I'm now off the coast of Sao Paola at the eponymous Ihla Bela or "Beautiful Island". Interesting place and I'm enjoying investigating what it has to offer. To get here it took a 4 hour drive from Sao Paolo before we came to the ferry stop that took 30 minutes of waiting in line in our car and then 15 minutes to cross over to the island. Ihla Bela is about 6km by 3km wide, 5km of the coastline and has in the region of 30 tropical beaches all spread around a number of spiky mountain tops covered in forest and clouds. It is a place where the rich of the rich come from Brazil to vacate and it received millions of tourists each year, most coming from Sao Paolo, Rio and Buenos Aires.
Today, we took the car along the north side of the island passing by about 8 different beaches. We decided to descend down a forest path with a small river covered in stones to get down to a tiny beach about 500 meters wide that was situated by a very small farm. Down there was 5 people already and an old women selling beer, water, sun tan lotion and crisps. It was an idyllic hideaway and across the water ways you could see two cruise ships in the water, a man paddling effortless on a kayak and some threatening rain clouds in the town of Sao Sebastian which was in the distance.
Today, we took the car along the north side of the island passing by about 8 different beaches. We decided to descend down a forest path with a small river covered in stones to get down to a tiny beach about 500 meters wide that was situated by a very small farm. Down there was 5 people already and an old women selling beer, water, sun tan lotion and crisps. It was an idyllic hideaway and across the water ways you could see two cruise ships in the water, a man paddling effortless on a kayak and some threatening rain clouds in the town of Sao Sebastian which was in the distance.
I immediately jumped in the warm water when I got the beach. On entry there was no cold sting just warm water. I stayed in there for 20 minutes flapping around in the brown green water with a few waves occassionally disturbing my mediation on the coconut trees and forest slopes that were all around.
After I came out of the water the guy who was kayaking had come ashore and was talking to Camila. He had rowed about 6km to get to the beach and was spear fishing for some local fist to eat. He too was from Sao Paolo, he ended up telling us all about the island, the types of dangerous snakes and spiders that exist in the centre of the island but no where near the beaches. He explained to us that a wind coming down from Rio was causing a certain type of small frequent bumpy wave that was hitting the west of the island today. He went into a lot of detail why Ihla Bela is famous all over the world for kite surfing and wind surfing due to its unique winds that are a regular feature of life on the island. From his colourful and passionate discriptions it was clear to see why so many people come here and it explained why we were seeing so many marinas with a huge variety of paddle boats and all types of powerful jet boats that were anchored in nearly every beach we saw. He went on to offer to catch some fish and cook for us and he gave us his address on the island where he has a house of his own. He gave me his flippers and snorkeling mask and insists I take them to explore some of the dives to the east of the island which I hope to do Monday. Nice guy.
Today we are also trying to book a boat ride to two of Ihla Bela's most famous beaches. We'll get up at 9am and come back at about 5pm. We'll go by boat but come back by jeep through the forest with a couple of dives in between. So far the best quote we got is about 150 reis which is about 60 euros which ain't too bad so we'll go with that. The jeep ride is supposedly worth all the money alone with a number of water fall stops also taking place where we can dip our toes. Only problem is that the weather is forecasted for rain which may scupper our plans.
One thing I noticed today as well is that a lot of Brazilians now have smart phones. This wasn't the case two years ago. The prices are still ridiculous. It is more costly for me to call Camila's mum's mobile from a Brazilian mobile phone then it is to call her from an Irish one. The prices are really high, and inter state additional charges exist. A lot of Brazilians have been travelling abroad in the last couple of years, especially to the US, and you now also see a lot of the latest iPads knocking around in beaches and in airports. The prices for normal day thinks have also gone up. I reckon about 15% since last I came here. That's a big jump. The economy is still doing well, and reminds me of 2005 back in Ireland. They've also this month officially surpassed Britan as the 6th biggest economy in the world.
Some of the other highlights so far:
-Watching a young man yesterday, maybe 20 years of age, playing Vivalidi on his violin for 20 minutes on rua de meio with tons of kids staring at him in awe like I was
-Visting the Irish bar on the island that was the first Irish bar i've visited abroad with no Guinnesss
-Climbing a mud hill to get up from a secluded beach and meeting a goat half way up who seemed to be kneeling down and watching beetles go by
-Looking at a man standing on a surf boat, fully upright, paddling out to his jet boat about 150 meters off coast.
-Drinking a fresh water melon smoothie with a plate of calebresa and incebola onions fried with some golden sizzlingly olive oil
-Eating freshly baked potato crisps on the side of the road with a coconut ice cream
-Listening to Brazil's answer to Christy Moore, Jorge Ben Jorge, singing "Moro em pais tropical" - I live in a tropical county, says it all really!
-Met the owner of the hotel we're staying in, 6ft -7 German man who worked from General Motors, didn't like it, when he met a Brazilian woman on holidays decided to come down here and live for good!
