Ilhabela

We left Santos yesterday and arrived in Sao Sebastio late afternoon. It is nice to be in a smaller town. Fewer crowds and a bit easier to navigate on foot. We woke up this morning and took a ferry over to Ilhabela; beautiful island. Just off the coast of Sao Sebastio, it is a 15 minute ferry ride to the 350 square kilometer island. 85% of the island is protected as a UNESCO world heritage site. Beaches line the coast and there are more than 360 waterfalls. We chose to visit Curray beach, a 20 minute bus ride from the ferry terminal. We went for a swim in the ocean and then decided to try and find one of the waterfalls. We had no idea what to expect or if the 45 minute hike on a narrow dirt path up the mountain would be worth it. We were richly rewarded!

We were the only ones at this beautiful waterfall, about 120feet high. Since we were both just dripping with sweat we went for a dip in the cool freshwater pool at the base of the falls.

Two dogs accompanied us on the walks up and down the trail to the waterfall. We named them Max and Minnie. Minnie adopted us and followed us to the beach and through town. After many attempts at running away from her while she ate garbage we were only able to lose her by getting on the bus back to the ferry. And even then we had to keep her from getting on the bus with us.

Back in Sao Sebastiao, we just finished a delicious seafood meal and are packing up to head out tomorrow en route to Paraty.