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Orlagh blogging here!
After our long journey from Rio, we arrived in Foz de Iguaçu on Monday afternoon. We got off the bus and ran into 3 irish girls Jamie, Michelle and Sarah. We decided to get something to eat and stopped off at a traditional Brazilian all-you-can eat buffet.
Afterwards, the girls decided to head over to the Argentinian side (to Puerto Iguazu) where they were staying. We decided to go see the Brazilian side of the Falls while we were there.
So off we went with our backpacks (the heat was unreal) to look for a banklink to get cash, which took forever. It can be difficult to find a banklink that accepts international cards. We went looking for a tourist information centre, but it wasn´t where it said it was on the map. Eventually, a local directed us to the right busstop to get to the National Park where we could see the falls.
We arrived there and paid in, and got on a bus that takes you around the park. When we got off the bus, we decided to take a trail down to the falls. It was fabulous, the pictures don´t do
it justice. We didn´t spend long there, as we had to catch a bus to get over the border to Argentina.
Back at Foz, we got a bus to get us into Argentina. We stopped at the border and got off to get our passports stamped. (The bus doesn´t wait for you). We got stamps that say you have left Brazil. We waited for a half hour before another bus came that we could get on (other buses came and went but were from different companies so wouldn´t accept our tickets- by this stage it was dark and getting close to the last buses). THe bus stopped again about 3km up the road so we could get another stamp saying we were entering Argentina. This bus waited for us (we think it was the last one!).
The bus dropped us right at our hostel, which was on the main street in Puerto Iguazu. Hostel is a bit of an understatement, it was like a hotel with fresh towels, cleaning service, breakfast included, en suite... We went out for something to eat and made a plan to go to the Falls the next day. The food was really tasty
(and cheap!) but the town was fairly quiet.
The next day we were so tired we slept it in, and decided we should leave the falls till the next day (most of my clothes were gone into laundry too). We found a great bakery on the corner which did great cakes and coffee. Since we missed breakfast at the hostel, we had breakfast there instead. We headed on the bus a little out of the main town to Guira-oga, a wild animal refuge. Here they rescue animals who are kept as pets illegally; have been confiscated at customs or are injured. They rehabilitate the animals and if they are able they are reintroduced into the wild. If not, they stay at the refuge and are used for breeding (the young are released then).
There were so many kinds of birds.There were 2 scarlet macaws who were 14 and 18 years old. THe families who owned them donated them to the refuge when they realised the life span of this bird is 60-70 years. There was also a bird of prey (i don´t know the name) who was shot at by a farmer, and lost the bottom half of
his beak.
They have lots of Coatis (raccoon- type mammals) who they take into the refuge every summer season. In the summer, the National Park is so full of tourists who feed the coatis all kinds of mad food, and they get sick or obese or both. So the refuge takes in as many of these as they can and then release them in the winter season.
There are alot of birds of prey at the refuge because farming is a huge industry in this part of the country. Farmers worry the birds will eat their animals and end up shooting them. Owls are a common bad omen with locals, so they are usually driven out of barns and/or shot.
We really had a great day at the park, they seemed to be doing good work at keeping the animals wild and not bunny-hugging which is what I like to see!
We made our way back to our hostel and headed out for something to eat- we hoped to find a busy bar somewhere but it was still very quiet- one of the downsides of travelling here this time of year. The upside is you don´t
Iguazu Falls
This guy was just beside the train we were getting into the park. The animals are fairly tame, but there are signs everywhere saying not to feed them. Of course people still do. :(have to queue for things and everywhere isn´t packed with tourists.
The next day we got up early and stopped off at the bakery to get some rolls and some cakes for the trip to the park. At the bus station, we booked our tickets for a boat trip we had our eye on. In the brochure, they advertised a package of 2 boat trips (the ecologia and the gran adventua), but the girl said the ecologia wasn´t available. (If you do go here, DO NOT book your tickets at the bus station!- you´ll see why). We got the bus out to the park, and started off at the visitors´centre, which explained all about the wildlife there, the importance of the forest, and told us a little about the tribal people (The Guarani) who are indigenous to the area, and are guards of the forest.
Off we went then on the train to the Devil´s Throat- the main attraction in the park. On the way, you walk across the massive Iguazu river on a bridge, and we saw butterflies, caimens, turtles, catfish, and loads of other things. When we got to the Devil´s Throat we were blown away.
It´s a huge waterfall that is so high, you can´t see the river at the bottom from the spray of the falling water. The viewing area is on a balcony near the top of the waterfall, so you are looking down over it. We took a few photos (the spray kept wetting the camera) and headed back to the train.
On our way we discovered that the Ecologia boat trip was running, and because we really wanted to do it, ended up paying extra. So if you do go, make sure you book your tickets for boat trips at the park and not at the bus station!
The ecologia boat trip was amazing. It was lovely and quiet, away from the main park and we saw lots of wildlife.
Once we got off the boat, we decided to have a bite to eat and then head to our other boat trip. When we got to the boat we had to take off our shoes and put all our cameras and bags into dry bags. We got on the boat and it took us right out into the river, right up to the waterfalls. We got absolutely soaked.
Turtle
We saw this turtle on our way to the Devils Throat catching some sunshine There were a group of aussies beside us screaming their heads off! At this stage it was about 5oc in the evening, so we were FREEZING cold after getting soaked. We may aswell have jumped in the river we got that wet. It was great fun and we would highly recommend it!
We went for a short walk on one of the trails (where we saw a wild toucan!) and then headed back to the main gate to head back to the hostel. That night we were so tired, we got a quick bite to eat and headed to bed.
We had a great stay in Iguazu, it was a lovely town and the food was brilliant (and cheap!).
The next day we headed to San Ignacio, a town about 4 hours outside Iguazu, where the Jesuit missions settled and converted alot of local tribal people (Guarani). The Guarani at the time were being captured as slaves by the spanish and portuguese, so they decided to live with the Jesuits for protection. We had a lovely english speaking guide to show us around the ruins of the Jesuit compound. The big church in the centre took 30
Butterfly
There were loads of butterflies at the park. They just land on you all the time years to build. This area is called San Ignacio Miní, as its the second place they lived (they lived further up the Brazilian border but kept getting attacked by Portuguese from Sao Paolo). We had a look around the ruins for an hour or so and then got something to eat before we boarded another bus at 7pm to take us to Buenos Aires.
I won´t say too much, but the restaurant we ate in gave us food poisoning and we were on that bus for 14 hours straight. I won´t say anymore, I´ll spare you the details!
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ann reddington
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BA
Definitely not your favorite place in S. America! Iquassi falls and animal park and the monastery sounds amazing photos are fabulous! Good blog Orlagh xxx