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Published: November 6th 2010
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After a very relaxed couple of days on the coast, we decided to let the bus Gods play a role in our travels and jumped on a coach to Sao Paolo hoping that we would be able to jump on a connecting coach to Foz do Iguacu. After 6 hours on the coach we arrived and were lucky enough to get a seat on an overnight bus, which got us into Foz pretty much exactly 24 hours from when we left Paraty!! We went searching for some accomodation, trudging around 'The Foz' in 30 degree heat with our backpacks on, til we finally managed to track down a hostel with availability. We did accidentally wander down to a slightly less civilised area, but luckily a lovely Brazilian man managed to convey to us in Portugese (we are obviously fluent by now..!!) that we didn't want to go down there - the words "hobo" and "favela" were enough to set us in the right direction....
After a very welcome shower, we headed to the Brazilian side of the waterfalls. The Iguazu Falls pretty much sit on the border of three countries (Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina). They consist of 275 falls along
2.7 kilometers of the Iguazu River. The majority of the falls are approximately 65m high, although some of the individual falls are up to 82 metres. On the Brazilian side, we were afforded a brilliant overall view of the falls, walking out onto a long walkway along the canyon with an extension to the lower base of the Devil's Throat. The Devils Throat is the highlight of both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of the falls - it's a huge, horseshoe shaped crevice that the water crashes over, sending up a drenching spray down the bottom on the Brazilian side, and up the top on the Argentinian side!!
The next day we jumped on a bus to the Argentinian side, where we hooked up with a few other people and wandered around the very busy falls! There were 3 main 'walks', and it's fair to say that we must have shared the shorter 'upper circuit' with about 10,000 rugby playing grannies - they were old, they were slow, and they tackled hard!!! We really weren't prepared for the physical onslaught that is touring with the elderly, and got out of there as fast as we could (not very!!) We
headed to the less populated walks, where we were actaully able to concentrate on, and enjoy, the marvellous spectacle that lay before us. The falls really are awe inspiring, and we felt incredibly small and insignificant next to such a powerful natural phenomonen.
The two days we spent at the falls, as you can see from the pictures, were simply stunning - blue skies, sunshine and about 30 degrees each day. We stayed on at Puerto Iguassu, on the Argentinian side for a couple of nights, and the weather closed in for the entire time - the last night there was a massive storm that knocked out the power, and our roof leaked bucketloads of water!! It was perhaps somewhat fitting the skies were so stormy - the President's husband had died only the day before, (he himself having been president 2003 - 2007 before his wife won office). We had entered a country in mourning.
The next morning we jumped on a bus out of Puerto Iguassu, although typically before we even left the bus station, the sun had begun to shine - no matter, apart from shopping and eating there wasn't much to do in the
town itself - it was time to move on. Next stop - Posadas!
After a very civilised, DAYTIME bus journey of a mere 8 hours (easy!!) we arrived at the very chilled riverside town of Posadas. Not a lot appears to go on here - there are a lot of ice-cream shops (YAY!), a lot of joggers / dogwalkers, and a lot of restaurants / bars. Therefore, we spent a couple of days wandering around, eating ice cream in the afternoon and going for very late dinners - 8:30 or 9 is the earliest the restaurants open up for the evening sittings!! No wonder we had to eat ice cream in the afternoon!!
We spent another night on an overnight coach to Argentina's second city, Rosaria, where we are now. The coaches, by the way, are incredible in Argentina. OK, so they play some absolutley dreadful chick-flick movies with subtitiles, but you get all meals, blankets and pillows, and even post dinner champagne!!!
Rosario is considred to be Argentina's 'second city', and apparently we brought their Summer with us. The past couple of days have been HOT - yesterday was 33 degrees; cue ice-cream!!
We have
done a lot of walking - apart from their very impressive Monument to the Flag, there are not a lot of touristy things to do here, but it's a lovely city, and has some great areas for strolling around and people watching. There are also several restaurant areas, which we've done our best to explore.... needless to say, steak has been on the menu!!
We are heading to Mendoza next - the heartland of Argentina's wine industry. Hopefully in our next blog we'll be able to update you on the right vintage from the region... if we can remember its name!!
Hasta Luega!
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Richard Burnett
non-member comment
Beard/meat
James, i have just caught up with your blogs that had not been getting through to us. I have now seen the end of Africa and your arrival in South America. Rio and the Falls look more like a holiday than "travelling". suffice to say I am very envious. Today is a wet Monday in the City. Pete is fed up as the trains were late again, "leaves on the line", and he has a cold. The Away day was good, usual stuff during the day, BIG piss up, hang over in the garden the next day. One or two people badly over clubbed the dinner/line dancing/karaoke/disco/pond swimming and it showed. Remind me never to drink port as a way of rehydrating after wearing a stetsun, a "Mykanos" neckscarf and "dancing" the night away. I gave myself a team talk before the start and managed not to ruin the karaoke. The usual suspects were up. Sharp/Tom very good as usual. Mel/Ian duet??? When will she learn? The beard looks better this time. I'm looking forward to a bit of ZZ Top action in the next set of pix. The steaks look great too, but will even you get fed up with grilled meat and be hankering for a mushroom risotto? Not much to report here. Pete is going to Mauritius for Christmas to see his sister in law. The family go in early December, "but he can only go for a few days due to the pressures of work". They go economy, he's in Club! He will miss the 3 days between Xmas and New Year. Good for him. Ashes Test Matches start soon. Will you find somewhere to watch? Good luck for the next stage of your trip. Love to Megan and look forward to the next blog. Regards Richard. p.s. it appears by the way the blog is written, lot's of useful facts and items of interest, that Megan is in charge. Could this be true?