Day 12 Ilha Grande, Brazil

Ilha Grande is our stop today. This town is very similar to Paraty only not nearly as big of a historical area. We made a short tour around town and headed back to the ship for lunch. After lunch Curt and I decided to go back and hire a water taxi to take us down the coast to a small beach named the Blue Lagoon. Once there we hiked up to a small waterfall. It was a short hike of maybe of maybe ¾ of a mile. We were lucky that it was overcast so there was no sun and we did not encounter any bugs. Nonetheless, we were sweating from every pore on our bodies. We spent a little time on the beach after the hike before our ride returned to take us back to the pier so we could take our tender back to the ship. It was nice to get out and walk and see some of the flora of the area. Chris – Now this town was much more of a beach town without the quaintness that we saw yesterday. There were lots more t shirt shops and surfing shops. We didn’t stay but an hour or two but it was fun to see where the populace from San Paolo vacation when they want to go to the beach… I can’t imagine how long it would take to get to ANY beach town given how long it took just to get OUT of San Paolo. Ilha Grande is considered a national treasure, with lots of it virtually untouched by humans. One of the last protected remnants of the Atlantic Rainforest, it is home to a rich and diverse ecosystem, including some of the largest remaining populations of endangered species in the world. The waters surrounding Ilha Grande are also protected so there is a very rich diversity of fish here. Most of Ilha Grande is undeveloped and there are no roads, let alone cars there. I7 What Paul failed to mention was Curt and his account of how the women were dressed (or not) on the beaches on their “hike”. Curt and Paul regaled us with their descriptions of the different shapes and sizes of women’s butts and that they believe that women have “butt prints” much like figure prints. Apparently thongs aren’t just for underwear…who knew???