I’ve just spent one week on Ilha Grande, a paradise-esque island off the Brazilian coast just south of Rio. The island only has one road, hardly any vehicles and no ATM. The most populated area of the island is Vila do Abraão and from there the best beaches are a hike or a boat ride away. 

We learned that the locals are fighting against the privatisation of the middle of the island, which is currently wild, when the Olympic torch came last Thursday morning. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the event and it was clear that the islanders were supportive of the torch bearers but at the same time they staged a protest – it was a strange buzz! 

For the first few days I explored the trails and slept on the beaches – finally getting a bit of a tan! On Monday morning I did a sunrise hike to the highest point of the island with Shane and Ailbhe, my brother and his girlfriend. We started at 2.30am and reached the top at 5.15am. The hike in the dark was very cool and every now and again the guide got us all to turn off our headlamps and take in the night time properly. The sunrise was pretty spectacular and as day broke monkeys all over the island started roaring. It sounded like we were in Jurassic park! We hiked back down and I resumed sleeping on the beach for another day. 

On Tuesday we went scuba diving at the Blue Lagoon. Visibility wasn’t great but we saw a turtle and some weird purple urchins. It was a good day out if a little nippy in between dives. 

We had lunch at Lua & Mar on the beach when we got back in and everyone’s fish dishes looked and smelled amazing. My rice and beans were very delicious 🙂

We had cooked most of our meals since getting to the island so on our last night we went out to Dom Mario as recommended by our sunrise hike guide and it didn’t disappoint. The portion sizes were obscene! 

We spent the full week at the Biergarten hostel which I’d definitely recommend. By far the cleanest and comfiest hostel I’ve been in so far. 

So, after a week of relaxing in paradise we have boated and bussed it to Rio where we will be residing in a very nice Air Bnb beside Ipanema beach for the next 6 days. I’ve just been out for a run and the place is buzzing for the Olympics. Very excited for Friday!