Ilhabela – hitchhiking by chance

Ilhabela is a popular weekend destination for people from Sao Paulo, so it’s no surprise that getting there is almost absurdly easy. We take the bus from Paraty to Sao Sebastiao, walk 10 minutes to the ferry port and get on the free ferry, which departs every 20-30 minutes. There we share a cab with a backpacker who was on the bus with us and wants to go to the same hostel as us – which is hardly surprising as the choice is very limited. In contrast to Ilha Grande near Rio, there are also cars on the island, which makes it much easier to get around and only slightly disturbs the idyll, as there is actually only one road along the west coast, the rest is wild jungle.

We stay here for two nights, but are a little disappointed with the tours and hikes on offer, so we decide to simply explore some of the beaches on our own. As our hostel is pretty much in the middle of the island and there are regular buses to the south and north, this is relatively easy. We mainly set our sights on Praia Jabaquara, as it is easy to reach by bus and a 1-1.5 hour hike and hopefully not too crowded. Unfortunately, this is not quite the case, as we catch the exact day when a cruise ship passes by the island and disperses the crowds by boat to the various beaches Sad smile

Nevertheless, the day will be a great experience. First, we take the bus north to the last stop and set off. We first walk through the last inhabited areas and then continue on dirt tracks. As it is sweltering hot and not a particularly beautiful walking route, we decide to heed the advice of our hostel and try to hitchhike. After a few failed attempts, a nice couple eventually stops for us and takes us to the beach, where we spend a few hours eating fresh coconuts and drinking cold beer – and when the cruise tourists are finally picked up again, the beach becomes pleasantly quiet. We actually want to call a cab for the way back, but we don’t have a network here and we would probably have waited forever. So we just walk off to a viewpoint on the road and then try our luck with hitchhiking again. But we don’t get that far. As soon as we reach the road at the first incline, a car pulls up next to us, opens the window and a couple roughly our age ask if we’d like a lift. That was easy… The two of them are super interested in us and our trip, it turns out that she is a travel influencer living on Ilhabela and her boyfriend has come from Sao Paulo for a weekend visit. And so we chat about various trips and are even invited for a sunset beer with her friends on another beach. A few beers, a batida de coco and a sunset on a beautiful, unknown beach later, we are even driven straight home to the hostel. It’s always great what great people we meet when we just let ourselves drift for a few hours Smile