Live on Martha’s Vineyard long enough and you might pick up some strong opinions about what makes the Island special. For every other island out there, we imagine there are plenty of locals with some equally strong opinions. So, we decided to call them up and ask them about the place they call home.
THE ISLAND: Ilha Grande, Brazil
THE ISLANDER: Caio Pimenta de Oliveira
THE STORY IN BRIEF: Ilha Grande is a seventy-five-square-mile island off the coast of Brazil, not far from Rio de Janeiro. Once home to a prison, the car-free island is now a destination for birding and ecotourism, with a population of about 5,000. De Oliveira and his mother, Marlúcia Pinto Pimenta, run a restaurant and inn called Ponta da Barca. They serve colorful, heaping plates of seafood, and the rooms at the inn look out over the ocean.
BIG SHOES: De Oliveira’s father, Fernando Luiz Henrique de Oliveira, used to be a key figure at the family business. “He was the main character of the restaurant,” de Oliveira said. His father died in 2022 and continuing on without him has sometimes been a challenge.
FESTIVE SPIRIT: Local life on Ilha Grande is anchored by Christianity and the church is the center of the community. “If you are from the church, you are friends,” de Oliveira said. There are also celebrations of the island’s culture. De Oliveira’s mother tried to start a shrimp festival but, so far, it hasn’t had legs.
SEASONS CHANGE: Summer in Brazil runs from December to March. Come winter, the beach by Ponta da Barca quiets down substantially. “It’s empty,” he said. “It’s like the movies when you’re in a desert and then the thing rolls.” You don’t need to know the English word for tumbleweed to understand the desolation.
SALT AND WATER: When de Oliveira’s mother was growing up on Ilha Grande, many families grew what they needed and the only thing they had to buy from the mainland was salt, he said. Now, many necessities come from the mainland and the cost of living has risen. Still, de Oliveira, who is also a songwriter, plans to remain on the island where he was raised. “I’m sitting in front of the sea every day at work,” he said. “I’m with my guitar, and there I look to the sea. Something comes to my mind, so I use it. I use the island as my inspiration.”
