LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN

There have been a few occasions on tour so far when music has lifted the mood with an uncannily relevant song popping up just at the right moment...

No more was this the case than on our ferry trip across to Ilha Grande.

Just hours after our near gun point robbery at our hostel in Rio, we had made our way through the mad rush of Rios bustling streets and had managed to get on a bus headed for Angro Dos Reis.

We were now sitting aboard a modest fishing boat in another world. The calm waters either side of us, the sun setting over the rickety old port town of Angro Dos Reis behind us, the imposing shadow of Ilha Grande on the horizon in front of us and blaring over the speakers on board Bob Marley ¨Dont worry about a thing ... cause every little thing is gonna be alright¨
My how life can change in the space of a few hours!!!

Truly relaxed or should I say chilled to da core maahn, we arrived at Ilha Grande under the cover of darkness and booked into our hostel excited for the next few days.

Unfortunately for the first time on tour, weather decided to play its ugly hand and we woke up to rain. Not to be set back by this, we ventured into the surrounding hillside on a trail headed up and over the mountain behind us to the surfing beaches on the other side. Regardless of the fact that the mountain was covered in a shroud of mist.

We only managed half an hour up the mountain before the rain really turned torrential and soaked to the bone we turned back, and scurried back to the safety of our room, looking like drowned rats.

Rain persisted for the next few days, and being a small island with no vehicles or roads, a few restaurants and very over priced internet, there wasnt too much to do.

When the rain finally lifted. We very excitedly signed up to a boat trip around part of the island. Although a little bit cold, we managed to get in a bit of snorkeling and explored some of the remoter parts of the island which (as you can see in the pic) included a little school which the kids get to by boat every day.

We would have loved to have stayed as the island had loads more to explore, but the rest of Brazil beckoned.