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I left Lima under a little cloud. I had planned two volunteering projects for my next two countries but after being let down by the company organising the placements repeatedly and much heartache I pulled out from both the day before my flight to Brazil. I still had flights to Iguassu in Brazil and Hondurus so rather than waste them I decided to make the best of it and travel anyway.
I didn’t have a plan at all. Turn up to Iguassu and decide from there was the best I could do, so I did. I booked accommodation the night before and was picked up at the airport. Brazil wasn’t what I expected in the weather department at all. Even though it was winter here I still expected it to be pleasant. I arrived to chilly winds and sweeping rain. Marvellous. I had just given away two jumpers and sent some gloves, a hat and a scarf home only the day before. I obviously hadn’t learned anything from my Chile experience. I was chilly again in South America.
The hostel was all geared up for the Brazilian summer; outdoor pool, open communal area and outside bar and dining area.
It was set in the middle of the countryside miles from town, an idyllic retreat in summer but with the cold and wet it felt a little less glamorous. I took the next day just to gather myself, catch up with blogs and some reading. The weather was clearing a little, it had stopped raining at least so I decided to visit the Argentinean side of the great Iguassu Falls the next day.
Foz de Iguassu, where I was staying, is the nearest Brazilian town to the falls. The Falls themselves mark a border between Brazil and Argentina and can be viewed from both sides. In fact just further down the river after the falls is the ‘three frontiers’. Two rivers merge at a Y and standing on the banks in Brazil you can see the banks of Argentina and Paraguay all displaying monuments in patriotic colours.
I ended up seeing the falls over 3 days. On day one, before I left for the falls I realized that I’d left my camera battery and charger in Lima. Duh! I was mad as I’d been so careful not to forget it before, so most of that first morning was
spent in shops trying to track down a battery to no avail. I headed to the falls without a camera regardless. The Argentinean side of the falls give you close up experience. It had a few kilometers of different trails, some along the top of the falls, some down the cliff to the river side. The weather was overcast. I set off along the first trail through the rainforest path. A sign warned of dangerous animals in the park but didn’t mention what they were. While wandering along ruminating over what exciting animals they maybe, an orange fell on the path in front of me. I looked up to see a troop of small monkeys in the treetops, picking oranges and scooping out the flesh. I stopped and watched for a while, craning my neck to see them through the branches.
I headed on and walked the trails and admired the falls. There was a rainbow in almost every view I saw. The river that flows over the falls looks peaceful and almost stationary in parts but the falls themselves are impressive. They cover a huge area and on the Argentinean side I was captivated by the curve of
a series of white water falls cascading from the cliff, a good half a kilometer long, until I realised this was only maybe a third of the show I was seeing. A little train ride took me to the top of the park and a kilometer long boardwalk over the river took me to the main attraction, the devil’s throat. As I approached over the water I could see the spray rising over the trees and the roar of the water. It was kinda exciting. The boardwalk took me right to the edge of these incredible falls, looking straight into the devils throat. The noise was thundering as the waters plunged down and disappeared into a cloud of spray obscuring the rocks and river below. It was compulsive viewing.
I revisited the Argentinean side a few days later, camera charged and in hand. I ran round taking pictures of the views I’d seen before but this time in brilliant sunshine. And just to make the day a little different I took the boat tour to see the two main falls from the water. The driver from the hostel said I might get a little wet so I left it
till last. The boat took us to the bottom of the second most important fall then round the corner to see the devils throat from the water. Truly impressive. After some picture taking we were instructed to put our cameras away in the dry bags provided. I suspected the ‘getting a little wet’ may be shortly upon us. The captain maneuvered the boat and took us close to one of the minor falls; I did indeed get splashed by the spray. “That was fun”, I thought as the boat came back round to port, “and not too wet either!” The boat however didn’t stop at the jetty; it sped past and back to the second largest fall. The captain took us into the falls, yes into the falls. Ok, not directly under the full force of the falls (we would have capsized) but so far into the spray that it wasn’t all misty anymore…it was a shower. In fact I would have been less wet going for a shower at home fully clothed. As you can imagine I squealed. I couldn’t help it. The water was running down my t-shirt and my hair was plastered to my face. But no…it
wasn’t over yet! The captain thought it would be fun to do it a second time! By the time I got off the boat there was one small dry patch on my trousers, about 2 inch squared.
The Brazilian side is less extensive but it gave me a better view of the scale of the falls. On both sides however the wildlife seemed to be bursting out. Apart from the monkeys on the first day I saw vultures, coatis (from the raccoon family), storks, a multitude of multi coloured birds and butterflies of every size shape and colour. People were taking pictures of the wildlife just as much as they were the falls. It was a joy. Iguassu is truly one of the wonders of the natural world.
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