Or ‘Big Island’ in Portuguese is, no surprise, a big tropical island off the eastern coast of Brazil. 2 hours drive and a boat ride from Rio, this island was originally used as a prison…a la Alcatraz. The main village Abraao, was the main jail. Across the island a second prison was built and a road between the two to transport prisoners. Now, the island is a tourist destination with no cars. The only way to get around is by walking (difficult in 30 something degree heat) cycling (even harder as it’s full of small mountains) or by boat. Small communities exist around the beaches, but the main population centre is based in Abraao. On the first day, we took a trek through the rainforest (it’s all rainforest or beach) to the old prison, crossing a natural pool and seeing a giant butterfly and ending on a beach with black sand. The second day involved an 11km trek to Lopes Mendes beach, suposedly the second most beautiful beach in Brazil. 11km is not fun when it’s constantly up and down mountains and you forgot your knee support, it’s baking hot and your skin is slightly on fire because you got a bit sunburned hiking in the favela (read a LOT sunburned) the trek crossed 3 beaches (joy every time one was reached, only to be told it wasn’t the right one) until finally arriving at Lopes Mendes, which is a very pretty beach really with some quite nice sea. We did see monkeys though, so that made the walk a little easier.
The third day brought an impromptu hike to a waterfall whilst on a shopping trip (Sharni and I bumped into George and we just went hiking in sandals and flipflops with hardly any water….silly really!) The 5km hike was mostly uphill….not really very easy especially as it was warmer than the previous day, but the reward at the end was a natural waterfall and cold water pool to cool off in (well, would have been if it wasn’t an impromptu hike where the hiker didn’t bring any swimwear) Walking back downhill was much easier (well, only 3 falls by the worlds most clumsy hiker)
All in all a very pretty island! At some point I may get used to this heat…..
Jennifer's Diary 