The Ilha do Mel (Honey Island, in English) is in
the entrance of Paranaguá’s Bay. Its territory has a perimeter of about 35 Km.
This island is compound of 2 main areas linked by a isthmus of 15 m of width in
its shorter part. The Ilha do Mel is part of Paranaguá city. To go to Ilha do
Mel, the mean of transport is only by boat from Pontal do Sul (30 minutes of
tour duration) or from Paranaguá (1h30).
In 1975, Ilha do Mel was considered as
Natural, Artistic and Historic Heritage of Paraná state, in order to preserve
the landscape, the flora (compounded by shrubs, typical of salt marshes and mangroves) and the fauna,
besides to conserve the traditional habits of the ancient residents, to avoid
the rapacious tourism and to impede the real estate speculation that,
consequently would cause an disorganized occupation of the region.
This trip was very special for me,
because it was the first time I’ve travelled alone. But I wasn't alone at any
moment, as I’ve met many people. Furthermore, this trip was interesting because
I’ve met people with different ways of life: island residents; people that were
living there temporary, working there in the summer at bars and restaurants,
and off-season, they return to their respective cities, such as, Curita
(nickname for Curitiba city); and finally, some tourists, too. People that have
a straightforward way of life, but they possess a rich and diverse culture. It
inspired me to come up some old dreams, such as, writing this blog.
I’ve arrived at Afonso Pena Airport. In
front of the airport, I’ve taken the bus toward the Central Bus Station of
Curitiba. It cost R$2,70. I was admired about the quality of the mean of
transport in this city compared to other Brazilian big cities. The bus stop is
like an acrylic tube, where you buy the ticket and wait for the bus protected
during the raining days. Moreover, as the bus stop is higher than the ground,
there is a kind of elevator platform for wheelchair users and also for women
carrying strollers. So, when the bus arrives, the level of the ground of the
bus stop is in the same level of the ground of the bus. A simple idea that
improves the mobility.
I’ve arrived in the Central bus station.
The bus toward Ilha do Mel is from the Graciosa Company, and it costs R$ 29,90.
As I’ve bought the ticket by the net, in the Central Bus station, I had to
print another ticket to take the bus using the information from the ticket
bought in the net. There are 2 options: get off the bus in Paranaguá city, and
there, take a boat that spends 1h30 to arrive to Ilha do Mel; or get off the bus in Pontal do Sul, that is
the last stop, and from there, the boat trip is of about 30 minutes. I’ve
chosen the second choice.
It’s important to know that there are a
daily limit of people allowed to be in Ilha do Mel, that is 5.000, as mention
the Secretaria do Meio Ambiente
e Recursos Hídricos. Thus, during
high season, it’s wise not to go too late to the island.
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| Arriving at Ilha do Mel |
I carry a wheel suitcase instead of a
backpack, but I am still a backpacker… hehe. For this reason, I always book
hostels instead of hotels. It is not only because of the low cost, but it is
also to make new friends. And in that moment, it was essential, as it was the
first time that I’ve travelled alone.
I’ve stayed at Hostel Encantadas Ecologic: this hostel is very simple, as many accommodations
at Ilha do Mel, but it is very clean. Pedro is the owner, and he is who prepares
the breakfast, cleans the hostel, and so on. So, he is the man who takes care
of all.
In Ilha do Mel, there are the main
regions called as: Encantadas, Brasília, Farol, Fortaleza and Praia Grande. Nevertheless,
there are 2 main villages: the Encantadas, that is more rustic and simpler. And
the Brasília Village, where there are more structure. I’ve chosen the Encantadas without know this
difference, but I think I’ve done the better choice for me, because I wanted
more interaction with the people from the island.
Seizing the Island
In my first day in the island, I made a tour around the
beach where there is the pier, in Encantadas. Then, I went to Mar de Fora
Beach, that is on the opposite side to the beach of the pier. Despite of this,
the two beaches are near from each other by foot. Furthermore, there aren’t
cars inside Ilha do Mel (this is one of the reasons for this place to be so
conserved). There isn’t also Electricity on the tracks, only in the houses and
establishments, so, you need to use a flashlight (the residents don’t use it,
because they are accustomed to walk around these tracks). The tracks are of
sand ground, and in some parts, are a bit narrow way, that the trees join
above, making a kind of coverage.
