After our 4 days in Rio – it was time to move on – not because we had exhausted the city, but it is just so expensive to be there. We still were in the company of Steven and James and decided what better place to chill out (a little more) than the St Tropez of Brazil – a place called Buzios. It seems that many of the good people of Rio had exactly the same thought. After 4 hours on the bus and checking in to our slightly smelly (mainly fish) hostel we hit the beach. The beach was easily a mile long, but it was so busy people were almost setting up there towels and beach umbrellas in the water. There was a fair amount of surf and the sun was blazing down – the place was beautiful. We did not have our camera with us on the first day, so we don’t have any pictures of that hectic atmosphere, but on following days when we went down the sun was not as strong and there were not as many people on the beach so the intensity is lost, but you could see it was a happening place.
The town itself was a few km from the beach so we ended up catching a taxi in to town most evenings to have dinner – again little local food – I think we had Asian both nights. The town was as busy as the beaches were – but all night – the creperie in the middle of town was amazing – if you walked passed it at 4 in the afternoon it was just as busy as it was at 4 in the morning. Nicola and I retired early one evening – about 2 am and the boys went on to the local nightclub – Privelege – I think they enjoyed themselves (discretion being shown) and only rolled back to their beds at 06:30 the next morning. Then the weather took a turn for the worse and Buzios lost its shine – little to do but beach, so after James left to catch an early flight back to Dubai, Steve, Nicola and I jumped back on the bus for Rio and then straight on to the next bus for Angra Dos Reis – the port town for the ferry to Ilha Grande.
Ilha Grande is another Rio holiday spot – an island 90 minutes ferry (old Schooner)
ride from the mainland, where the peak of the island rises 1000m above sea level and there are no motor cars allowed. The island this time of year is packed – no spaces in any of the published hostels (only 2 of them) and we had had no luck pre-arranging accommodation prior to leaving Buzios, so we were winging it a bit. Our normal strategy for this is to plonk me down in a bar somewhere doing the important job of looking after the luggage whilst Nicola (a more discerning traveler) inspects all the potential options. We were lucky – as the weather had not improved a great deal since leaving Buzios few impulse tourists were there – we could not find anything really cheap, but with Steve sharing in a 3 bed room we did manage to find something for the first couple of nights. Very nice seafront view, warm shower, no smell of fish – everything we were hoping for.
Next morning we were up and at them – Nicola and I in Merrills and Steve in his flip flops to hike across the island to a beach (Lopes Mendes) that had been recommended to us by some Swedish travelers when we were in a hostel in Lima. What we had not factored in was how slippy the route had become following the recent rains. The 8km trek took us hours and I think we all hit the deck or came very close to it at some point. I think there is a video of Steve trying to traverse down a particularly slippy bit. Wildlife was relatively thin on the ground, but we did spot the largest worm ever, but the walk was great fun, good exercise and we were rewarded with another wild beach and plenty of sunshine.
Our 2 nights in the nice hotel was up, so again Nicola went searching for accommodation – this time after going to as many as 10 hotels/poussadas she came back with only on real option – an 8 bed dorm room – our first of the trip. The whole hostel was very nice (named - Bugjo), but trying to exist in a room built for 2 with 6 others is a struggle – people coming and going at all times, different levels of hygiene, new people moving in, concerns on security etc. We do as needs must, but it was just a surprise that the thing that was so difficult was the lack of space rather than anything else. With accommodation secured – we set upon our next trip. Kayaking around the island.
We had great hopes of taking the kayaks out all day – up to 6 hours, but with Nicola and I in a double and Steve in a single. Steve´s kayak was really light – which, with the swell and the action of paddling made it difficult to control and very tiring to do for any real length of time, so after about an hour paddling around the coast we decided to turn back. Again no pictures of us in the Kayaks – but another mini adventure. Plenty of pictures of Ilha Grande coast to give you and idea of how pretty it was.
Steve´s flight from Sao Paolo was in a couple of days and we needed to make some progress down to Buenos Aires at the end of the month to meet Jamie and Craig (very much looking forward to it), so we jumped back on the ferry and said our good byes.
Steve should have just landed in Dubai as I type this up and we are down in Foz do Iguazcu on the Brazilian/Argentinian/Paruguayan (?) border – thinking about what to do next.
Steve and James – it was great to hook up – I really enjoyed sharing Rio State with you and I look forward to seeing you on our way home later this year – in Dubai!
