From Paraty we took a bus and then a pretty chilled out ferry to a place called Ihla Grande (translates to Big Island). This is a really cool island, very similar to Koh Phi Phi in Thailand since there are no cars allowed and it has a chilled backpacker vibe. But it is not as fake as Phi Phi because there are locals living on the island going about their daily business.

We reached the island in the afternoon and were keen to grab a quick bite before heading to the beach. We went to a "por kilo" restaurant which is basically a buffet so you help yourself to whatever food you want and then they weigh your plate and at the end and you pay for how many grams you've taken. They have these all over Brazil and are actually a great idea because you get your food quickly, you can try a bit of everything and you don't over eat. Since we didn't have enough time left to travel far to one of the nice beaches, Duda took us to a beach near to the village. Only it really wasn't that pleasant because it was so narrow there wasn't much room to sunbathe without getting wet and the sand had streaks of black tar in it. Of course the boys managed to purchase a football and got straight to business of playing 5-a-side. Unfortunately they were playing near a vendor who had set up a stall on the beach and Bryan kicked the ball onto his stall which opened a packet of crisps! The vendor failed to see the funny side of it and demanded a rip-off price of 5 reals for the crisps (a can of beer was only 3)! After this we had become disheartened in the beach and the girls (and Bryan) decided to go for a stroll to find the natural pool which was nearby.

After a short but steep walk uphill, and passing some cute looking monkeys, we came across the natural pool with a mini waterfall going into it. It was really tranquil and I was just preparing myself to have a dip into the icy waters for a cool down and a relaxing swim when the rest of the boys turned up and stormed in with their football! That evening we had a nice romantic candlit meal on the beach...for 17 people!

The next day I was pretty excited for a trek to a really nice beach. Our old guide, JP, had told us all about the two and half hour hike and it had been a while since I did any exercise. Well once again I was at the back of the group because it was a much harder trek than I had imagined. It basically involved climbing up a mountain to come back down again. When you're so hot and sweaty and you can't wait to dive in the sea, it was torture to find out you still have another 45 minutes of walking to do, when we had already passed 3 perfectly fine beaches on the way. Why didn't I take the taxi boat?!

The beach, Lopes Mendes, was apparently named one of the top 10 beaches in the world by Vogue. What they know about beaches I'm not sure but it was a really nice beach. The sand was white and the grains so fine it felt like flour under your feet. There were some pretty powerful waves which was good for surfing and fortunately the sun was out so we could all crisp up the appropriate amount. Although luckily there was also trees for shade because most people were still burned from the caipirinha boat and whilst I wasn't burned, the only suncream we have left is factor 50 so I preferred to alternate shade and sun instead of putting that on. A couple of the Brits decided to try their hand at surfing so they hired some boards. They walked off to a patch of beach where we couldn't watch them and laugh, so of course we followed them and laughed. Their mistake was going where the waves had already broken so they were never going to be able to catch a wave. Half an hour later and the three Aussies hired boards to show them up, proving my theory that all Aussies can surf.

Despite how much I enjoyed the trek to the beach, we were all in agreement to take a taxi boat back to our part of the island. We were all completely exhausted and almost falling asleep on the boat. That evening we were all geared up for a decent night out because it was Duda's birthday. We started off going to another all you can eat/drink BBQ and then the plan was to sit on the beach with a bonfire and an outside bar. The plan sort of fizzled out because the guys that were supposed to arrange it weren't there or were taking too long, I'm not entirely sure what happened but next thing I heard was that it had been cancelled so we wandered around looking for a club. Ilha Grande is not a party island like Koh Phi Phi and there really was nothing to do so most of us decided to call it a night.

It's a bit of a luxury to have more than 2 nights in one place, and even more so when we have a spare day. Most of the group had gone out snorkelling but we spent our final day pretty much just chilling out. We had a lie in for the first time in ages which was great, and we got a chance to catch up on the blogs. I really wanted to go back to some of the beaches we went past on our hike but since there wasn't much in the way of civilisation there we had to stay in the village so Bryan could watch football. In the late afternoon we strolled to one of the nearby beaches which was really great because the sea was so calm it barely moved and it was empty. It wasn't long before we realised we were sat on an ants nest and they were bloody big ants too! But they were just interested in their straight line towards some source of food and didn't bother us at all. I really wanted to watch the sunset but we were on completely the wrong side of the island for that.
That evening, we went out for dinner and it was so warm we were able to sit outside and eat. Oddly enough, Bryan's friend, Jess, who we met in Buenos Aires, was also in the island so he went to say hi while we waited for our dinner. After dinner we all sat on the porch of our hostel with some drinks and chatted before having an early-ish night ready for our bus the next morning.