After an initial culture shock and the following acclimatization in São Paulo, I took a 4-hour bus along the cost that would bring me close to the first stop on my little island hopping tour: Ilhabela.
Before reaching the island though, I got off the bus in Boiçucanga, a little beach town an hour south of the island, where I would stay with my couch surfing host Carlos. His place was not exactly located in the most central location one could imagine, but this little wifi- and signal-free jungle home of his – ten minutes by car on a dirt road away from the town -, turned out to be just what I needed to recover from the little cold I caught in SP. For that, it also came in handy that Carlos outed himself as a pharmacist, once I had started whining about my sore throat. After my miracle recovery, roughly 10 hours of sleep each night, some beach relaxation on Ilhabela, good homemade food, my first self-made Tapioca, some offline time and a giant avocado dream come true, it was time to say thank you to Carlos for hosting and taking care of me for three nights, and travel on to my next destination.
Parati got recommended to me as a beautiful beach town, filled with a lot of history and stunning picture opportunities in the old town. And after arriving from São Sebastiao around midday, the town turned out to be nothing less than exactly that. The endless photo sessions already started when I got to my host Raphaella’s picturesque little apartment and made the acquaintance of her housemates Cachorro and Lombriga (her two little cats, “dog” and “worm”). Raphaella, who usually works as a photographer on one of the many sightseeing boats that line the harbour of Parati, took her day off and managed to smuggle me into her workplace as a photography trainee. We spent an amazing day swimming, tanning and of course, taking loads of pictures. And the fact that it was all for free – thanks to Raphaella – left me with enough spare change for a delicious Açai bowl for dinner at Manuê, a wonderful cafe that nobody who’s ever visiting Parati should miss out on. Speaking of which: in my opinion, nobody who ever visits the south of Brazil should miss out on Parati. It’s a beautiful little city with the perfect size to just walk around all day, stroll the cobble stone streets of the marvelous old town, have some delicious treat at Manuê, go on an island hopping tour on one of the boats, or just enjoy the scenery along the river, which even makes you feel a little like being in Venice. And again, I would like to thank Raphaella for the amazing time and care, for introducing me to “Bobo de Frango” – yet another delicious manioc creation – and the “Brownie in a bowl with passion fruit mousse” at Manuê, the great company, and probably some of the most beautiful and memorable pictures of my entire Brazil trip.
From Parati, it was only a two-hour local bus ride to Angra dos Reis, the departure point of the ferry to Ilha Grande. Still happy about my experiences in Parati and all excited about the upcoming days on what is said to be one of the most beautiful islands in all of Brazil, I made my way to the ferry and soon got pulled back into harsh reality. A dock that smelled like a public toilet, ATMs that claimed my credit card that I had used all this time to be “invalid”, sketchy looking alleys, and even worse than that, a lack of fellow backpackers! Where were all my backpacking friends at? Alone on a crappy ferry with only locals shipping tons of plastic bags filled with food and convenience goods to the island was not exactly my idea of some relaxed beach days with other young and fun travelers. Luckily, I quickly realized that my anxiety attack had kicked in only 10 minutes early, when I met Susi and Robby from England. This really seemed to turn into my lucky day after all, since they also happened to have booked the same hostel as me: Sitio Green Hostel – just another one of my accommodations in the middle of the jungle. And that’s how Susi, Robby and I became partners in crime for our time on the island. We had some delicious fish dinner on our first night, great late-night-hammock-talks at the hostel, went on a beautiful hike through the forest and along some beaches and, even though the weather change was not really in our favor, made the best of our time on Ilha Grande. It was a bit unfortunate that the rain surprised us right when we wanted to make our way back from the famous “Lopes Mendes Beach” (rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world by TripAdvisor), which had already been a surprisingly stormy experience itself. Since we had not packed any clothes for that kind of climate change, we arrived at the hostel soaking wet and freezing cold. Nothing that a long warm shower couldn’t fix, but it did make us leave the island one night earlier than planned. Nonetheless, we had a great time on Ilha Grande, which – with its car-free environment – really spread a nice island vibe, and I’m happy I got to spend the little time I had with yet again some amazing people.
Finally, some travel advise and “in a nutshell”-practical information for all of you planning to visit the south of this amazing country:
- Ilhabela is pretty, but also very touristy & pricy:
– Driving along the coast to São Sebastiao, where the ferry for Ilhabela leaves, is absolutely gorgeous and it’s great to see all the beautiful beaches along the way.
– However, I perceived Ilhabela itself as a quite touristic and overpriced place with beaches where one sun-umbrella touches the next. Additionally, you have to pay for the ferry and a parking spot, if you want to park close to the beach, and food and drinks are very expensive.
– Especially, if you don’t have a lot of time, I think Ilhabela is a stop that can be skipped.
If you still want to go, São Sebastião can comfortably be reached by bus:
– Around 5h from SP
– Bus leaves at the Tietê bus terminal in São Paulo
– I went with “Litorânea” and would definitely recommend it (functioning wifi on board)
– I booked my ticket online via “buscaonibus.com.br”; choose the provider “Brazil Bus Travel”, which is the foreigners version of “Quero Passagem”
– Costs: ~€17
– In São Sebastião you can simply buy a ticket for the ferry, which leaves very frequently
- Parati is absolutely gorgeous and you should definitely not miss out on it!
– 3h bus ride from São Sebastião
– Only leaves at 9am or 10pm
– Website: see above
– Costs: ~€14 - Ilha Grande is a very beautiful island and the perfect place to spend some relaxing days in between the big-city-sightseeings
– A local bus leaves Parati every 30-40min from the main bus station
– Roughly 2h to Angra dos Reis, where the ferry for Ilha Grande leaves
– Costs: ~€4
– The ferry leaves Angra at 3:30pm (1:30pm on the weekend) and takes 1.5h
– Costs: ~€4,50
– Hostel recommendation on Ilha Grande: Sitio Green Hostel (€10)
First stop – Boiçucanga:
Gorgeous Parati:
Last stop – Ilha Grande:
lenacatherine 
I’ll keep this in mind for when I inevitably go there!
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Let me know if you need any further tips or recommendations :)
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