Did I mention that Ilha Grande was one of the most perfect places I have ever seen? Our final day on the island we decided to put our previous day’s nightmare behind us and we headed out early for a 40-minute boat ride to nearby Las Palmas Cove.

We stopped in the cove (above) for a quick swim before gathering our things and heading off on a 30-minute walk along hilly jungle paths that took us to another side of the island and to Ilha Grande’s most famous beach, Lopes Mendes.

This is the view of the busier side of Lopes Mendes. Behind the camera, stretching for about a mile is a slowly curving coastline and beach that must have been populated by less than 30 people. The sand is so soft and fine that it actually squeaks underfoot, a little like freshly fallen snow.

After a relaxing few hours that included much splashing around in the sea and a quick game of Frisbee we headed back through the forest to Las Palmas Cove. On the way, we heard some rustling in the trees about 15 feet away to our right and saw a troop of medium-sized monkeys, possibly about two feet tall, making their way slowly along the branches.

Back at Las Palmas Cove we had 25 minutes to spare before the departure of a boat that would take us back to the main port, so we took advantage of the cove’s floating bar. To save us having to rush our beers, the barman signaled for the boat to pull up alongside the bar to pick us up. A couple of hours later we were on a ferry heading back to the mainland. If you ever go to Rio do not miss the opportunity of visiting Ilha Grande. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Tomorrow: Final thoughts.

Ilha Grande is without a doubt one of the most perfect places I have ever seen. You would think that it would be almost impossible to spoil. Yet somehow, this guy managed to turn an idyllic day trip into a nightmare.

On our second day on Ilha Grande we bought tickets for a day trip that took us on a lagoon and bay hopping tour of the island. As part of the trip we were promised a stop for lunch but the crew waited until we were halfway around the island (and tired from sunbathing and swimming) to tell us that we would not eat until 4pm. (The boat was full, including some parents with tired and hungry young children.) The crew also insisted on shattering the tranquility of the island by playing Brazilian and European pop music at almost deafening levels.

I don’t want to dwell too much on what happened. But I do want to warn anyone who goes to Ilha Grande to take care if they book one of the day trips aboard a schooner.

I am sure that most companies operating on the island are very good. So don’t be dissuaded from taking these trips. But do stop into the information office in Vila Do Abraao and ask the very friendly Amelia Wiccamel for a recommendation before you buy a ticket.

P.S. Just for the record, I don’t blame the guy above. He was just doing his job. And Benito and I (especially Benito) managed to make his day equally nightmarish with our constant complaints. But whoever runs this one particular company really does not care about the quality of your day.

Tomorrow: A Happy Ending.

Hard to believe that just two days ago we were on Ilha Grande, a tropical island a couple of hours and a short boat ride from Rio.

Ilha Grande was the perfect end to a fantastic holiday. The almost 200 sq kilometer island (about 80 sq miles) is a mountainous state park covered in jungle that is rich in wildlife, including monkeys and parrots. Motor vehicles are banned so the only way to reach most of the island’s pristine beaches is by water taxi or by schooner, like the one pictured above. We spent a long weekend on Ilha Grande, leaving Rio, Friday, on a 5.30am bus with two Brazilian friends Janaina and Benito, and arriving on the island around 9am. Within an hour or so we had found a hotel, dumped our things, and set off for three beaches that were within easy walking distance (about a half hour).

Depending on the beach, the sand on Ilha Grande is golden yellow or a powdery white. The water is cool and clear. Within an hour or so, Benito and I rented snorkels and masks and started exploring the sea life close to shore, mainly red and black starfish or tropical fish up to about 10 inches long. Although we were within easy reach of the island’s main town, Vila Do Abraao, I would say that we shared the beaches with, at most, about a dozen people. This is one of those beaches. We spent so long out there, that with the sun about to set, we had to take a water taxi home. A perfect end to a beautiful day.

Next up: Trouble in Paradise.

(This is the second part of a two part post about the favelas of Rio. Click here for the first post.)

The second stop on our favela tour was Vila Canoas, a much smaller favela (pop. 2,500) that has receieved a lot of funding from the World Bank and NGOs. Many favelas are situated close to the city and to wealthy neighborhhoods because they provide the easiest access to jobs for favela residents who work as maids, nannies, waiters. According to Marina, the minimum wage in Brazil is $180 per month. School teachers earn about 500 reais a month (about $250). Policemen earn about 1,200 reais, which goes some way towards explaining why some are corrupt.

