| Ilha do Mel |
[Apr. 28th, 2008|05:14 am] |
A 90 minute boat ride later we arrived on the tiny strip of sand that connects the two halves of Ilha do Mel. I wandered off with a couple of French (I think) girls to find somewhere to stay. Since it was the low season most places were closed but we eventually found a good place on the southern half of the island. The Frenchies dumped their stuff and disappeared while I wandered back up to the sand bar with my mp3 player. I suddenly had a weird urge to exercise and so went for a barefooted run along the western shore of the island. While on my run I saw this:
Dead fish. It was in fact just one of many dead fish in a fish graveyard on the beach. I walked back as the sun was setting, then went on an internet hunt. This was harder than it sounds since there is only one place with internet on the island, everything is connected by tiny sandy trails through rainforest that all look the same, and there is no lighting. So I set off with my tiny maglite, cursing the housemates that suggested watching '28 Days Later' (zombie film). As I wandered down a random trail with no inkling of the direction I should be going in, I heard screams from behind me and suddenly two teenage girls came bursting out of the undergrowth, lighting their way with a cell phone screen. They screamed louder when they saw me, then burst into laughter. They had freaked themselves out, I'm guessing they had also seen a zombie film recently. Happily, they knew where the internet place was and took me there in return for me guiding the way with my torch. I managed to make it home alone, although with at least one wrong turn that ended with me standing at the edge of the ocean.
I got up early the next morning to watch sunrise from the sand bar, then started walking towards the north of the island. I came across a fort so I spent a happy half hour exploring that before discovering a trail that led to the highest point on the island where the military (two hundred years ago) built a lookout post.
I wandered on up to the north shore of the island, meaning to walk around to the other side (~7 miles) but alas, the map had lied and instead of beaches there were only marshes and pointy sticks along my intended route. To be fair, I gave it a good go, going so far as to strip to my bikini, put all my belongings in my bag and swim across a river opening with my bag above my head just like the army guys do. However, I was forced to give up when I realised that not only were the marshes impenetrable but, additionally, nobody would find my body for weeks should something happen. So I trudged back towards the southern half to check out the surfing beaches.
Six miles later I reached Praia Grande and watched a couple of surfers for a while. I continued on my trek to find some caves (no great shakes) and a town (just a supermarket) then hiked back up the coast to a lighthouse to watch the sun set.
Pictures can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/rach150384.
Oh, almost forgot - I stumbled across a dead dolphin being pecked to pieces by vultures on the north shore of the island. It did not smell good.
And then to Rio
Rach |
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