Aqueduct

We'd seen this Aqueduct from near the lookout point peeking over the forest canopy. It once supplied water to Abrao. It was such a strange thing to see in the middle of the jungle.


Not far from the aqueduct we followed the track around a little way until we saw a side track to the old jail. It was right on the beach & buried under jungle. It was used for quarantine for some time as well as a jail.

We stopped there for a bit and had a swim. Nic was there already & a few of the others appeared not long after we arrived.
The weather started to look ominous again so we set off for the village.

That night we went to a dodgy looking restaurant that had some wonderful food. The rain bashed down at times while we were there. After dinner we headed to a hostel near by to catch up with Polly who'd left us in Sucre. We found her eventually, but not until after the rain found us first. Kerri & I didn't stay long. I guess we're a bit over smoke filled noisy places.

Natural Pools

A little further up the trail we came to the natural pools. It looked inviting enough, but we were a little short on time.

Lookout Point

Not far along the loop track the incline started to increase. Within a short while we were well above the sea. Even at that height we had a pretty good view of the bay & back toward the mainland.

Short Hike

Later in the afternoon the grey skies cleared allowing us to go for a walk/hike near Abrao. We managed to get a map of the island from a tourist information booth so we had a pretty good idea where to go for the afternoon. So we set off for a short loop track that started from the village and followed the shoreline for a short while.

Humming Birds

Ilha Grande is a haven for humming birds. The front garden of our hotel was a magnet for these busy little creatures. Aside from the huge hibiscus tree, the owners have a number of humming bird feeding stations hanging around the yard.

The Black ones are called Black Jacobins & the blue & green ones are Swallow-tailed Hummingbirds. The Black Jacobins are extremely territorial & the resident pair spent half their time chasing off intruders.

Abrao

The boat trip wasn't overly rushed or rough. It was kind of nice just kicking back & watching the world go by. You can see our boat above. By the time we reach Abrao (the main village on the island) the weather was threatening to turn very wet but we did manage to get to our hotel relatively unscathed.

Angra & Ilha Grande

Day 43 - Travel to Ilha Grande

We were on the move again reasonably early. We had to catch a public bus (pretty much a council bus) to the next port called Angra (pictured above). It's a much bigger town than Paraty and a bustling industrial port.

Once we reach Angra, we boarded a timber boat similar to the ones we'd seen in Paraty. After some stuffing around we were finally on our way to Ilha Grande (Big Island) pictured below.