seekingmygreaterperhaps

Oi gente! I made it to Ilha Grande, Brazil after Carnaval in Rio. I was very happy to be hanging with Robin and Priya during our time here. We took a shuttle down from Rio, and after some initial confusion, we made it to Ilha Grande! We stayed at Praia da Crena, which is a private beach across the harbor from Abraao. They have their own hourly taxi boat free to guests. We arrived in the evening, so when we made it to the hotel, we hunkered down, had dinner there, and stayed.

The goal of going to Ilha Grande after spending Carnaval in Rio was to relax, enjoy some nature and basically detox. Praia da Crena provided! The first full day we hung out at our hotel, enjoyed the beach, and rented water bicycles from a guy who sets up right there.

The water bikes were really fun. None of us had done them before, and they are more work than you might think. We rented them for an hour and discovered that we could, in fact, jump off of them and also get back on the bike. I am a water person and love all things water related, so this was really fun for me.

We did not luck out with weather while we were there. Our second day it poured rain… all day. I was so thankful to be with a group of people because we played cards and games at the hotel while we waited for it to pass. It didn’t pass that day. We also learned that the main town on the island, Abraao, lost power and was running on generators. The storm knocked out the power everywhere, which meant that also the internet wasn’t working. PIX is a payment method that is pretty much universal in Brazil (country-versal?), but it is hard to pay with it when the internet is down. We made do, but the power wouldn’t come back until our last day in Ilha Grande.

Our final day we went on a “passeio” on a boat. It’s essentially a party boat where you visit 5 different spots, take pictures, and drink all day. We lucked out and had a really great group of people we met on the boat.

Possibly embarrassing but I don’t have any pictures from the passeio itself. We stopped at 5 different “beaches” but they weren’t really beaches. They were shallow parts of the water where people could get out and swim around. There are many boats doing the same route, and they all stop at the same spots and dock together. I wouldn’t say it is for someone serious, but we definitely had a great time. We all practiced our Portuguese, Priya was the DJ, and we drank on a boat, I mean can you really complain?

^ This was taken at our lunch spot. I love a good hammock and Brazil has plenty. We split some fish dishes, which were very tasty and kept the party rolling with caipirinhas, as one does in Brazil.

At the end of the day, I had an acai caipirinha, which was a new flavor for me and it was absolutely amazing. The group of us all hung out in the water together and generally had a good time.

Each evening, we took the boat to the town of Abraao to eat dinner. A lot of the dishes are a set price for two people, so I’m really glad we could share! There is some incredible seafood to be eaten. The restaurants right by the docks are great, but if you walk a little bit in to the town, you will find other options that are very affordable as well as delicious.

Ilha Grande is one of these places where everyone who works at my school raves about going. Some people go back many times. For me, it was fine. Maybe because we had a pouring rain day and couldn’t go to one of the major beaches to see there, but it isn’t something that blew me away. My group did not do any of the hiking that you can do on Ilha Grande, so maybe that is the magical key? We talked about it, but with the rain, we thought the paths would be completely muddy and washed out and didn’t want to risk falling down the side of the mountain. It was definitely still a great place to visit, and we agreed that our hotel was the bomb. Overall, of course I am glad I got to see a beautiful place, and swimming in the ocean never disappoints.

Thanks for joining me!