In my first day in the island, I made a tour around the
beach where there is the pier, in Encantadas. Then, I went to Mar de Fora
Beach, that is on the opposite side to the beach of the pier. Despite of this,
the two beaches are near from each other by foot. Furthermore, there aren’t
cars inside Ilha do Mel (this is one of the reasons for this place to be so
conserved). There isn’t also Electricity on the tracks, only in the houses and
establishments, so, you need to use a flashlight (the residents don’t use it,
because they are accustomed to walk around these tracks). The tracks are of
sand ground, and in some parts, are a bit narrow way, that the trees join
above, making a kind of coverage.
Mar de Fora Beach
I went to Ilha do Mel in
february, so, the island wasn't so crowded. There weren’t anybody in Mar de
Fora Beach, when I arrived there. An immensity of sand… Not of length of beach,
but a long way to reach the sea. After the sunset, a big and amazing moon
appeared in the sky. That’s a stunning place! Something interesting to see from
the Mar de Fora Beach was a queue of ships toward the Port of Paranaguá, that
is the largest grain port of Latin America. During the night, those ships
resemble to a city in the continent (but Mar de Fora Beach is in the side of
the ocean).
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| Immensity of sand of the Mar de Fora Beach |
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| View from Morro do Sabão to the Mar de Fora Beach |
Luz Verde
At night, I went to Luz
Verde bar (that in English is Green Light). I went with some people from the
hostel and I met some residents, too.
It’s a bar very peculiar in
Encantadas’s Village, in front to the beach of the pier. Rustic environment,
but very inviting. That night, a band was playing a reggae. Very nice!!! But a
intense wind made everybody go indoor. We played pool, drank some beer. Before
to leave the beach, we entered in the sea… hehehe
The Luz Verde Bar is the
meeting point for everybody at night in the Encantadas’s Village. One day, Edu,
a temporary resident from the island that became a great friend there, has brought
a Bottle of Cataia made by him. Cataia is a typical alcoholic beverage from the
North Coast of Paraná’s state. It is prepared with Cataia leaves, that is a
medicinal herb in cachaça (typical Brazilian alcoholic beverage). The name
Cataia is from Tupi-Guarani language that means “leaf that burns”.
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| Cataia |
Morro do Sabão
In the second day in the island, Maitê, that became my friend there, Edu
and I went to Mar de Fora Beach. We walked toward Morro do Sabão (that in
English, it means Soap Hill). Near from this hill, there is a mineral water source.
Edu, that knows the region very well, said to us to be careful in approaching
to the source because of the snakes that could be near from there. So, to
approach to the source, he trod strongly on the ground to drive off any snake
there. I was a bit afraid about the snakes, but I did the same of him to
approach to the source to drink some water. I seized the opportunity to remove
the salt from my hair.
From
the top of the hill, the landscape is amazing! By one side, you can see the Mar
de Fora Beach (on the right side, in the photo), by the other side, you can see
the Miguel’s Beach (on the left side, in the photo). The Wellington, a guy that
was living for a while in the island, said to me that it was possible to fly by
hang gliding from the top of this hill. I was excited about this!!! But the man
who runs this wasnt’ in the island for these days.
The
climbing of Morro do Sabão is a bit hard. There are some irregular stairs made
by stones and there is a part of clay trails. A good physical exercise for the
legs!!! But it is well worth, because it’s the way to reach at Miguel’s Beach.
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| Top of Morro do Sabão |
Miguel's Beach
The Miguel’s Beach is a very beautiful beach (I loved Ilha do Mel! Stunning
place, well preserved. A paradise in the coast of Paraná state). There were
almost nobody there, but in one of the days, there were a lot of people surfing
there. I’ve met Wellington, going down the Morro do Sabão with his surfboard.
He has offered to me some surfing lessons
(I’m crazy about surfing!!!), but I’m not totally secure about swimming in the
sea…Someday, I’ll take some swimming lessons to lose my fear about water, so, I
can learn how to surf.
