Ilha Grande translates to the big island. It used to be a prison island, where Brazil’s most dangerous criminals were kept and the prison guards and their families lived. It was the Alcatraz of Brazil. This changed in 1962.

Ilha Grande is located in the state of Rio De Janeiro and for a lot of the locals, it’s the perfect tropical retreat. It is an Island which is best explored when the sun is out. It has some beautiful beaches, with clear water, and a lot of hikes such as the Parrot Peak, or Lopes Mendes beach. The charm of the island is that there are no cars (or roads!). You can walk along at your heart's content without worrying about having to look over your shoulders or to look at both sides when crossing. When it rains, the gravel can get very slippery, and filled with puddles and same goes with the hikes. The hikes go up a steep hill and come back down the same.

The way our tour got to Ilha Grande was to drive to Angra Dos Reis from Paraty, which is roughly an hour and a half drive, give or take, depending on traffic. From Angra Dos Reis, you take a speed boat to Ilha Grande, which from memory takes about 50-minutes.

It’s a shame that when I was there, the weather was unfortunately bad, so I didn’t get to experience this island’s beauty. It gets heavy tropical rain and whenever it’s raining, which makes it hard to walk around the island. For someone who isn’t used to this, this can get very icky.

You can see some parts of the abandoned prison, on the island, but not a lot. It was mostly destroyed, with only a few bits here and there. But don’t expect too much on this front, as there isn’t a lot.

Whilst, I was there, only for a couple of days, exploring the island in its entirety takes much longer. If anyone has any input on this, please leave those in the comments below. What I found beautiful were the people. They didn’t look like they had a lot but still looked like they were having the time of their lives. It didn’t matter that they didn’t know English, or had very little finances, or had to work hard, I didn’t see an expression of sadness or stress on their faces.

There’s not much I can write about Ilha Grande, but if you’ve been there and have been able to explore this island, leave your comments below on suggestions on things to do.

Until next time,

MiliG