Iguassu Falls

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We recently moved to Brasilia, Brasil and took our first trip to Iguassu Falls over the Thanksgiving weekend. On Thursday morning, we boarded an economy flight to Curitiba and then on to Foz do Iguaçu. From our downtown hotel that evening, we walked to a choperia (bar) and watched the beginnings of the city’s nightly Christmas festival. The next morning, we took a taxi across the border into Argentina to view the falls. We boarded a jet boat and zipped up the river almost into the falls, getting completely drenched by the end. Dripping dry in the afternoon sun, we followed a series of walkways right up to the edge of the falls. We stopped for lunch, narrowly thwarting quati (anteater/raccoon) raids on our food. Our journey continued on a small train to the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat), the most impressive waterfall.

On Day 2, Jenn realized she had made a grave mistake of drinking milk from a roadside stand…We taxied over to the Brazilian entrance and boarded a tour bus to the start of the walkways overlooking the falls. Since most of the falls are in Argentina, the Brazil side offers the best panoramic views, although there are so many falls that it is impossible to see everything from one spot. After an afternoon nap, went to a cultural show of South American dances and Brazilian barbeque.

Jenn went for her first helicopter ride in the copilot seat, while Alex had to sit in the back. The ride only lasted for 10 minutes, but we took several passes over the Brazilian side of the falls. Once we landed, we walked to the nearby Bird Park and saw a bunch of birds including toucans, macaws, parrots and emus. We shared lunch with our taxi driver at a local Churrascaria (barbeque restaurant). For dinner, we returned to the park and ate at the Hotel Cataratas, a former monastery, and were able to take some beautiful sunset photos overlooking the falls.

On our last day, we visited the Itaipu Dam, which provides 90% of Paraguay’s power and 20% of Brazil’s. The tour consisted of a propaganda video of the dam’s environmental benefits, a bus ride into Paraguay and over the top of the dam. We then headed back to Brasília on an evening flight.

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Comments

[Mother Dorothy]

So what happened after Jennifer drank the milk, or shouldn\'t I ask?? :(