Hopefully, this photo gives you some idea of just how narrow favela alleyways can be. In Vila Canoas, we were passed by a number of men hauling a sack of bricks on their shoulders, zig zagging through the maze-like alleyways. How they get furniture down there I have no idea. Many of the favela homes, especially down the alleyways, lack windows so you can literally peer into people’s lives. Although the exteriors were often a hodge podge of materials, the interiors were as clean and well-equipped as any Western home, including widescreen TVs and nice dining tables and chairs. Many of these goods are bought on credit. In Rio, you can even buy shoes in installments.

While we were in Vila Canoas we visited a school called Para Ti run by an Italian NGO. Kids in Rio only go to school for the morning or the afternoon so Para Ti steps in to give them something to do for the second half of the day, keeping them off the streets and away from the influence of drug dealers.

Children under 18 in Brazil do not go to jail, so they make ideal lookouts, runners and couriers for the drugs trade. Something tells me this Para Ti student may be headed for a career with one of the city’s half dozen or so football (soccer) teams.

About 20 percent of Rio’s 5.6 million population live in the city’s 750 favelas. Yesterday, Sofie and I visited Rocinha, Rio’s largest favela, with a group called Favela Tour. According to our guide, Marina Schultze, Rocinha is the largest favela in South America with an official population of 60,000 and unofficial estimates as high as 180,000. The people of Rocinha live packed into a jumble of odd-shaped brick and concrete homes squeezed into about one square kilometer on the side of a mountain next to the city’s exclusive São Conrado neighborhood.

Rocinha has one main road that is often filled with cars, buses, and of course, people. The best way to get around the favela is on a motorcycle and there are plenty of those driving up and down the winding hillside that was once used as part of a Formula One race course. The motorcyclists act as couriers and taxis transporting people and goods around the favela. They also act as couriers, messengers and lookouts for the favela’s drug dealers. The main area where the motorcyclists congregate, on the edge of the favela just at the bottom of this street (pictured above), was off limits to photographers.

Probably the most surprising aspect of our visit to Rocinha was just how many goods were on offer there. It was almost a city within a city, with hairdressers, bars, restaurants and stores as well as plenty of garages for repairing motorcycles. Rocinha even has a private cable television station, a radio station, two community newspapers and two official banks. Apprently there was a McDonalds until two years ago when gang warfare errupted in the favela between the ruling gang, Red Command, and another gang known as the ADA or Amigos dos Amigos (friends of the friends). The ADA has been in power ever since.

(Sorry for this blurry shot of one of the motorcycle couriers, but it was a bumpy road and this was taken from the back of our van. You can tell if a rider works for a drug gang because the license plate is missing from the back of his bike.)

According to our guide the gangs guarantee a semblance of security in the favela. You are much more likely to get robbed in Copacabana or in Ipanema than in Rocinha because the drug gangs don’t want trouble (and the added inconvenience of the police) to interrupt their business. As an example of just how much control the gangs have over Rocinha, our guide told us that a group of corrupt police officers tried to rob one of the banks in Rocinho a few years ago but they were repelled by one of the gangs. Although the gangs do not tolerate petty crime they do turn a blind eye to other problems like the domestic violence that goes hand in hand with the alcoholism among the favela’s residents.

Perhaps surprisingly, rents in Rocinha can be quite high. A house near the main road, and therefore close to transport and amenities, can cost up to 600 reais a month (about $300). Apart from the one road there are only three additional streets in Rocinha. Everyone else must commute to and from the city and the shops via very narrow, winding alleyways. Most people do have access to water and electricity. Those wires you can see even include blue cables for broadband Internet.

This is what chaos looks like. Both in this favela, and in the much smaller Vila Canoas that we visited later in the day, the system for getting electricity and phone lines to people’s homes looked like something out of a city planner’s nightmare. I have to say that during our entire time in both favelas we never felt intimidated and most people were exceedingly friendly, though having a guide along was extremely reassuring. I would not attempt a trip to Rocinha on my own.

(I can’t vouch for other companies but I can say that our visit with Favela Tour was well worth the 65 reais fee. Just for the sake of transparency, Sofie and I paid for our tour.)