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Published: June 12th 2011
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We had a morning flight taking us from Rio to Iguacu and everything was pretty straightforward. We got a taxi to the airport and we had landed by lunchtime. We hopped in a taxi to get us to the hotel, which was situated into the national park. That meant we had to buy our entrance tickets before getting to the hotel. We only realised this when the driver told us so and dropped us off at the ticket office. He explained we had to get off, buy the ticket, cross to the other side and that he would pick us back up at the other end. We all looked at each other dubiously... It meant leaving him with all our bags while we went through the pedestrian entrance and I think we all wondered whether or not he would do a runner with our luggage, but we had little choice and thankfully he didn't and we were back on and on route to the hotel before we knew it.
Our hotel in Rio was good, But this was something else...True luxury and minutes away from the falls. After dumping our belongings, we were straight off to have a look at
the sight. It was pretty amazing. The scale of it, the sound of it, everything was huge and breathtaking. We were soon greeted by some little furry creatures, which I discovered later were called coaties (raccoons to the likes of you and me). The Brazilian side of the falls was supposedly giving a better overview of the site, with the Argentinian side getting you closer to the action. The walk along this side wasn't particularly long or challenging, but it was definitely one of the better things I'd seen in my 3 or 4 months on the road. We took our time taking it all in and got plenty of pictures taken. As we got towards the end, a path took you right in the thick of it, or should I say right in the wet of it... We had seen shops selling plastic ponchos and we could now understand why. Going to stand on the pathway involved going for a light shower. Phil opted for the umbrella option, but the only thing this achieved was to look a little silly... I took a few snaps, endeavouring to keep my camera dry (and failing quite badly!) and then retreated to
the drier end of things. When we got to the final part of the attraction, there was a lift taking us up to a viewpoint, right near one of the massive falls. We could barely hear ourselves talk and I wondered how much closer the Argentinian side could get you...
After a quick ice cream break, it was time to return to our hotel for some chill time by the pool. We enjoyed a few lengths and maybe one or 2 beers before retiring to our quarters. I went for a quick session at the gym (again, working on the principle that if it's there, I might as well take advantage. A potter around the shops (yes, that's right, shops inside of the hotel) and a shower later, it was time to reconvene for supper. This was a buffet all you can eat style... Oops... That was me stuffing myself again then! The food was remarkable once again, but I have to say that I expected no less! Our evening was concluded in the bar with a few digestifs before going to bed.
The next day was our only full day at Iguacu, and we had arranged a couple of
activities through the hotel's travel agency. The morning would see us go for a jungle hike and the afternoon for a boat trip. We were ready at 9am, as requested and picked up by a minibus which took us to the start of the walking trail: 9Km through the forest, as the guide explained to us. We were hoping to see some exciting wildlife. I have to admit that personally, I thought this part was a little disappointing. But the others were very impressed by the forest and the few animals we saw. This made me realise that I had somehow become a little blasé about some of the amazing things I was experiencing...After the 9km, we arrived at a view point overlooking the swamps, from where we could see a few birds and even a cayman. After that, our guide led us to the river, where the boat was awaiting us. We were explained that the boat would take us back down the river, towards the start of the forest and we had the option to do the last river section on a kayak. Phil and I seized the opportunity and went for the short kayak trip. Unfortunately, we
were absolutely hopeless! And it just so happens that there was a small TV crew from a local channel , filming some sort of documentary about kayaking down the river. So they filmed us... They filmed us going sideways, going backwards, doing plenty of zigzags, getting stuck and laughing our heads off at how completely rubbish we were! It was a good thing that we were paddling downstream, otherwise we would never have made it... Eventually, we returned to dry land and went for the final walk to get back out of the forest. We managed to spot a couple of monkeys, which I was really chuffed about, as even though I had seen a few before, my visitors hadn't and I was happy they'd got the privilege to witness this.
Back on the road, we were picked up by an open Jeep with benches in the middle, which took us back to the hotel for a quick bite to eat before the afternoon's entertainment The boat trip was one of the absolute must do things in Iguacu, so I was really looking forward to it. We had been told we would get wet and therefore not to take our
cameras. Once again, a minibus picked us up and took us to the start of the adventure. There, we piled onto an open top bus which took us for a short trip through the forest and to a path leading to the river. Before we knew it, we were getting on the boat and putting our life jackets on. I'd opted for the shorts and bikini top as I thought it would dry faster. I felt a little chilly, but soon was glad that I hadn't bothered putting anymore on... The boat looked a bit like a rafting kind of boat and started taking us up the river towards the falls. The pilot was purposefully doing big left and right turns in order to get the boat to lean very close to the water and to get us in the mood. After a while, everyone who had brought cameras was instructed that it was time to hide them in their dry pouches as we were going in. We braced ourselves and off we went. Wet you say? I have never been so wet in my life! We raced to the falls and it felt like we were almost under it,
although I couldn't tell you how close we really were because we couldn't see anything. All we could do was hear the screams and laughs drowning in the noise of the waterfall. We went away from it and caught our breath and all grinned at each other. But there was no time to waste and before we knew it, we were back under!. We did that little game 3 times and by the end, a few people were shouting “Enough! We've had enough!” and it was time to return to our starting point. The whole boat trip only lasted maybe half an hour, but it felt more than sufficient. On the return leg, we were going down some small rapids and the driver made sure we all got as wet as possible again...
After this extreme experience, it was time to retreat to the hotel and jump in the pool, followed by a nice hot bath. We then rushed back to the side of the falls to watch the sunset before having a relaxing final evening together. The next day we were flying back to Rio where we would say goodbye and go our separate ways.
We caught our morning
flight from Iguacu and were back at Rio airport by noon. This was an important footballing day, with United playing Chelsea, which would pretty much be the deciding game for the league winner. So we walked around the airport, trying to find a café with a TV. Eventually, we found a restaurant that agreed to put the game on for us. We watched it together, in front of a final drink. United won and then I was off, leaving my visitors to fly back to England later that day, while I was making my way to my next destination: Paraty.
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delphine
non-member comment
c'est comme les cascades de Roquefort les cascades... impressionnant