So we heard Ilha Grande was the place to go for beaches AND rainforest treks. Its only a few hours south of Rio, so we had to go. Unfortunately, as we arrived so did the rain and this is no ordinary rain. It rained so hard and non stop. Our attempt to trek across to the other side of island had to be abandoned after about 1hr. We realised that climbing back down the steep, steep path was likely to end up with us sliding down on our bums as the earth was becoming ...

A mere 3hrs west of Rio, we took a bit of chance coming here as there was v.little written about it in the Lonely Planet. The town itself was nothing special and neither was the hostel, which was empty of guests and expensive. Anyhow, the national park was definately worth it. A mixture of Atlantic rainforest, waterfalls and ice-cold pools. Stu went for a dip first and got straight out, and after a while of basking in the sun I couldn`t resist the temptation of ...

Yet another pretty town surrounded by miles of white sandy beaches and warm sea. This town is more touristy,with many boutique shops chic restaurants. Needless to say we munched at the cheaper stalls on Aceraja`s whilst drinking Skol, the local ceverza. We found a cool beach bar to hang out at and it has the cutest little doggy who will chase coconuts into sea all day long if I´d only find the energy to play with it that long. There is also a parrot who likes to...

After 14hrs and a mere five modes of transpot later we arrived at what is without arguement the most paradisical beaches both of us have ever seen, and that is saying something! Tourism is still in it´s infancy in Boipeba.There are no cars or roads, infact the general mode of transport is the wheelbarrow! The donkey is used for heavier loads. Finding somewhere to eat is pretty tricky here so we´ve been settling for tapiocas and beers from a street stall in the ...

Lencois is the REAL Brazil. We instantly loved it. It´s laid back, friendly and genuine, and is surrounded by the national park "Chapata diamonte". It´s brimming with waterfalls, pools and breathtaking treks. It was definitely time to get active and today we endured a 14km trek, without the advisory guide. None of the paths had signs and one can´t buy a map here (to keep the guides in business) so we relied on fellow trekkers that left the odd arrow ...