Artfully Ann's Adventures

Travel –  Ilhabela, Brazil,   March 3, 2014

Ilhabela (Portuguese for Beautiful Island) is an
archipelago and city situated 4 miles off the coast of São Paulo state in Brazil. The island is 127 miles from the city of São Paulo and 210 miles from Rio de Janeiro. While not fully settled, Ilhabela’s earliest 16th century settlements were in the form of military outposts to help protect the island from costly raids by buccaneers who eagerly awaited offshore for English, Dutch and Portuguese ships carrying precious cargo from the Americas to arrive on the island for supplies, in spite of pirates, the Portuguese established sugar and coffee plantations across the island in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The population of Ilhabela is about 30,000; however, during the holiday months, up to 100,000 may be on the island, since it’s a popular destination for tourists. Currently almost 85% of the island is designated as Ilhabela State Park and no further development is allowed. Ilhabela has a charming downtown area worth wandering around during a visit.

John and I elected to take a schooner ride through the Sao Sebastiao Channel and anchored near a beautiful golden beach covered with welcoming umbrellas, beach chairs and waiting vendors. We climbed the ladder off the ship and jumped into the beautiful bath warm sea water and swam to shore. The beach was gradual and easy to walk up, without being washed over by the waves. We walked along the beach, looked at the vendors’ wears, the people fishing, snorkeling and sunning on the beach. The water was SO inviting we decided to just go back and swim around the boat. What a great place to swim! 

Our trip through the Channel was surprising because on the other side of the beautiful beaches was a large petroleum storage tank farm on the mainland side; however, you really did not get any hint of it as you swam in the water. The guide indicated that there are plans to enlarge the facility. Hopefully, they will take as much care with the expansion as they have with the environment so far. It really is a beautiful place. It is off the beaten path and well worth a visit. We had lunch in a very nice local restaurant in town. It was nice and cool under tropical trees in the fairly warm afternoon sun.

Now it is back to the boat and off to Argentina! Hooray… more adventures will follow!! Please keep on traveling with us, we are having so much fun having you along!