No pain, no gain

We arrived on Ilha Grande in a totally improvised way. The bus to Angra dos Reis was late and left us with no ferry to get to the island. It was 8 pm and we didn't like the idea to remain in that fishermen-town knowing that a tropical paradise was so close to our reach. The Brazilian way has it that in difficult circumstances everybody comes together in a spirit of mutual help. And so, everybody started to talk, to check options and possibilities...We managed to find a fisherman with a relatively small boat who was going to Araçatiba and we got on while the tropical rainfall started to become heavier. What an experience! Our backpacks were luckily the driest thing on the whole boat, but the four of us had to stay in the rain for almost one hour and a half. We got TOTALLY soaked and none of us got sick! :P Personally, I was already surprised that I didn't feel any sea-sickness...there was probably no time to feel sick as the main thought was that of surviving the rainy trip without passport and money getting wet and unusable.

On our way we could only spot some distant lighthouses and some shapes of near small islands. When we got closer to the island, a big, high volcano-shaped thingy welcomed us to Ilha Grande. We arrived in total dark, crossed a river and walked up until our chalezâo with the only help of our flashlights. Although back then it felt sort of impossible, now I can say it was totally cool!

It rained for almost three days without stopping for a single minute. We enjoyed this strange tropical summer chit-chatting and drinking local beer, playing some weird Brazilian card game, which is all about bluffing, and imaging what the island could look like beyond the fog that was all around us. We passed New Years Eve drinking champagne, listening to the rain and watching the fireworks in Rio de Janeiro on tv until the power went off...since then, we never had electricity again!

On the morning of January 1st, hundreds cicada's (cicale in italian, cigarras in portuguese) woke us up with a sort of intergalactic sound. Amazing. According to the island inhabitants, that particular sound means that after the storm the sun is finally coming...We couldn't believe it! Because of all that rain that seemed to never end we almost gave up to the idea we could ever go to the beach and lay in the sun.

Vox populi was right. The sun came and it was stronger than ever. Ilha Grande is amazing. Its tropical vegetation is dense and compact, big high palm trees are everywhere with their cute green coconuts, there are plants of every kind and an immense all surrounding green everywhere. The sea was calm and the water still warm and very enjoyble. The sand red, yellow and even white. Small villages, colourful houses, sleepy boats. What a view. Totally beautiful. It took me few minutes to realize that I was finally on that tropical island I longed for during winter in Europe. The sun finally was on my skin! I loved it!

Maravilhosas praias vermelhas, Ilha Grande, Brasil