Iguazu we love you!!

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Our visit to Iguazu Falls was absolutely fabulous. There are not many words that can describe the famous waterfalls of Iguazu. We spent 5 days in Iguazu doing a little bit of the park each day and seeing more and more of the waterfalls. When we got off the plane in Iguazu we were in a jungle environment - hot and humid with thick vegetation. Luckily our hostel had a pool!

Iguazu Falls is at a point where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina all meet. Argentina has done a great job of making its park accessible. You can get right up to some of the falls on catwalks. They have a little train that takes you from one spot to another in the park. It had the music from the movie, “The Mission” playing on it. (If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll understand, -- it was filmed at the falls)

One day we took the boat ride that takes you under one of the really big falls. We were soaked. Then it started raining, and we were drowned rats. Another day, we did a boat trip through the jungle to see the wildlife. We saw some caiman and interesting birds. But we actually saw more just walking through the park - toucans, capuchin monkeys, snakes, and coati. There were butterflies everywhere -- all different types, congregating together in wet spots.

We thought about going into Brazil to see the falls from the Brazil side and to go visit a town called Curitiba. Curitiba is a town famous for its progressive land use and transportation planning. Steve had read about it a lot and it was killing him to be so close (a 10 hour bus ride) and not visit it. But for Americans to enter Brazil requires a visa and a fee of $100. We couldn’t justify the expense for all four of us for such a short visit. So Steve got his visa, took an overnight bus to Curitiba, saw the city by day, then returned to Iguazu Falls, Argentina on the next overnight bus. He loved it. Seeing is believing.

Ben and Oliver had a big surprise waiting for Steve when he returned. We had noticed that many of the backpackers traveling had crew cuts and it looked comfortable in the hot climate. So while Steve was gone, the boys went to the peliqueria and got “travel” cuts (crew cuts). Steve didn’t recognize them when he got back!

After a wonderful time, we are off to Buenos Aires.

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Photos

Steve visits Curitiba, Brazil
Bus Rapid Transit