Paradise found

I had expectations of Morro de Sao Paulo being a really idyllic island which I'm sure it was 20 years ago, it was a bit too 'resorty' and not the idyllic island retreat that Abby and I had envisaged for the penultimate stop of our trip and so we decided to take a boat to Boipeba a couple of days earlier than planned. 

Great decision!

There were no roads, no cars and no tourists just long stretches of sand to lay our sarongs on for the day.... which we did pretty much every day. It was the perfect island untouched by mass tourism and so safe, there's very little crime there which meant we were able to walk around safely at night - well as long as we had our head torches with us.

Paying the 'bus' driver

We drank some great caipirinhas and ate some wonderful food,the Moqueca was one of my favourites, it's a traditional Brazilian fish or seafood dish, a delicious casserole/curry combo served with side dishes of rice and manioc flour or paste and in some instances a piquant sauce that was a little more piquant than I was expecting which resulted in some unexpected eye watering and coughing fits. I was quite surprised to find very little spice or heat in food across the whole of Latin America, the African influence in the Bahia region has brought not only vibrant colours and terrific music but great food too, may well rustle one of those up when I get home (crikey, one cookery lesson and I think I'm Delia!).

We stayed at a lovely Pousada a short walk from the beach called Casa Irene, not altogether surprisingly run by a lady called Irene. She fell in love with the island some 30 years ago when a local fisherman offered to take her and a friend on a boat ride around the island of Morro de Sao Paulo but when the boat started to let in water she and her friend were 'rescued' by another fisherman from Boipeba who took them to the island where they stayed for three days..... After years of holidaying there she bought some land a built a small Pousada. She was a lovely host who made a mean caipirinha and who told some great stories about her life and the life of the island, she seems to know each and every one of the 3,000 islanders.

Perfect....

Sundowners exist for a night like this

Whilst our days on the island were mostly spent on the beach we did exert ourselves last Sunday by taking a boat ride around the island, it was such a perfect day. We visited some of the natural swimming pools around the island, had a caipirinha at what must be one of the most idyllic beach bars in the world and then had a delicious lobster lunch at Estrella de Mar.

In one of the natural swimming pools

Island life

Delicious

I'm surprised and I have to say delighted that so few people seem to have discovered Boipeba and hope that it remains the way it is for as long as possible.

Heading to Rio via Salvador on Thursday, I can hardly believe that my South American adventure is almost over.

See you in Rio.

Raine x