Walking
around the Miguel’s Beach, we’ve found a dolphin’s bone. Probably, it died that
week, because his skin was quite preserved, near from his bones.
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| Dolphin's bones at Miguel's Beach |
Encantadas Grotto
The Encantadas Grotto, situated in
Encantadas Beach, is a 20m-high natural grotto. Its name is because of a legend
that says that in the past, the melody of mermaids attracted the boats to crash
on the rocks.
The trail from Beach of the
Encantadas’s pier up to the Grotto is not so long, about 15 minutes. I went to
the Grotto two times. The first one, the wind was so strong, and it was
drizzling, what difficulted to pass in the wooden way toward the Grotto. In
this day, I didn’t enter inside the Grotto. When I went away from there, I
passed by a sand storm in the Mar de Fora Beach. I tried to protect me with my
beach towel up to arrive into the establishment with many bars and restaurants in
the Mar de Fora Beach. It was a bit cold. I dried myself with another beach
towel that I had brought in my bag. I changed my clothes for other dried, and
sat in the bar to drink some beer. Some residents of the island that became my
friends sat with me. After some beer and a good chat, I returned to the hostel,
took a warm bath, and took a nap to be reinvigorated to seize the night in the
island.
In the second time, I went
to the Grotto with a larger group. The wind wasn’t so strong as the first time,
but it was still strong (as you can notice in the video). As Edu was with us, we
entered inside the Grotto. The access is by the rocks. We waited the waves move
backwards to go down the rocks and go into the Grotto. The inner of the grotto is small, but very
intrigant. The walls in the bottom of the grotto were compounded by a dark
rock.
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| Encantadas Grotto |
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| Trail to Encantadas Grotto |
Seizing the Night
Toca Raul Bar
The first place we went was the Toca Raul’s Bar. It is a very interesting
bar in the Encantadas’s Village, which the owner is the Hernane, that is drinking
with me the “Meleca”, that is a beverage invented by him.
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| Drinking Meleca with Hernane |
The
bar, indeed, is his house. Maybe it makes the environment of the bar so
peculiar and interesting. It has a very detailing decoration: many colours,
collage, tissues with the image of Bob Marley, Shiva, a tiger and Raul Seixas,
that was a very famous musician in Brazil.
The
cat in the photo wasn’t switched on socket. It’s
a real cat… hehehe
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| Toca Raul's Bar |
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| Toca Raul's Bar |
Cavalo Marinho
After the Toca Raul’s bar, we went to
Cavalo Marinho (that in English is seahorse). It’s a place with a hall and an
open air area. At that night, the sound was reggae and forró (a typical
Brazilian rhythm), that are the two main kind of music played in the island.
I love music, and generally,
every trip for me has a proper soundtrack. And I’ve heard for the first time
these 2 songs at Cavalo Marinho: “Sorri, sou rei”, of Natiruts band and “Vejo
Depois”, of Rael da Rima. I liked a lot these two songs, and it became the
soundtrack of this trip for me.
Chames
It’s a bar in Encantada’s
Village, more frequented by the natives of the island. It’s a simple place,
more rustic than Luz Verde. I enjoyed the place, singing the songs of Raimundos
and Charlie Brown Jr. (Brazilians rock bands) with the friends of Edu.
Exploring the Island
That day was the farewell of
Maitê. After this, I went with Edu explore the island. We left the hostel
at midday, and arrived at 8h30 p.m.. It was a long hiking!!! We hiked more than
20 Km (round trip). After this hiking, I became fond about this kind of sport.
We started the hiking from
the hostel, passing by the Mar de Fora
Beach. We climbed Morro do Sabão toward Miguel’s Beach. In the final of
Miguel’s Beach, we had to pass by the stones to reach Praia Grande. There are
big stones to climb and some smaller to jump to pass above the water. But
sometimes, when the waves come, it covers some stones, what is quite dangerous,
because you can slip and be carried by the tides or even hit on the rocks. So,
it is necessary to do this crossing very carefully. Edu helped me to pass by
the stones. There is a better time to do this crossing in the day, and it
depends on many variables, such as lunar phases.
