Ilha Grande, Brazil

It is Tuesday and we are at anchor here in Ilha Grande, Brazil.  This is an island off the coast of Rio.  There were no shore excursions to take.  We got up and swam for one hour and then off to breakfast in La Veranda.  We decided to take the tender and go in later in the morning.

On our walk

Beach

Needlepoint with my friends and then returned to the cabin to collect Bob.  We took the tender into the town and decided to walk through the park.  This was supposed to be an easy walk by the beach.  Well it started out that way.  We passed lots of beaches, and then saw the ruins of the prison.  Next we continued up to the ruins of the Aqueduct.

Aqueduct remains

Trail

That is me going up the trail.  What a hike.!!!  We kept walking and the trail got steeper and steeper.  We kept at it and asked those coming down, how much further.  No one spoke English so we kept going.  Finally, we found a couple who spoke enough English that they told us we would come out on the other side of the island and would have to take a water taxi back to the side we started on.  At that point, I said "let's turn around" and we did and walked back down the mountain.  To say I was pooped was an understatement.  At any rate, we walked for about two hours in this heat.  We were thankful that it was an overcast day.  Thank God for small favors.

The island has no cars on it.  Everything is done by boat or feet.  The police use a golf cart like machine.  Really cute.

Police Car!

This island started out as a stopping point for those coming from Europe so they would not spread disease to others.  Then it became a leper colony.  And finally, it was a prison for the harden prisoners.  Most of the prison is destroyed but a bit remains.

Prison

We tendered back to the ship and had a quick lunch in La Veranda and then a well deserved nap.  I then went to needlepoint, tea, and trivia.  Trivia is such fun.

They had a special gathering for the passengers who are doing the entire trip.  We met up front on deck 7 where they served cocktails and had a BBQ going.  They had a tall ice sculpture of Jesus (like the one in Rio) and mid way through the party, it crashed.  Made a mess but the staff was quick to clean it all up and no one got hurt.

Dressed for dinner and ate in Compass Rose.  Nice table by the window.  We do not need to go far to next stop so we are just about moving.  Back to cabin for more of a movie I started watching last night.  Then lights out.