I’m sitting looking out to sea on the veranda of a house that clings to the western side of Ilhabella. The house is gorgeous, rainforest plants ramble over it’s multi layered decking, the sound of the ferry boat keep us company as it plies back and forth to the mainland and the temptation is to do nothing but watch the sun through closed lids just listening to it all going by.

The mountains of Ilhabella rise sharply out of the sea to a little more than 1300 metres, the island is mostly Atlantic rainforest and people come here for the weekend from Sao Paulo to get away from the city smog. It’s a lovely island that has waterfalls in the interior and it’s fair share of blood-sucking critters waiting to nibble on untreated skin.

Today we daydreamed the morning away, then we rambled along South a few Km to a little beach to splash about in the luke warm Atlantic. The current was strong so I simply kept swimming to keep up with it, even the ferries were doing the same this morning as they carved a path diagonally to the water to beat a good path to the mainland.

People were eating seafood at a restaurant by the beach and it looked good, we sat for a while to drip dry then walked in the afternoon sun looking around us at the gorgeousness of it all, the mountains layering into the distance, the sparkling sea, the chocolate box perfect little houses dotted around the steep slopes breathing in the scented air.

There is a port opposite to the island where tankers gather to syphon their goods to mainland processing facilities. Somehow this doesn’t seem to detract from the view, there is so much coast here that it can’t be compromised by a little industry, in fact it’s the very wealth that drives the new Brazilian economy and these welcoming people deserve a little economic good fortune.

Not too sure what to do next, It’s all becoming a little too idyllic to move from here…