Angra dos Reis is a bay of islands, and the number most often quoted is 365, one for every day of the year. Whether that is exact does not matter, because the scene is clear: a green, steep coast, calm blue water, and countless islands covered with Atlantic forest. The town, about a hundred and fifty kilometres west of Rio along the Costa Verde, is the main port, and boats leave from the harbour for Ilha Grande, the largest island, which has no cars and some of the best beaches in Brazil.
The name means Bay of the Kings, and it was given by Portuguese navigators who arrived around the feast of the Epiphany in the early sixteenth century. The town grew as a sugar and later a coffee port, with slave ships landing here and the produce of the inland valleys shipped out. Ilha Grande was a prison island for much of the twentieth century, and the ruins of the old penal colony are still visible. Nuclear power also arrived here, and the plants near Itaorna are a strange sight on a coast so green.
The BR-101, the Rio-Santos Highway, hugs the coast through here, a road of lovely curves and ridge views, with the mountains of the Serra do Mar plunging into the sea. Some stretches are narrow and winding, with trucks and buses, and tunnels and landslide scars are common after heavy rain. The surface is generally good, but the traffic can be slow on weekends and holidays. The riding is best in the early morning, when the road is quiet and the water is calm.
Angra dos Reis is a city of about 150,000 people, so there is fuel, food and accommodation in plenty. Seafood is the thing to eat, grilled fish and shrimp stew with coconut milk, served in simple restaurants near the harbour. Take a boat trip if you have time, since it is the best way to see the islands. Paraty, a beautifully preserved colonial town, is the next major stop to the west.