A short minibus trip and speed boat in the dark and we landed at Ilha Grande which boasts one of Brazil's most beautiful beaches.....hurrah! After a shakey start in an unfinished hostel we settled into our new fully constructed room, we spent the next four days doing very little indeed! The island is amazing, all white beaches, turquoise water and rainforest covered mountains that run down to the sea......bliss after the madness of Rio!

Decided to trek to the famous Lopez Mendes beach, a decision made when we failed to catch the water taxi after a night playing cards with some Brazilian naval officers on shore leave for the evening (how random?) The trek was meant to be ninety minutes but took much much longer and obviously we were totally ill-prepared for steep mountain climbing in flip flops. Poor Katy was sick twice and nearly turned back but we finally reached the Beach......... feeling a little bit like Leonardo Di Caprio. Highlight of the walk was spotting two live snakes including a giant five foot yellow and black striped monster. This is the Atlantic Rainforest after all.

Next day we took a relaxing island trip on a schooner for a spot of snorkelling at the blue and green lagoons.....hmmm spot on.

Spent most of our evenings dining on fish BBQ, drinking Chopp beer and wistfully admiring the late night cake cart!

Now heading down the coast by bus towards Buenos Aires for some mucho needed Spanish lessons......

Adios