We passed by Praia Grande,
where I found this beautiful dollar sand.
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| Dollar Sand |
We continued our hiking into
the Farol das Conchas (A Lighthouse), when the sun decided to appear to provide
me this beautiful photo below:
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| The trail do Farol das Conchas (Lighthouse) |
Farol das Conchas (The Lighthouse)
This Lighthouse was built in
1872, by the order of Cotegipe Baron, in the reign of D. Pedro II, and since
this time until nowadays, it is a way of guiding the navigators of Paranaguá’s
Bay. It is made by iron and it was imported from Scotland (Source: Secretaria de estado da Cultura-PR).
From the top of the
Lighthouse, it is possible to see almost all the island. It is awesome!
Unfortunately, it isn’t allowed to enter in the Lighthouse. Moreover, the area
is a bit abandoned. What a pity!
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| Farol das Conchas (Lighthouse) |
Going on our hiking into the
Fortaleza (a Fort), the Lighthouse became far away, as shown in the photo
below:
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| Far away, the Farol das Conchas (Lighthouse) |
That day was predominantly
cloudy and the temperature was pleasant. Perfect for a walk. During the track
in the beach, I saw a lot of jellyfishes, as shown in the photos below:
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| Jellyfish |
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| Jellyfish |
It is important to be
careful walking in some beaches, because a burn of a jellyfish could be very
painful.
Something that I observed is
that the sea was more and more going forward in some houses, so, the residents
had put some sand bags trying to block the waves, as shown in the photos below:
Fortaleza Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres
Aproximamo-nos da Fortaleza. A maré já estava meio alta, por isso tivemos que ser rápidos: quando a onda recuou, corremos no cantinho das pedras para subir as escadas que levam à Fortaleza.
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| Arriving at Fortaleza Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (the Fort) |
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| Fortaleza Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (the Fort) |
We got closer to the Fort.
The tide was high, so, we waited the waves go backward and passed rapidly to
reach the stairs toward the Fort.
The building of the
Fortaleza Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres began in 1767, during the reign in
Portugal of D. João I. And it was finished in 1769. This is the unique example
of the military architecture of the eighteenth century, in Paraná state.
The location of this
building was strategic to the defence of Paranaguá’s Bay, serving also as a
prison.
Moreover, during the Second
World War, the island was occupied by the military forces from Brazil to defend
the Port and the Paranaguá’s Bay.
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| Fortaleza Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (the Fort) |
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| Battery of Cannons |
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| Thickness of the wall |
The Fort is situated in the Morro da Baleia (a hill). On its top, it was built, in the early twentieth century, a cannon battery of long range, endowed with rotating equipment (there is this kind of cannon in the photo below):
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| Cannon near from trenches in the top of Baleia's Hill |
After a nice tour, I have prepared
a dinner in the hostel. I was very tired and hungry, and when I put the pot in
the flame of the stove, it burned, because its wall was so thin, and also
burned my rice. I didn’t know if I got angry or cried. I’ve shown the burned
pot to the owner of the hostel, asking how much it had cost, and prepared me to
be blamed by him. But the owner surprised me, saying that the pot should be
thrown away.
Never in my life was so
difficult to cook as in that day. I was feeling a pain in my back due to that
hard hiking. But I had promised that dinner, and Edu was a good friend and
deserved it for accompanying me in that track.
So tired we was, that we had
dinner in silent… hehehe. That night, I was exhausted, so, I didn’t go out in
the island and went to bed quite early.
Transport - The returning
I woke up early with my
friends of the hostel, that were from São Carlos, in São Paulo state. We took
the boat toward Pontal do Sul. From there, I got a lift with them to Morretes,
a city where I’ve taken a train toward Curitiba, passing through the Serra do
Mar. It is a very nice tour that I will describe in the next post.
Looking the island become
more and more distant, I thought how this trip was amazing. It was a unique
experience, living a bit as the residents, surrounded by so stunning nature,
and I also met many nice people, with a different style of life and culture.
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| Boat that makes the transport to Ilha do Mel |
For who wants a natural
refuge, with beautiful well-preserved landscapes, certainly will love Ilha do
Mel!
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