Intro to Ilha Grande

After the last tender was stowed away, the ship left Cabo Frio and turned south, a heading it would maintain for the rest of the cruise. We sailed past Rio again that night and set a course for Ilha Grande (Big Island) which is located in the Bay of Ilha Grande.  Much to the satisfaction of my dear wife, the sea has been smooth for the past three nights and Mrs. Gym's tendency to seasickness has not been an issue. She commented to me that these inland waters were like Shuswap Lake in B.C. where the summer cabin is situated. We have even done some long loops into the deeper offshore water and the seas were still pretty calm. It rained off and on all day Saturday but the temperatures of the sea and the air were mild and the cloud cover helped white people like the author to not have to worry too much about an uneven application of sunscreen.

Just south of Rio in the big bay, we would make two consecutive stops, beginning with Ilha Grande. What makes this island interesting is that it is an accidental ecological preserve. The Atlantic Rainforest survived here because for years the island had two main purposes that sort of kept people away. The historic uses of the island discouraged development and saved a very rich ecosystem from elimination. What kept the developers and the environmental interlopers away? Well it seems they weren't interested in the island because the Portuguese used it as a leper colony and the place where a notorious prison (now closed) was established for the Brazil's worst convicts. That saved the day for what turns out to be a hotspot for red-buffed fruit crows, brown howler monkeys, red-browed amazon parrots and my favorite, the maned sloth. Now the island is a State Park with development restrictions and no cars are allowed. This place is a backpacker's haven and the residents include the Brazilian variety of our Vancouver Island-granola eating crowd.

After tendering into the largest settlement on the island, Villa do Abraao, we boarded another Schooner to explore the pristine shoreline of the island and to a find a good place to snorkel. Our guides were residents of the island and their message was, "Thank You, Mother Nature". Notwithstanding this strong statement, I really don't know if they were fervent environmental stewards or just good performers that knew that a bagful of U.S. dollars at the end of the excursion would keep them in cervejaria (beer) for a good long time. The guides kept us entertained though and were excellent hosts.

Guy, a resident of Ilhe Grande and our guide had quite a
personality. Check out  the hair. It is an 8-year old top-knot that is really long
and is folded multiple times into a rooster comb.

The house of a former President of Brazil is one of the few
developments
on the island

Blue Lagoon is where we snorkeled.
There were lots of fish but only a few species.
Even though we were south of Cabo Frio the water was warmer.

The jungle on the island had some surprises.
We understand that these trees are Manaca da Serra
in the Genus of Tribouchina and they can be pink and purple like the one shown below

OK we did not see a sloth but we did see this cool Black Vulture

the beach

Villa do Abraao

an island stream cutting through the beach to the sea

Following the schooner ride we walked around town a little bit and then boarded a tender and returned to the ship. I had hope that tomorrow would bring clearer skies. That night we looped out again into the deeper water but came back into the Bay of Ilha Grande to make another landing.