Paradise Lost; Paradise Found

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. A miracle has occurred: An occasion has occurred that rendered me speechless. Not just the kind of speechless that happens at feeding time, but one where something strikes you enough to actually clear your mind of everything. This occurred when I was presented with Paradise.

After fleeing the Dengue Fever ridden Rio, complete with wet washing after the laundrette gave us our first experience of 'manana', we (a guy called Adam and myself) were driven through some of beautiful Brazil that had been relatively absent in Rio. That is not to say that Rio wasn't interesting, intriguing and an engaging experience, but a city nonetheless. I felt like I needed an opportunity to unwind and contemplate the journey ahead. Plus big cities usually mean big expenditure, especially in Brazil.

In wht seemed like virtually no time at all we arrived in a bedraggled yet charming port town, where two men and a beast of a speedboat were waiting. After loading ourselves, our bags and our wet washing we were on the open water rocketting towards Ilhe Grande. While Adam was content with kicking back soaking up the sun and scenery, I was itching to get the locals to let me steer the beast (not a metaphor for anything else). Luckily another passenger had similar thoughts and we were soon taking the wheel by turns. A brilliant experience!

In the excitement of it all I almost managed to not notice the aforementioned haven that we were rapidly approaching: Paradise. After checking in to our lovely rooms, right on the water, the dizzying pace of things dramatically changed. That evening involved eating local calamari, some unclad night swimming (the plankton lit up in the moonlight like green stars) and a guitar called 'prudence' being passed around for midnight music. The next day I took a little time on my own to dry my wet, smelly clothes in the sun and kick a drift-lemon down the whole beach: a perfect day for unwinding.

After finally getting more than two hours that night, and an amass of steak, I awoke the next morning to set off on a trip to the blue lagoon. The constantly stoned captain of the boat slowly steered us towards beautiful beaches where we dove into the crystal blue water and dried on the beach. Before long we were 'jammin' our way to the Blue Lagoon as clear as a bottle of mineral water with more fishies than Captain Birdseye's frozen food factory. Equipped with my snorkel and mask I found nemo, or eight million of him, and touched a starfish. Overall a perfect day in perfect surroundings. The next day I would be leaving that magical place and travelling to Sao Paulo.