ILHA GRANDE

Days spent: 4

Days recommended: totally depends on the weather

Where we slept: Airbnb double bedroom in a Tarzan-esque wooden hut in the middle of the jungle, hosted by Daniel [Rainforest House]

What we ate: grilled fish and meat, juicy exotic fruits, moqueca.

What we drank: caipirinha, fresh pressed exotic fruit juice and a lot of bottled water

How we travelled: by bus and speed boat from Rio (takes about 4 hours in total ), by foot on the island (there are no cars at all), by ferry to Angra dos Reis (about 2 hours, much cheaper than the speed boat).

Km walked: 52

How Ilha Grande affected our wallets: moderately to badly, it’s a very touristy island after all.

Issues we encountered:
Mainly related to the stormy rainy weather. Soaking wet shoes and clothes. Had the stupid idea to wash our dirty laundry on our first day and by the fourth day it was even more humid!
Also, keep in mind that you’re on a island: goods are pricey and not abundant. We ended up starving ourselves a little because of the lack of choice and stupidly expensive prices. [to avoid this you might better buy some supplies on the mainland]

Would we recommend it?
Yes, bad weather or not it’s still very worth it.

Analogue tips:
I didn’t do very well here. Only shot with one camera to then realize i should have used a film with higher ISO. The jungle can get very thick at times, making the light considerably scarce. Carry another camera with you and load it with a 400 or 800 ISO film, this will give you more flexibility.
If you own it, bring along an underwater case for your camera (I didn’t in order to travel lighter, but somehow I regretted it).

What to do:

Things we missed:

 

PARATY

Days spent: 3 days

Days recommended: 3

Where we slept: Airbnb private double bedroom with joga lovers, Fabian and Juliana. Their homemade breakfast (with homemade peanut butter and marmalade) is one of our favourite so far!

What we ate: plenty of sweets and cakes from vintage street vendors (including brigaderos -Brazilian chocolate and butter pralines-, coconut cake and maracujia cheesecake), guanabana jelly slices on bread, açai, flambed octopus with maracujia and black rice (@ Casa do Fogo), Parmesan chicken and lula (traditional octopus dumplings filled with shrimps and cheese. Sounds better than it tastes…)

What we drank: Brazilian ice cold beer and tropical fruit juices.

How we travelled: by local bus from Angra dos Reis (2 hours trip). By foot, jeep and local buses once in town.

Km walked: 25

How Paraty affected our wallets: not so much.

Issues we encountered: none. The city itself is small and quite safe, even at night.

Would we recommend it? Go for it!

Analogue tips: To spice up the colonial streets of Paraty and avoid shooting the same empty street on and on and on, pick one of the beautiful flowers around, set a wide aperture and let the streets become the colourful background of your closeup. A bit hipster but who cares…

Also, for the beach shots with the Lomochrome Purple film, if you want pastel hues like mine, set the ISO at 50.

What to do:

Things we missed:

Who deserves a big thank you: Talita, Alessandro and Meritxell for the tips. Charlotte for being a good pal at the waterfalls (and for the brand new mosquito net!)

Canon EOS 300, Fuji Velvia 100 (35, expired)

Olympus OM-10, Lomochrome Purple 100-400 (35)/Fuji Superia 200 (35)

28/11/2016/ – 04/12/16

Ilha Grande and Paraty (Brazil)

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February 24, 2017

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