From Paraty we drove 2 hours to the small town of Angra dos Reis to catch a boat over to Ihla Grande. The sky was still overcast so we were crossing our fingers the next day it would clear up! Once on the island we checked into our hostel, El Misti, which was a block away from the beach and main shops. The main town on Ihla Grande is Abraão which is basically only two streets long! It's a really lovely town though with a gorgeous white sand beach, boardwalk and view of other smaller islands across the water. After a quick grocery shop we made dinner, chatted with our new roommates and made plans for the evening. Our hostel offered a free caipirinha at check in, Brazils national drink. You can't turn down a free drink - but we wish we had! Caipirinha's are very strong, they are just ice, limes, sugar and cashaça (sugar cane alcohol) mixed together in a large glass. Very similar to a tequila shot you are forced to drink slowly through a straw! Afterwards we had a few drinks on the beach and then went to a party at another hostel.
The next morning we awoke to bright sunshine and blue skies. Yay! We set off early on a hike to Lopez Mendez, the famous beach on Ihla Grande. The hike was extremely hot but was well worth it. Before we got to the main beach we came across four smaller beaches that we stopped to take a dip in. The water was refreshingly cool. When we got to Lopez Mendez 2 hours later we were both amazed by what we saw - an amazing white sand beach fringed by palm trees straight out of the pages of a travel magazine. The sand was so fine it squeaked beneath your toes when you walked on it. There were quite a few people surfing which was fun to watch. We spent the afternoon playing in the surf and soaking up some sun.
The next morning we walked a short loop trail near the town that took us to some nice beaches and to an elaborate archway aqueduct. We didn't check the sign closest before we started a side trail to a waterfall and what we thought would be 20 minutes was actually a three hour round trip. Thankfully the view along the way from a ridge up on the island was definitely worth it! That afternoon when we got back we went shopping for a while and had the lovely surprise of running into our friend Hannah who we didn't know would be on the island! For dinner we went with her to a really nice buffet and then called it an early night.
Our ferry the next day left at noon so we spent our last morning soaking up the sun on a beach close to our hostel but away from the boats. There is nothing more relaxing than floating in the ocean looking up at a blue sky! We were both very sad to leave, but very excited to get to Rio de Janeiro!
-Lisa
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