IlhaBela

Preparing to travel with a one year old is a little like preparing for the D-Day invasion. But Monica had everything well in hand and we left in two cars for the drive to Ilha Bela, an island off the coast of Brazil. For the first couple of hours, we could have been in New England with rolling hills, covered in trees. The only difference was the occasional village - always with the church poised on the highest part of the hill.
The second part of the trip was a road that was like the road to Panajachel times ten. It started in the mountains with fog crouching over the road, and wound down, around and back again for about forty five minutes. The easy curves were ninety degrees, but a turn to the right was almost always followed by a turn to the left - and then a series of 180s. It was mildly terrifying in the daylight.
We took a short car ferry ride to the island - which has the last part of virgin Atlantic forest mixed with palm and banana trees and tropical flowers. The roads are all cobbled and on every side there are´pousadas´- (guesthouses) and open air restaurants. Tiny picturesque beaches hide around every curve, and since we arrived during the Rolex regatta, crowds of sailboats raced from one end of the island to the other. Every little beach has its own restaurant, and as you loll on the beach, someone brings you Coke zero, Atlantico or Itipava beer, or my new favorite - Guarana zero. We ate all kinds of interesting things, but the piece de resistance was the calderata - a black cauldron filled with things from the sea - fish, squid, octupus. Lindemberg would not tell me what they were until I had already eaten them. But it was excellent to sit on the wooden deck with a thatched roof overhead, eat calderata and watch the sea.
We spent the days eating on the beach, and the nights eating in the town. David will have to carry me home in a wheelbarrow. The kids loved the beach and Nanda would crawl like a little crab right into the water. Thiago was more adventurous and he and David played some adaptation of soccer in the water.
We hated to leave IlhaBela, and so we did not get on to the ferry until five - and got to ride the mountain road in the dark. How twisted was the road? Well, the moon kept changing sides, first in my right, then on my left, then back to the right, then in the rear view mirror. Terrifying.
We had a great four days on Ilha Bela and recommend it. Tchau.