So after 12 crazy nights in Rio it was time to move on. Like every other backpacker who spent carnaval in Rio, we were joining the exodus and heading south to a tropical island a couple of hours from Rio. Ilha Grande is a mountainous island covered in tropical jungle with lots of fantastic beaches. We had a bit of a job finding somewhere to stay and ended up in a tented campsite which probably wasnt the best choice but it was hot and we were tired. On the plus side tents had matresses and were off the ground however they never cooled down in the stiffling heat so we didnt get much sleep. We had a bbq at the hostel and an early night so we could get up early to trek to some of the beaches accross the island. The next morning we made our from the port town up the mountains to reach our first beach. It was exhausting and extremely sweaty trekking in the tropical heat but the views over the bay from the top were worth the effort. We had a dip in the sea and a drink at our first beach before heading to our second beach. The second trek wasnt quite so bad so after another quick dip we headed to our final beach which was a massive surfers beach with clear blue water, white sand and crashing waves. After a few hours enjoying the peace we decided not to be so adventurous as to walk back and hopped on a boat back to the port. As we came round the mountain we got to see the sun set from the boat and then ate dinner on the beach to end off a great day.

We left the island fairly early the next day to go to a colonial town called paraty a couple of hours further south. Its another beach town surrounded by islands with great beaches and places to snorkel so we headed out on a boat tour to get to some of the best beaches nearby. We stopped at four beaches and got time to swim with the thousands of zebra fish that inhabit the waters there. The old town is also really beautiful with cobbled streets and no cars so we had a bit of a wonder through and had a drink or two. Our hostel was really chilled and was on a river which led into the sea a little further down. After another chilled day we found we couldnt leave for sao paulo the next day so we had another day to kill. We booked ourselves onto a jeep tour which visited a few waterfalls and sounded really nice. The jeep was a bit more like a kart and the driver was completely mental, using a broomstick handle to engage gears through a hole into the engine! We pulled up at our first stop and had to climb through boulders and the dried up river bed to get to the waterfall. Unfortunately Nick fell over on the way his ankle swelled up to the size of a baloon, but he insisted it didnt hurt so we went on. When we got there we had to wade through the river with our bags to get to a rock from where we slid down the waterfall into a pool below (videos to follow). It was a little scary but once we got into it we only stopped when we realised that we were scraping our bottoms on the rock and couldnt sit down anymore! Our guide threw himself off a rock into the pool but we werent quite that daring. Next stop was another waterfall to slide down. This one looked a little more gentle but was just as fast. The crazy locals (our guide included) there actually run at the waterfall then slide down standing up. Its pretty terrifying to watch and one group of male tourists decided to have a go until one of them fell over and cracked their head open on the rock. We then disappeared behind a waterfall sitting in a little cove behind the rocks. Next stop was cachaça tasting, cachaça is the brazillian local spirit made from sugar cane and is pretty strong, we all turned our noses up at the oak aged ones but quite liked the licquors. Finally we went to our last waterfall where we swam in the lagoons and had a massage under the thundering waterfalls. So then our whistle stop beach tour was over and we were off on the night bus to sao paulo