On my last day on Ilhabela, I took a ride up to the town of Vila Ilhabela with Paul, a Dutch guy who arrived at my hostel the night before.
I spent a lot of time with the people I met in the hostel on Ilhabela, bonding after the bank robbery our first night. Ben, a Canadian, and Esmee and Julie, from Holland, went on a jeep tour with me to a nice beach on the Atlantic side of the island.
On June 3, 2014 I was on the Brazilian island of Ilhabela. In the middle of the night, I experienced a real Brazilian bank robbery complete with bombs and guns. I wrote a story about it and was very fortunate to have it edited and dramatized by the one and only Roman Britons. Visit his blog for the original post! This is a true story! Enjoy…
Ilhabela translates to “Beautiful Island”. That is a correct description of Brazil’s third largest island, located just a few hours from São Paulo. It’s a popular weekend getaway for Paulistas with some incredible beaches, hiking trails, and waterfalls. One warning – bring lots of bug spray. The mosquitoes and flies are brutal!
There isn’t much to see or do in Ubatuba. There’s the Ubatuba Aquarium (Aquário de Ubatuba) which is an aquarium geared towards children, and the headquarters of an organization that protects sea turtles in Brazil, Projeto Tamar. In addition, it’s possible to visit a local Caiçara community. The Caiçara are people of mixed Portuguese and indigenous descent who have been living a traditional life for nearly 400 years.
Ubatuba is Brazil’s self-proclaimed surfing capital. This laid-back beach city with a funny name and some of the most spectacular beaches in Brazil gave me the opportunity to live a surfer’s life for a few days. I never actually got out into the water to surf, but I had a great time in a house full of surfers.
On a small hill just outside of the historic town of Paraty sits Fort Perpetual Defender (Forte Defensor Perpétuo), the site of a 19th century fort. The road to the fort is a dirt path that’s a short, pleasant walk through a forest. The walk to the fort provides decent views of the UNESCO World Heritage city of Paraty.
While visiting the UNESCO World Heritage city of Paraty, the attraction is the old town itself. There are no must-sees and must-dos. Just walking up and down the cobblestone streets past colorful colonial buildings is enough to satisfy your senses. But watch your step! It’s easy to slip off the stones or get your feet caught between them.
A great day trip from Paraty took me to the nearby village of Trindade. The village itself has just one road going through town lined with restaurants and small pousadas, but the beaches around the town are incredible. Trindade is surrounded by national park land part of Serra da Bocaina, a UNESCO World Heritage site, making it a very undeveloped place.
All of the tour companies in Paraty will offer jeep trips to waterfalls located in Serra da Bocaina National Park (Parque Nacional da Serra da Bocaina), a UNESCO World Heritage site. I highly recommend it.