After thouroughly enjoying Carnaval in Rio we had to get out of there. Unlike other, more traditional, Catholic locations, Carnaval in Rio doesn't end on Ash Wednesday. It keeps going through the following weekend!
We needed a change of pace in order to get ourselves back to 100%. On Thurday, we caught a bus/ferry combination from Rio and landed on Ilha Grande. First impressions were good! The area around the pier reminded us of a smaller, tropical version of Avalon, Catalina.
Ilha Grande is just one of many islands in the bay about 3 hours south of Rio de Janeiro, but it supposedly houses some of Brazil's most beautiful beaches. There is an extensive network or hiking trails to get to the majority of beaches, but there are quite a few that are only accessable by boat.
Friday, was Brandon's 28th birthday and the sun, FINALLY, decided to make an appearance. We celebrated by spending the day at a beach called Lopes Mendes...some say that this is THE most beautiful beach in Brazil. To get there, we took a 45 minute boat ride and then hiked another half hour on rain soaked trails. It was quite a bit slippery in parts. Only armed with Havaianas and our agility, we traversed some serious mud holes. There was sufficient evidence that not everybody makes it our with both of their flip flops, but those who conquered the mud hole were rewarded with a fine white sand beach.
We needed a change of pace in order to get ourselves back to 100%. On Thurday, we caught a bus/ferry combination from Rio and landed on Ilha Grande. First impressions were good! The area around the pier reminded us of a smaller, tropical version of Avalon, Catalina.
Ilha Grande is just one of many islands in the bay about 3 hours south of Rio de Janeiro, but it supposedly houses some of Brazil's most beautiful beaches. There is an extensive network or hiking trails to get to the majority of beaches, but there are quite a few that are only accessable by boat.
Friday, was Brandon's 28th birthday and the sun, FINALLY, decided to make an appearance. We celebrated by spending the day at a beach called Lopes Mendes...some say that this is THE most beautiful beach in Brazil. To get there, we took a 45 minute boat ride and then hiked another half hour on rain soaked trails. It was quite a bit slippery in parts. Only armed with Havaianas and our agility, we traversed some serious mud holes. There was sufficient evidence that not everybody makes it our with both of their flip flops, but those who conquered the mud hole were rewarded with a fine white sand beach.
We spent the day working on our tans and checking out the scene. When the clouds rolled in we decided to call it a day. We headed back, cleaned ourselves up, and had a birthday feast of some delicious gourmet pizza.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRANDON!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRANDON!
1 comment:
I just traded in my old pair of rainbows. They had traveled so far and been with me during the best expediences. I'd like to write a poem to my sandals. Maybe I'll do that today.
I would have rocked the rainbows, but the havianas can hang.
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