"4 Islands in 12 hours"

Everything was expensive in Rio. To get out of Rio was expensive. From the information we could gain from the reliably unhelpful and grumpy people we asked (the hotel staff,  tourist information and general public), to get anywhere independently was even more expensive and requires long, uncomfortable, unreliable bus journeys, punctuated by stops in favelas and taxis out of favelas.

We found a tour to Ilha Grande, a place I wanted to visit on my first trip to Rio 10 years ago. 7am pick up, 7pm drop off, 4 islands, lunch and tropical fruits included. I’m not one for tours but in this case it seemed the most practical tactic. We got picked up at 8am, an hour late, and by 9am we regretted joining the tour. By 9.30am we were looking for an escape route, without success.

There was only one stop before reaching the port Angra dos Reis. Only after this stop, and only prompted by Sonia asking, the guide informed us lunch would be served at 3pm. We’d had breakfast at 6am and there was no food available until 'lunch'.

The 2-3 hour bus ride to Angra took 4 hours. Partly due to the bus drivers heavy right foot and slow reactions. He was driving too fast when he ran straight into the back of the car in front. Unplanned 30 minute stop. No apology, no explanation. Just back on the road at full speed.

After a long, wait at Angra dos Reis, the 130 capacity boat eventually left the port. We arrived at the first island to see 2 other similar sized boats in the queue for their 30 mins on the island. We eventually disembarked, onto our first island, at 2.30pm. 

The first island

The island was beautiful, white sand, lush forest, its turquoise waters a delight to swim in. It was also very small, and ruined by the 100s of people embarking and disembarking and the fumes and constant horns of the boats.

The 2^nd “island” was actually an anchor off an island for snorkelling. The snorkels were extra, as was the cost of the photo they took. We waited in the heat of the boat and shared our thoughts with other, equally hungry, passengers. They all took the Brazilian approach of moaning to each other but not raising a complaint (“what’s the point?”)

And an angry Brazilian mob is a passive mob

We expressed our (partly hunger-fueled anger), loudly, to the guide, who rejected any responsibility. The only food on board was crisps, and the only people who enjoyed the trip were the ones drinking the whole time. The boat spent the whole day crawling along, allowing more time to sell more beers and caipirinhas.

6pm, swim after lunch

The 3^rd island was reached at 6pm, which is where we finally had “lunch”, 12 hours after breakfast, followed by about 20 mins on a nice beach, too annoyed to enjoy it.

The tropical fruits were served – one slice of watermelon per passenger.

The 4^th island was optional. Thanks to one, very, very drunk passenger’s insistence that we stop, we stopped for 30 mins, plus disembarking and re-embarking, plus head count. This ‘character’ kept grabbing the microphone to make jokes, sing poorly, and declare his love for his embarrassed and disinterested wife.

We reached at the hotel at 11pm. 4 hours after the agreed return time. 16 hours after the agreed pick up time. A few hours before our flight out of Rio. We’d spent a total of 80 minutes on 3 beaches and spent 220R$ on the day, which was spent mostly with a feeling of being exploited, ripped off, insulted and offended that they can treat people as they had done.

I don’t recommend it.