It was cloudy and overcast when we got up today so we decided to make the trip to Ilha Grande. Ilha Grande is an island off the coast of Brazil that is only accessible by boat. Apparently it used to be a prison, not a bad place to be if you're a criminal!
Things in Paraty seem to run on their own time, so an hour and half after our supposed departure time the van arrived to pick us up. We got dropped off at the dock where we took a zodiac style boat to the island. On the bus trip we met an older couple (sorry mom they were older than me but younger than you) that were at the tail end of a 9 week vacation around South America. They spent some time in Peru and did the Inca Trail so they gave me some pointers about that, they also had done some volunteering helping to build an orphanage. They had some amazing stories about this trip, and previous trips they had been on. On the boat ride we met a younger couple (my age, I think I'm still young) who quit their jobs in July and have since been travelling through central and South America. They have yet to book return flights home and figure they have enough money to last until the end of January....now there's a brilliant idea :)
Once we arrived on the island we went for a walk to the black beach and to check out the ruins of the old jail. Wandered around town and checked out some shops. Tomorrow we are hoping for sun so we can go check out one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.