I've been taking a bit of flack for not being more diligent with my blog updates. Guilty as charged! In mitigation,the only excuse I can offer is my sensitivity to your states of mental well being !
We hear about the economic turmoil,financial meltdowns, crime in Hout Bay, crime in Salvador, Cape Town on fire ,etc etc. Now against this background , how can I keep on talking about the natural beauty, the friendliness, peacefulness, culture ,the cruising lifestyle in this magical place,... before you just want to throw up!! ??
We can hardly believe we have been here two months already ! Time really has flown while we have tried to keep a balance between boat maintenance and relaxation Having finally lost the power struggle, I was forced to buy 6 new 115AH batteries . Any hardware relating to boats, costs twice as much as in RSA. Eg Deep cycle batteries, outboard motors, battery chargers, smart chargers etc. Restuarant prices too, seem a bit higher than SA. Even our version , which is a shared portion of Lula ( Calamari), fried manioc, and a couple of beers, on plastic tables and chairs, at a beach pub/restuarant, costs the equivalent of R200-R240. Food prices in shops/supermarkets is probably , "twolly for twolly", to borrow an old RSA Checkers advert, about the same. If one can find a supermercado away from the main centres, closer to where the locals shop, prices are very much better, up to 30% lower. But thats enough of the housekeeping! Suffice to say that at least one can buy beers, limes and Cachaca wherever one can buy food!
Having stripped the little Mercury 3.3 for a third time, (after its swim as a 4 day old new aquisition), it has finally settled down and become a super little outboard. We prefer to anchor in good safe attractive places, where we can swim around the boat, without fear of being wiped out by a wetbike or taxi boat, even if it involves more tender running.We love our 30kg Bruce, with lots of all chain rode, and sleep easy, provided we have the space to swing a full 360degs. We have now visited about half of the Ilha Grande spots, and have already developed our favorite places..Praia de Palmas, Vila do Abraao, Siteo Forte, Ubitubinha, Ilha de Itanhanga, Ilha de Cedro, Ilha de Cotia to name but a few. These are really special places, and during the mid week one can often have the places all to yourselves! We have taken hundreds of photos, and miles of video footage, which we will have to edit down to something short and hopefully interesting----- when we find out how to do so!! Any volunteers?
We have also been able to enjoy the Carnival spirit, much of the music, (but not the headbanging techno stuff !),and the Brazilians zest for life, their sense of fun, the litter free living, relaxed lifestyle,and seeing the opulance of the super rich and their toys ,their holiday homes ,which, for the most part, carefully blend into the beauty of the environment. We have never felt threatened, or uncomfortable, and nor have we ever seen any bad behaviour or drunkedness.... despite the non stop partying ! We have never been hassled by "boat boys", trying to look after your boat,your dinghy, trying to sell you this and that, invading your space,etc, and all those other typical Carribean, and South African , traits.
Anchoring is free, and in many places there are mooring buoys which can be picked up, although being heavier than most local boats, we always prefer to lie to our own anchor. I guess we've been spoilt! Ilha Grande is just so unspoilt! Mike and Les from Exta-Sea, had a friend with them who has visited Thailand annually for the last few years. She preferred Ilha Grande to Thailand!
The fishing is not bad either, which is just as well, because that is one area where the local restuarants know how to charge! A spanish mackerel (Cavala) big enough for two, costs Real 50 ( R225) at Ilha Paquetta fishermans restuarant/hut. One can buy 50 beers in a supermarket for that! I caught a couple during the last few days,en route to Parati, which we are really enjoying! Being wildlife nuts, we are also loving the very different variety of birds found in this area, which I suppose is a mixture of Atlantic Rainforest, and marine estuarine habitats. The water is alive with shrimps and shoals of small fish, which in turn attracts the bird fishing specialists- from the huge Ascension Frigate Birds,flocks of black Vultures ( which look similar to Egyptian Vultures, and also scavange on dead fish), and allow one to walk up quite close before taking off, a red billed Tern, which behaves like an African Skimmer, (as it feeds off the shrimps that break the surface when chased from below). There is a Giant Kingfisher lookalike, that takes up residence on the spreaders, and never seems to miss when it fishes, as well as a magnificent even bigger version of Kingfisher, where the black markings are replaced by a pretty pale grey/blue colour.We also see Terns, Kelp Gulls, Cormorants, Sea Gulls etc, but not in the numbers we see back home. There is a Franklin which likes to be heard , and not seen, as well as some raucus parrots, and a frustratingly shy Cuckoo which makes a "Huity boo" call which one hears everywhere! We also see and hear woodpeckers regularly, and have enjoyed seeing a variety of Humming Birds, which are new to us.
Mary & I have just snorkled around the enclosed bay in Ilha Cedro in which we are anchored, and came across a whole colony of live Pansy shells( Sand Dollars), the size of saucers! Now we know where the few shells we found on the beach came from! We were accompanied on our swim by a shy turtle, about the size of a brief case, which ducked every time he saw us!
On the less desirable side, one can almost see the barnicles growing in front of your eyes! In 5 days, they get to screw head size, and diving to clean them off the boat is a non stop chore. They even grow on the tender which is lifted out of the water every night!
Despite these two months in paradise, we are really looking forward to our home visit, and to touch base with family and friends. This time next week we will be there!
