Ilha do Mel - March 3rd

Our last full day on the island of Ilha do Mel is a Saturday.  We know this because while eating breakfast half the population of Curitiba seems to walk past. It is clear that there are a lot of day-trippers and weekenders here, so our almost empty beaches will be fuller.  To accommodate the new crowd a number of shops, restaurants and hostels which were not open previously have also opened.  This gives us an impression of what the island would be like in high season, rather than the low season we have come in (the season’s only changed last week with the kids going back to school).  To be honest, it is still quite a pleasant place, as the beaches are so big they can accommodate quite a crowd.

Anyway today we are to visit the last of the three major sights on the island, the old Portuguese fort.  To get there it is a 50 minute walk along an 4km beach.  The fort is on a headland at the end of the beach, and although it isn’t very big, or have much architectural merit, it does provide a few interesting pictures.  Around the headland from the fort is another little village, where we buy a drink and sit on the dock for a while.

Due to a combination of not much sun, not much beach here at high tide, and a cold, we decide to only sit here reading for a while before heading back to the middle part of the island, our part.  We have pretty much covered the island, or at least the 10% of it where we are allowed go.  The other 90% of the island is protected forest reserve.

The rest of the day is a repeat of the previous day, lunch at the same café, and dinner at the same restaurant.  This restaurant is even busier than the night before with all the weekenders, but it was great value so we squeeze in again.  And as we are even cleverer with our ordering this time, having seen the big portions of the previous night, we get an even better value meal.