Beaches of Southern Brasil

October 6-12, 2007

So we got our first taste of low priced, luxury South American buses as we travelled south to Isla Grande.

Some say the most beautiful beaches in Brazil are on this island, the pick being Lopes Mendes. We obviously haven´t seen enough of Brazil´s beaches to comment but this is one of, if not the most beautiful beach in the world for us. White sand, so fine that it squeaks beneath your feet. Studded with palm trees offering cooling shade and backed by thick jungle. Crystal clear, aqua blue, warm(ish) water which turns into big surf occasionally but for us offfered small, playful waves. Monkeys and not too many people, if you´re not there during peak tourist season which we weren´t.

We did the two hour jungle walk there and back from our hostel and saw monkeys that came right up to you, unaffraid and unthreatening. We saw black squirrels, lizards, all sorts of birds including hummingbirds and walking along the beach one day we also spotted dolphins jumping around the surf.

Our second visit to Lopes Mendes we took a boat and Davo hired a surf board to carve up some waves. It was surreal to be paddling out there watching sea birds dive and catch fish and just to take in that I was surfing in Brazil. Not quite as surreal though as having a havaiana thong float up to me in the surf. Only in Brazil.

The one Brazilian word important to know on the island was ¨tranquillo¨. It was very chilled and laid back. We spent a couple of evenings teaching Fi to play chess. Sipping on cold Sol beers and nibbling on fried calamari or pay by the kilo meals were other favoured pass times. There were multiple local guys pulling around big trollies filled with very good looking desserts of which we tasted a few, careful to choose desserts that were nut free.

Our next destination was Isla do Mel, a bit further south. We caught a ferry, taxi, bus, metro, bus, train, bus and another ferry to get between the two islands, crazy times. We had to pass through Sao Paulo, a massive city which from most reports is good to pass through. The train journey we took between Curitiba and Paranaguá is the best in Brazil according to our guide book and we took in some stunning views of mountains covered in jungle.

Isla do Mel was a more deserted version of Isla Grande. At least it was for a few days and then they decided to have a public holiday in Brazil and the 106 bed hostel we planned to stay in went from having 6 people to being booked out. We spent our time walking along the big, peaceful beaches, over the rocks and through the jungle. Part of the walk involved climbing over rocks on the waters edge. At high tide during big surf it can be a dangerous place to cross. So to avoid being swept out to sea, after narrowly avoiding sudden death a week earlier, we had to hack our way through jungle on higher ground. Lots of fun.

A group of three Poms who had just started an around the world trip decided to hang out with us for a few beers. We were staying at opposite ends of the island and despite our warnings of the last boat leaving at about 5.30pm they decided to hang around until it was completely dark and they had spent their last bit of money on beer, without eating. They had no torches, not even a camera or a phone to offer some light. There was no moon and even if there was the clouds were hiding it. We gave them a dose of mozzie repellant and a map, not that they could read it and joked about getting their mums´ email addresses so we could let them know that their boys loved them and to apologise for their stupidity so early into their trip. They set off of the one and a half hour walk through the jungle, along the beaches and over the rocks. The one thing going for them was that it was low tide. We were catching the same boat back to the mainland the following day and looking forward to hearing about the journey, but they never showed up. End of story! And we never got their mums´ email addresses!

We encountered more wildlife, un-fortunately some of it was dead and washed up on the beach including the sea turtle being fed on by large scavenging birds, (fortunately not including any washed up Poms... surely they´ll be fine!) Some of the wildlife we encountered happened to be reptilian, big iguanas, much to Fi´s disappointment.

The hords of Brazilian tourists rocked up for the long weekend but we like the island more when it was quiet so decided to take an early departure to Foz do Iguaçu.