Ilha Grande

At the tail end of our trip, we visited Ilha Grande -- a volcanic island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. On the ferry ride over there at 3 in the afternoon just about everyone was drinking vodka or whiskey straight from the bottle. It turned out that there was a large public concert that night. The guide book description of a tranquil, car-less island seemed completely wrong. Despite the unexpected first night excitement, we had a great time on the island. It was a relaxing finish to the trip -- the days were spent exploring some of the many beaches on the island.