Hope all well witchu, we're just back from the beach where we met up with Kika (in the country for an mega-conference in Rio) for a whirlwind tour of the coastline. We drove up on Friday, stopping off at a huge roadside replica of the Statue of Liberty for lunch, and got to Angra dos Reis in time for dinner on a seemingly abandoned dock. It was so windy and drizzly that we cancelled our all-day boat tour the next day, only to wake up to blazing sunshine and rush to the harbour, get a shuttle boat to Ilha Grande and un-cancel it.
After a reviving bowl of açaí we bundled into a speedboat and roared halfway round the island, bouncing wildly, until we reached Lagoa Verde, where we could jump overboard for snorkelling and some rather chilly swimming. After that we took in the Praia dos Macacos (Monkey Beach - no monkeys, but plenty of hammocks), Lagoa Azul and a bay where the driver took us diving for sea turtles, cuttlefish and sea urchins, among other things.
By this point we were famished so we set off to a restaurant hidden in a mangrove swamp for platters of grilled banana fish, before heading back to the main port and getting battered by wind on our way back to the mainland. The rest of the trip was spent at the hotel drinking increasingly elaborate caipirinhas and wading through the infinity pool, before heading our separate ways on Sunday morning.
Gaby and I went on to Paraty which is pretty cool - basically an untouched colonial-style town by the sea, uneven cobblestones and all - for a relaxing night in a tiny guesthouse and a pizza in the town centre during a blackout, which just reinforced the 17th century vibe. And on our way back home we stopped off at Viela da Praia for a chat with the owners about various wedding issues.
Now it's back to work with a vengeance, but I've whipped up another compilation, and my phrase of the week is the name of a restaurant we went to in Angra - it refers to someone who says one thing and does another, apparently.
Speak soon!
Fred
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