I decided to wait until the following day to head to Lopes Mendes, the most stunning beach on the island, and worth waiting for better weather. In the meantime, I thought I would try a boat tour. I arrived at an operator just in time to join a full-day tour and got a discount for paying with cash rather than credit, as you often do (illegally) in Brazil. While I waited for the agent to draw up my ticket, I sat at the front with the adorable dogs who had the run of the place.
My tour consisted of a Brazilian couple, a Brazilian family, an English couple, two Dutch girls and two crew members. We stopped first about a quarter of the way around the island at the picturesque Blue Lagoon. There, I made my first attempt at snorkeling. Silly as it may sound, I have always been afraid of fish, but that fear has lessened significantly since I sucked it up and snorkeled. I'm still afraid of the big ugly ones, but I've developed something of a fondness for the little colorful ones.
In any case, we proceeded onward to a spot where a helicopter had crashed some years before, and there we viewed the wreck through our snorkel masks. Then, we moved onto the Green Lagoon, which proved quite similar to the Blue Lagoon except for its pigmentation. The sun made a brief appearance, but not until I had already submerged, so I couldn't get pictures at that time.
After making another stop or two at small, rather unremarkable beaches, unaccountably featured on the itinerary, we docked for lunch, which we had pre-ordered from the boat. I ate with the English couple, whose company I enjoyed far more than the paltry, overpriced salad I received.
Shortly after reboarding the boat, the sky broke open, and forced us to skip the last stop. I had hoped to hike from the last beach to a nearby waterfall and then onto the town, but the downpour prevented me from doing so.
The English couple invited me to dine with them that night, and we had a lovely meal of moqueca (Brazilian fish stew) paired with wine. Although the storm had abated shortly after we'd returned from our day trip, it began afresh during our dinner, and soon we found ourselves watching a torrent flood the dirt roads of the town. As the Brits tried to figure out a way back to their hostel, I ran for mine, only a block away, and once again made it an early night.
By morning, the rains had ceased and the clouds had broken up to some extent, leaving patches of blue sky between them. I decided to try my luck at Lopes Mendes. I had intended to hike there through the jungle, but sadly, the previous night's precipitation prevented me. Large puddles still sat in the roads and the jungle paths were slick and dangerous. So I jumped aboard a launch and went over water. And I still enjoyed a 20-minute jungle hike in any case, since the boats dock one beach over and the only way to finally get to the beach is on foot. I didn't get to see any howler monkeys, but I certainly heard them. When I came through the trees, I glimpsed paradise. Perhaps not as glorious as it would have been on a truly sunny day, but beautiful nonetheless.
I wandered halfway down the blessedly lightly-populated shore and set up camp under the shade of a clump of palm trees. I chatted with a Chilean couple at the end of a tour and snapped photos of the tiny crabs that kept popping up from the sand to inspect me.
I ventured into the water a time or two and watched a group of guys, including my tourist agent from the previous day, surf, break a few boards, and then settle into a futbol game on the beach.
My tourist agent recognized me and invited me on a walk to the far end of the beach. He flirted with me, but when I turned him down, he was unperturbed and responded in a way that pretty much summed up the advances I had countered from Brazilian men so far: When I teasingly offered my assurance that he would find another gringo girl, he replied in all seriousness, "Oh, no. I'll have another girl tonight. I just wanted you." I had to laugh at his forthrightness.
By the time I had returned to my little camp, the time had come for my launch back to town, so I collected my things and headed to the rocks on the end of the beach near the entrance to the jungle. There, I took in the panorama and watched the water break against the walls of rock around the bend.
After a few mesmerizing moments, I trekked back through the jungle to the boat. I then returned to my hostel, grabbed my things, and headed back to the dock to catch the ferry back to the mainland.
After the ferry and the bus back to Rio, during which I witnessed a jaw-dropping sunset that I chose to enjoy rather than photograph, I accepted Mosquito's invitation to stay in his guest room for the night. He arranged to have a friend of his take me to the airport the next morning, so I was set.
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Location:Ilha Grande, Brazil
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