groaned a bit and then paid up. We left the campsite and went directly to the Hosteling Int´l Hostel which would be R20 for our own room, bathroom, and breakfast. We booked that for the next night. The island was beautiful at first glance, with a beach just 2 blocks from our campsite, boats floating in the harbor, and forested hills behind us. The one major highlight of camping was listening to drunk Portugese teenagers singing love songs at the top of their lungs and being accompanied by a guitar until they went to the bars at 11 and then listening to them return at 4am.
The next day we got up early and headed off into the woods. After climbing for about 45 minutes, we began to descend to a beach, a beautiful beach, which we passed. Another climb up over a hill and descent to yet another gorgeous beach. Nope, not yet. Two more up and overs and we finally reached Praia do Lopes Mendes (Lopes Mendes Beach) and it took our breath away. Big black rocks to the left with palm trees and misty mountains in the backgroud. Fine, white sand and turquoise water. There were very few people there compared to the other beaches and especially compared to Rio. We planted our stuff on the sand and ran for the water, which was the perfect beach temperature. We spent a few hours there (and ate the nastiest tuna sandwiches I have ever eaten in my life. I don´t think I can eat tuna for a long time... it tasted like cat food - I still maintain that we read the label wrong and it actually was catfood) and then we returned to our hostel. It took us less time to get back... about 3 hours there and 2 hours to get back. We spent our last day on the island at another beach closer to our hostel.
Now we are in Paraty, back on the mainland. It is a cute colonial town. We walked to the fort today and then explored the downtown area, which is completely paved in cobblestones. Excited to see what happens at night here.
I am learning a little bit of Portugese, which I speak very tentatively... as Amy is much better at it. Thank goodness that the Brazilian people are wonderful. So far they have been nothing but friendly. Taxi drivers always wave and give us huge smiles when they drop us off (hopefully this is not because they have just ripped us off) and hotel staff are always really sweet... even though we have no idea how to ask for the things we need. Cortney took a pillow with her to the front desk today and pointed to it and just said "otra?" They always get the general idea.
The next day we got up early and headed off into the woods. After climbing for about 45 minutes, we began to descend to a beach, a beautiful beach, which we passed. Another climb up over a hill and descent to yet another gorgeous beach. Nope, not yet. Two more up and overs and we finally reached Praia do Lopes Mendes (Lopes Mendes Beach) and it took our breath away. Big black rocks to the left with palm trees and misty mountains in the backgroud. Fine, white sand and turquoise water. There were very few people there compared to the other beaches and especially compared to Rio. We planted our stuff on the sand and ran for the water, which was the perfect beach temperature. We spent a few hours there (and ate the nastiest tuna sandwiches I have ever eaten in my life. I don´t think I can eat tuna for a long time... it tasted like cat food - I still maintain that we read the label wrong and it actually was catfood) and then we returned to our hostel. It took us less time to get back... about 3 hours there and 2 hours to get back. We spent our last day on the island at another beach closer to our hostel.
Now we are in Paraty, back on the mainland. It is a cute colonial town. We walked to the fort today and then explored the downtown area, which is completely paved in cobblestones. Excited to see what happens at night here.
I am learning a little bit of Portugese, which I speak very tentatively... as Amy is much better at it. Thank goodness that the Brazilian people are wonderful. So far they have been nothing but friendly. Taxi drivers always wave and give us huge smiles when they drop us off (hopefully this is not because they have just ripped us off) and hotel staff are always really sweet... even though we have no idea how to ask for the things we need. Cortney took a pillow with her to the front desk today and pointed to it and just said "otra?" They always get the general idea.
No comments:
Post a Comment