Best Third Day in Rio: We Flee to an Island Paradise

We didn't just spend our time Tuesday morning before our taxis to Ilha Grande being disturbed and disgusted by the previous night's bizarre discoveries, we also managed to get out and enjoy the fair city of Rio a bit.

It is time to learn something important about Rio, about Brazil: They love fruit juice, they love fruit juice so much it made me love fruit juice. There are three corner juice stands on every corner.

The menus are full of sucos that defy cognates leaving us often to ask "Chateau, what's a such and such" and he'd say "It's like...a berry...found in the Amazon." Apparently the Amazon is FULL of berries and fruits, berries and fruits without number or accounting, and as they are discovered they are immediate juiced and tested. Can this be sold? Will this suco be marketable?


America, don't sleep on this hot new berry: the Acai. They've been drinking it *(and by "drinking" I of course mean "spooning" because it's served cold and thick, like purple fruity chocolate pudding) in Brazil for a long time and, let me tell you, even though I only had two acais during my trip I am on board with this son of a gun. It is renowned for its antioxidant properties and believe you me, a few scoops of it and I could feel the oxidants just draining out my toes, I could feel my toxins evaporating into a fruity nowhere. This Acai is the bomb, it'll make you feel electric and sharp as a blade. Also, it is good blended with a banana.

By the way, this is where my cheese and ham bread came from, this case:

I have seen the Future...and it is full of underwear.

We had a taxi van to catch at 11 for our Ihla Grande vacation but, with time on our hands, it seemed best to put in a little beach time. I mean, it was right there and what if the island we're headed to doesn't have a beach?

Slightly less busy on a Tuesday morning, though.


Here, in this establishment, is where the Girl from Ipanema was written. This isn't a joke, I'm telling you a fact.

At last, our cab van. Get us out of here! Take us to a paradisical vacation from our vacation!

We begin to zoom away...




Our taxi stopped, if I remember correctly, three times for gas and once for a buffet. Having split the group up and not had the Portuguese speaker of our group with us, these stops were very mysterious. Almost as mysterious as the Brazilian fueling process. I don't think that's gasoline.

Buffet stop, we didn't know what was happening, so we didn't indulge.



But I did wind up with what I hoped was something like a corndog

But was fried chicken on a stick, frango frito, if you would,

Driving for a few hours, wondering where it is we get our boat to our island, the sea is unveiled.

And a dock is reached.

The environs,



Waiting for a boat...do you see it, Bryndee? Do you?



To the sea!


I think the only cruise I'd ever want to take would be a South American cruise with a stop at Ilha Grande.

And then there we were, arrived at our island paradise.

And checked into our inn, just steps from the dock of our arrival.

This is how it should be: clean sheets, clean towels, private bathrooms...about $12 a night.

And hammocks.

Off on explorations, a goal: dinner.



I had a crazy Brazilian cheeseburger with everything possible on it.


And fine Brazilian pizzas, we shared those.

Dinner done, Karen and Noelle opted to sleep on the beach. The rest of us, we explored more and entered the rain forest.

There we were given sugar cane

By these fleet footed lads.

And we found the old jail

Spooky much?

In our explorations we also found an aqueduct (not pictured), a really nice looking natural pool (not pictured), and this big rock with great views (pictured).

The day draws to a close. I would soon fall completely asleep in a hammock until a mysterious time well past twelve at which I stumbled into my cool, dry bed.

Inside Joke of the Day: "...and my sock has a poo in it."