Ilha Grande

Hi friends and family,

We weighed anchor in Rio last night at about 6PM. Even though it is summer down here, we are fairly close to the equator, so it was already getting dusk by then. Sunset was at 6:21 pm. 

It was a beautiful evening to leave port. It was also formal night on the boat, so everyone was dressed in their finest. In days past, this would have been a black tie tuxedo night for men, but not that many men bring a tux with them anymore, so the black tie is optional. 

Dinner board is always a five course affair with many options to choose from.  But the formal night is generally even more special, with lobster and filet mignon as dinner options. 

We chose the early dining option for this cruise, so out seating was at 6 pm. I believe the second seating is at 8:30. You don't have to eat in the main dining room if you don't want to. There are several other smaller venues to choose from. 

One nice thing is that the dinner serving size is fairly small, at least by American standards. You can have all five courses and not feel like you are going to sink the ship with your extra ballast!

You can of course have as many entrees as you want, if for some reason you aren't satisfied with what is offered. That is hard to imagine! There is no extra charge for the liquor, so it would be possible to get carried away if you aren't careful.

For some reason we are going to cruise all night to go just a few miles around the coast.  As we understand it, the only reason for doing this is so that we can get outside  of Brazilian waters so they can open the casino! Which, of course, they did as soon as we were twelve miles out.  

We cruised all night, arriving at our next port-of-call, Ilha Grande, at about 8 pm the following morning. 

Ilha Grande means "Big Island" in Portuguese. We made it a point to wake  early so that we could get on one of the first tenders to shore. 

In case we hadn't discussed tenders before, they are actually life boats. Not the old Titanic style rowboats though - these are all weather, completely enclosed versions. They won't capsize, and you can't overload them.

The above picture shows a tender passing in front of our ship. Taking the tender ashore also gives you a chance to become familiar with them if you ever should need to use them in an emergency. Each one holds over a hundred people. 

Fortunately for us, it has cooled off from the 100 degree weather Brazil had been having last week, but it is still pretty hot -around 90 degrees.  And quite humid for those of us who are used to the more dry climes. The tenders are not air conditioned either, so they can get fairly uncomfortable. 

On the way in, we saw a variety of boats in the little harbor. Sailboats, power boats, tour boats, and canoes. It reminds us of the harbor at Catalina Island off the coast of California.

 

Ilha Grande is beautiful, but it is also quite poor. There are small stores and pousados (I think that's the correct spelling - like a bed and breakfast) packed pretty tight and running a half mile or so along the beach in both directions from the dock. The town is only two streets deep. Needless to say, it didn't take us very long to explore the area. 

We debated with each other the various pros and cons of living on an island like this. It is poor, somewhat run down, with limited amenities. Would the beauty and simplicity of living here be overshadowed by the lack and the want?  You will have to draw your own conclusions, of course. 

This island has 102 beautiful beaches on it. However, since there are no roads on the island and no cars or other motorized transportation) allowed on, you have to either hike through the jungle (yes, there are poisonous snakes there!) or take a boat to get to almost all of the beaches. 

Most of the island has been set aside as a park and a UNESCO heritage site because of the biodiversity and the pristine beauty of the area. 

Why is it still so pristine 300 years or more after its discovery? Because for over a century, it was a penal colony and a leper colony. Think of the movie Papillon, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Actually, they just recently decommissioned (and blew up) the prison in the 1990's. 

Early in the afternoon, we traded the scenic (but hot) island for a tender ride back to the ship and an afternoon stretch class. 

A nice dinner and a show (ventriloquist and comedian) rounded out the evening. 

Hope all is well back in the states. More tomorrow!

With love,

David and Karen