This island is BIG: Ilha Grande

With another 5 day weekend this past week, we had been discussing places to travel for weeks. First it was the Amazon, then the Pantanal, than Minas Gerais, than Búzios, and we finally decided on Ilha Grande two days prior. On Thursday, we literally woke up, drove to the bus station and looked for bus tickets to head the 3 hours south to the point where we can catch the ferry over to the island.

The history of Ilha Grande is pretty interesting. First, it was a pirate hideout, then a place to smuggle slaves. Then it became a leper colony because ships would drop off their contagious passengers on the island and leave them. Next, a prison was built to house criminals. Because of it’s tumultuous past the island still does not have much development to this day. Many people are wary of building in a place with such a dark history. I didn’t find it dark at all, in fact, it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.

Me and seven others arrived at the island close to dusk without a place to stay for the evening. Luckily, William, a French ex-pat who started a hostel 6 years ago met us and coerced us into the jungle with him to his cute little hostel. We had a whole cabin to ourselves… well, expect for the killer mosquitoes. We ended up sleeping three to a bed under a mosquito net and STILL managed to get eaten alive.

The next day we still had no plans, and set out for the only town on the island (consisting of about 2 streets). The only things existing on these streets are hostels, restaurants, and tourist companies. Luckily for us, that is all we needed. It wasn’t long before we were approached by a hostel worker who told us about a boat cruise that was leaving in an hour that would stop at 3 different beaches and 2 lagoons. A live band and free food and drinks were all he had to say. We were there. The rest of the day we spent jumping off the top deck of our 2-level pontoon boat, dancing to the Argentinean rock music the band was playing, and swimming in the crystal clear water. We had an absolute blast.

The next morning it was raining very hard, and we didn’t know what to do. We ended up hanging out at our hostel until mid-day when the rain stopped, and then heading down to the beach to take a water taxi to the most famous beach on the island, Lopes Mendes. Lopes Mendes beach was ranked one of the Top 10 Beaches in the World one year, a fact that you hear from every local’s mouth. To get there, you have to take a boat about 30 minutes from the town and then hike another half hour or so. The only problem was, we didn’t know about the hike part and one of our friends had a nearly broken ankle. The short hike turned into nearly an hour while Johannes hobbled up the steep hills aided by a makeshift crutch bamboo stick.

The beach was better than I expected! I spent the whole day watching the ocean because I was too scared of the massive waves to get in. We also relived our childhoods by jumping around and climbing all of the rocks in sight. Overall, it was a great trip and I hope to return on a weekend with better weather to spend more time there.