This was a really great experience. Uara's mum Valeria looked after me like I was family! Directions were good even though the island is tricky to access, and they arranged a water taxi to drop me right at the jetty of the house.

The accommodation is clean and spacious, and Valeria was great with a couple of small items I needed, as well as insisting that I couldn't do my own washing, she must do it for me! We also traded home-made lunches.

This is quite an old-fashioned island location full of cats, dogs, chickens etc, so don't expect it to be completely silent, but I loved the atmosphere of the place.

Also there are nice little hole in the wall restaurants and home-made treats everywhere, as well as an excellent repair guy who fixed my broken suitcase wheel. It's also surprisingly convenient - the boat drops you across the road from the subway station into Rio and the BRT around Barra, and it's a 5-10 minute walk from there into a pleasant neighbourhood with great beaches and bars.

Overall I definitely recommend this host and Ilha da Gigoia in general.