After leaving Iguaçu Falls, we had a few long driving days to reach the city of Curitiba in the state of Paraná, Brazil. The journey was tough as we were driving amongst seemingly endless streams of impatient truck drivers. The landscape of continuously rolling hills didn’t help, with the heavily laden double-trailer trucks repeatedly crawling to the top of the hills and then accelerating perilously on the downhill sections. As such, we were relieved when we reached Curitiba and were more than ready for a few days without driving.
Capybaras in Curitiba
We are not usually city people but we had heard great things about the city of Curitiba, described as a very green and cultural city with numerous parks and good public transport. So, we set out to explore and had a nice day wandering this pleasant city on foot, visiting a couple of museums, the panoramic tower and our personal highlight, Barigui Park, which is home to around 100 capybaras! They roam freely, and we enjoyed seeing these super cute giant rodents grazing, swimming and sunbathing in the park.
Ilha do Mel
Leaving our van Phil behind in Curitiba, we opted to take a coach to reach the ferry terminal for Ilha do Mel. Ilha do Mel is a small car-free island covered in pristine Atlantic rainforest and beautiful white sandy beaches. In fact, around 95% of the island is protected as a permanent environmental conservation area. Arriving by small passenger ferry into the settlement of Brasilia, we really felt that we had arrived in paradise. Walking the sandy trail to our pousada, we passed between simple colourful wooden houses, quaint pousadas, small shops and restaurants. The pousada we’d booked, Pousada Favo do Mel, had a beautiful setting and immediately gave us a feeling of tranquillity. We felt like we were on a holiday within our main holiday!
After settling into our room, we took a stroll along a sandy trail along Praia do Farol to reach the nearby lighthouse, Farol das Conchas. We were of course bird watching as we walked and, amongst others, saw a sacaya tanager, blue-black grassquit and a pair of brilliantly red Brazilian tanagers. We hadn’t seen many colourful tropical birds yet on this trip so we were very happy to spot these. Then, as we climbed the steps up to the lighthouse and viewpoint overlooking the island, we spotted a pod of common bottlenose dolphins! As the sun began to set, we stood watching the dolphins porpoising whilst several magnificent frigatbirds circled overhead.
The next day we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at our pousada and set out to walk to Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres de Paranagua (yes, this genuinely is the full name!). The route to reach this 18th century fort runs along Fortaleza beach and through the edge of the Ihla do Mel Ecological Station, the largest protected area (2,241 hectares) of forest on the island. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed the walk immensely. It was also off-season so there were very few other visitors, making it all the more appealing to us! We saw many shore birds, including little blue herons, American oystercatchers, semi-palmated plovers and black skimmers. As we passed through the forest we heard and spotted a variety of passerines, including a tropical parula, golden-crowned warbler, bananaquits, sibilant sirystes and masked water-tyrants.
Reaching the fort, there were wonderful views along the coastline and over to the mainland, and a small information centre where a ranger ushered us inside the cool room to sit and read a little about the history and wildlife of the island. Luckily there was plenty of information written in English, mainly about the traditional annual practice of mullet fishing (which occurs in July when the mullet season begins on Ihla do Mel), and it turned out to be very interesting. On our way back to the pousada we enjoyed a refreshing swim in the ocean and lunch from a small beach-side cafe.
On our second full day on the island, we chose to walk in the direction of Encantadas, reaching a hill called Morro do Sabao. The weather had become grey but it hardly detracted from the beauty of the island. The route we took skirted the edge of Ihla do Mel State Park, which encompasses the remaining 393 hectares of protected forest. We didn’t see much that was new in the way of wildlife but we did see a neotropic cormorant, a pair of squirrel cuckoos and a group of parrots called orange-winged Amazons which were very cool to see.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time on Ilha do Mel. It truly felt like we were holidaying in a subtropical paradise. We were sad to leave, but were looking forward to our next planned adventure – flying to meet my parents in the coastal town of Itacaré, Bahia!
How to get there
Ilha do Mel is a car-free island off the coast of Brazil in the state of Paraná. There are two routes to reach the island by boat – from Pontal do Sul or from Paranaguá. However, the boat from Paranaguá only departs three times a week. The best route is from Pontal do Sul, where buses from Curitiba take you directly to the ferry terminal, ‘Embarque Ilha do Mel’, and ferries run hourly every day of the week. For exact departure times, check the Abaline website1 below. The ferries run to two different parts of the island – Brasilia or Encantadas so make sure to check you are on the right ferry!
Sources
- Abaline: https://www.abaline.com.br/novo/