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Published: January 29th 2008
After spending a relaxing weekend in São Paulo, soaking in the sun in Pareque Ibirapuera, getting to know Karene´s lovely family at their ´sitio´in the countryside and just spending some time with Karene, MOnday morning Samantha and I took the plane to Foz do Iguaçu - yet another UNESCO world heritage site.
According to the Lonely Planet, ´A total of 275 individual falls occup an area more than 3 km wide and 80m high, which make them wider than Victoria, and higher than Niagra. Thousands of years before they were ´discovered´ by Europeans, the falls were a holy burial place for the Tupi-Guarani and Paraguas tribes.´ In fact, Iguaçu is the Tupi-Gurani name for ´Great Waters´.
´The falls are unequally divided between Brazil and Argentina, with Argentina taking the lion´s share.´ Our plan was to visit the Brazilian falls on one day and the Argentinian falls on another. It was funny to read that there is some kind of competition between the two on which side is the most beautiful! Sam and I thought we would judge for ourselves.
So the day we arrived, we went to a tour operator to get some advice. Lonely Planet recommended Jaha
Iguassu, but I´m afriad to say we were really disappointed. First of all, he tried to hit on us the minute we entered - he even had the cheek to ask if we were single, hehe. And the impression we got was that he´s been in the business for too long and is really fed up! Anyway, he gave us a map and sent us oin our way, alone.... we didn´t mind at all....
It was a sunny day and really really hot and humid, which made it almost difficult to breathe, but it was still a pleasure to walk around the park surrounded by trees and the sound of the waterfalls. Having never seen waterfalls before, you can imagine how impressed we were when we finally got our first glimpse.... and it was great to just stand before them and let the gentle spray refresh us!
I think we were in the Brazilian park a couple of hours. Besides it not being too big, we skipped walking the the jungle trails, since it was so hot and we were both petrified we would encounter some interesting animals... hehe
That evening we went to a ´churrascaria´ for
dinner, which basically is a restaurant that serves meat, a kind of steakhouse. We had such a laugh... the way it works is that people serve themselves from a buffet of vegetables and other side plates, then the waiters go from table to table displaying ALL types of meat on skewers and if you like it they give you some in your plate. Cool idea, except that they wouldn´t stop coming, even if they could clearly see that our plate was full. And on top of that, we had no idea what they were serving so every time we had these blank faces and kept asking what it was, until finally one of the waiters brought us a diagram with all the names of the different meats, hehe, which included chicken heart..... I didn´t eat much that evening, but unfortunately the meat made me sick. The doctor said that probably the oil was too heavy for my stomach to digest.
Next day, we went to Argentinian falls (yippie, I have another stamp in my passport) and the park there is much bigger - it took us all day to get around. It really felt like an adventure, walking along
trails, discovering waterfalls at every turn, stumbling upon animals we´ve never seen before, and admiring the butterflies up close. And we also took a speedboat ride on the river, right into the falls.... of course we got completely soaked, but it was really worth it!
We left the Garganta do Diablo for last, a trail that takes you right to the falls edge. What can I say, spectacular!!!
If you´re visiting Brazil, you must include Foz do Iguaçu in your itinerary.
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Ingrid (mama)
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So happy for you
Dear Yvanka I m so glad that u made this trip although i was a bit apprehensive but thanks to your blogs i feel so close to being there with you. Keep it up although i know it is difficult for you to spend time on internet when u have so much to see and do. Miss and love u very much bacio mama xxxxx