Circuit do Abraão, Cachoeira and Praia da Feiticeira
Up the opposite end of the village from where we were staying we found Circuit do Abraão, a short 1.5-2km walk past a few beaches, the islands old jail ruins and the aqueduct.
On our trip around the circuit we found the entrance to another path that led to Praia da Feiticeira and Feiticeira Cachoeira (waterfall). We decided we would come back on Friday and walk to it with some supplies.
Thursday night we got dinner, rice, chicken, beans and salad just to mix it up and dessert from the local cake stall, chocolate covered strawberries for me, some form of cake or pie for Sean, always.
Friday morning we set off for the waterfall. It was only 2 km’s to the beginning of the path and another 3km to the waterfall however we had seriously underestimated the gradient of the hill we would be walking on the last few kms. It was similar to the first hill to Lopes Mendes, a little easier but longer.
Again as the walk was through the forest and we were covered by the canopy it was very, very humid and muggy. There was sweat EVERYWHERE.
Once we arrived at the waterfall we couldn’t wait to get in the water. Rach raced to the falls for the standard, “arms in the air, look how fantastic I am in front of this waterfall I’ve reached” photo. It was a good photo. Topped only by the next photo of Rach flat on her ass after her leg slipped into a gap between the rocks. She wasn’t hurt. So it was okay to laugh.
We took plenty of pictures, rinsed off, de-sweated and headed on to Feiticeira beach. Now this walk was mostly down hill, which was a relief however it was still incredibly hot and still tricky (who knew havaianas weren’t grippy on dirt tracks).
It took us another 20-30 minutes and by the time we reached the beach we were praying there were taxis available to take us back to Abraão. There were. Hoorah!
We hung out at the beach for a little over an hour and then caught the taxi back to the village, R$20 well spent.
We had lunch at a kilograma (of course) and relaxed for the rest of the day and night.
Saturday the weather was a little funky in the morning. Well it was slightly overcast for a couple of hours and then turned sunny again. We relaxed at the hostel and went for swims off the boat ramp .
Sunday morning we decided to get the ferry and 2 local buses to Trindade, rather than pay for the R$75 transfer, which would have only gotten us to Paraty.
It ended up costing us only R$27.50. A hefty saving if you ask me, and surprisingly easy considering our lack of Portuguese. We also managed to book bus tickets to Florianopolis for New Years Eve at a bus station on the way through. Always good to not be stranded somewhere during the busiest week of the year.
The next 2 nights are at Trindade.
Here’s hoping to more good weather!
NB: My only regret from Ilha Grande was that I wasn’t filming when Rach was standing in front of the waterfall. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a video, god who knows what a video is worth.