Ilhabela Bonete Trail Hike - Winter 2018

Ilhabela Bonete Trail Hike - Winter 2018

Pay attention: you simply have to come Ilhabela Brazil. It is a wonderful mystical place. You will have an intimate contact with the amazing Atlantic forest.

Bonete is a small village (350 people) who live there for hundreds of year. I personally talked to many of them while I was there as I completed the trail with my two sons Caio (18) and Vinicius (15). The natives don’t know very well who were their original fathers (at least the people I talked to) but some people say they may come from European shipwrecks (perhaps Dutch or English). During the day their electrical energy comes from solar panels and during the night (from 17:00 to 8:00) they count on an electrical generator. There is no public light poles!!! The sky at night is amazing!!!
They are a very peaceful people, everybody knows everybody as you probably guess… they treat the tourists very well… listen to me: you gotta come and see!


But keep in mind: Ilhabela is not for the “snowflake” type of people, it is for the strong hearted. There are lots of ‘pains’ (but it is worthwhile!!!!):
1) There are the mosquitoes (we call them borrachudos). It is a small fly that bites you just like small demons. I come to Ilhabela every year since decades ago and I have never heard that these bugs transmit any disease but THEY IRRITATE A LOT!!! If it is winter time you should cover your body with clothing. They won’t bite you through the cloth. The other alternative is to use insect repealing creams but as you sweat they melt away and also as you get into the water (the beach or the waterfall) they get weaker and the demons will come. So you have to use a combination of those mentioned strategies… hopefully you are not allergic… They attack you as you stop especially when you are near the jungle… as you move the won’t come… in summertime all hell is loose so they are many… and the idea of covering the body with clothing is harder because it gets hot and humid... with time you will handle it, believe me… again you will see wonders in this island but there is a price to pay… (as always in life!). Maybe you got terrorized by these words but it is not that much a horror…
2) If you came in summertime you will probably get a crowded island... full of cars… you have no place to park the car… Have in mind: You just have to pay a price to be in this place, ok? So just relax… treat the situation as expected… don’t get nervous… If you come in the winter it will not be that crowded and you also have the SEMANA DA VELA (Sailboat Week).
Have in mind that Ilhabela is very much visited by rich people (maybe not that much rich) and middle class… they own all the houses… people from Sao Paulo city just love it!!!
3) In summertime the ferryboat is crowded… you will have to wait in line… but again: Relax, enjoy the ride… look at the mystical approaching mountains from the island and everything will be fun… if you come with that mood, the island spirits will reward you… believer me…

That is about it! The rest is just fun! Just come!

About the Botete Trail:

In my opinion you don’t need a guide to do this trail if you have normal physical health. I am a sedentary 46 years old guy and managed it very well with my two sons (Caio, 18 and Vinicius, 15). The trail is an old road and many people do the trail. You will probably meet hikers coming or going… There are rivers but they all have good bridges (kind of good, good enough I’d say). There are signs along the trail… it pretty much structured… Watch where you place your foot on the up and down hills… there are lots of stones and the road gets very damaged in some places due to erosion... There are some very, very steep uphills...
When you are at about 9,5Km from the beginning, you will see the Bonete beach and you will get so excited that the feeling is that you have already arrived… the final 1,5km is easy going...
The worst part is when you leave Areado waterfall. You start a never ending uphill climb!!! I know you can do it! I did it! It will be worthwhile, just keep that in mind! (that is the price the island you charge you for being so privileged to contemplate the Bonete paradisaical beach…)… like I said… not for the snowflakes… My sons were never the same after this experience… They finally left their video game chairs...

There are three waterfalls on the way to Bonete: Lage, Areado and Saquinho. It’s magic…

They say you shouldn’t drink the water from the rivers unless you put chloride to kill eventual bugs. My son drank it without any treatment and he seems to be fine… I think it is a good idea to treat the water and drink it so you don’t have to carry much water with you… If you take three liters you will drink it all… it would be more than enough in winter time. We took only one liter per person and it was enough but for sure if we had more we would have drunk it…

We saw two small green snakes (they were tangles, twisted together… maybe mating…) and many small monkeys on the trees right above us… we also saw a squirrel and a type of wild chicken (I forgot the name)… So watch your steps for snakes… but don’t overreact to that… it is not that difficult to see them if you are somewhat careful... save you knees especially as you go downhill, I had some pain at one of those moments as I was carelessly pressing too hard my steps…

As you use Wikiloc have in mind that there are no internet signal and sometimes the GPS signal is bad because the trees block it is some parts of the way. I realized that some pictures I took were misplaced…

You will be too tired to walk back to Ilhabela in the same day. Return by boat (about R$150,00). Stay in Bonete in Pousada Canto Bravo (Inn), the best there, about R$ 200,00 per night per couple. We stayed in the 'Hostel Sambaqui', simple but good (R$200,00 me and my two sons). These prices probably double in summertime. Reserve before you go!... there may be noone there to host you! Have lunch in the 'Restaurante da Isabel' and have a pizza at night at 'Pousada e Restaurante da Rosa'. Take a flashlight because there is no public lights at night... If you are not snowflake, go to Indaiauba beach the next day...