Welcome to Foz Do Iguaçu

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And so I came from the buzzing city of Rio to the touristy town of Foz Do Iguaçu. It was a smaller, calmer place waiting to be explored, a fresh system and routine to adjust to, new people to meet and befriend and another strange supermarket to master. The hostel Paudimar was amazing! Friendly staff, a bar, a hammock, great beds, very laid back atmosphere and best of all: A POOL! I started to feel relaxed and unwound from the hustle bustle of busy Rio.

I only spent one night here ‘alone’ (in terms of from the others in Travellers Worldwide team) until Teddy joined me from Rio. He is staying in Foz a whole month, which is really abnormal here because most people are in and out of this town in around 3 days; purely to see the falls or cross borders. But he has me for half of it, which for him means cooked food and an organizer to settle him in. I should really charge commission…

Work is also a whole new cup of tea. The institution is a short bus ride away, and the kids I’m working with are now around 5 years old. It’s a bit overwhelming when they try speaking to me because all I can do is smile back and say ‘si! Que isso?’ or some other basic phrase which is most likely not the answer they are waiting for. But the structure and array of activities keeps us all busy: either playing games, singing songs or coloring in. (I usually find myself crouched on a mini colorful chair at the tiny tables, more eager with my crayon or finger paint than the kids next to me!)

What’s most new for me is that I have begun Spanish lessons! It’s a bit backwards to be studying Spanish in a Portuguese speaking country, and even more that I’m spending only 2 weeks around Spanish speaking people in comparison to the +5 weeks I’ve been in Brazil. But I like the sound of Spanish, so I came to class ready and eager to learn. I basically steer the class: firstly because there is so little time to learn it all and i need to know phrases that will help ME. And secondly because they don’t normally teach Spanish so there isn’t a book to follow. But it all works for me.

Now for the paragraph you most likely have skipped to, and the real reason people come to sleepy little Foz do Iguaçu: THE WATERFALLS! After a week of work, the weekend was teeming with time to adventure, and another friend from Rio braved a 14hour bus ride to come join us on the weekend’s events. The three of us set off on Saturday morning to see the waterfalls from the Brazilian side of the falls. (the Iguaçu waterfalls break on the border of Argentina and Brazil so there are two sides to the adventure.) We paid entrance and got a bus into the national reserve to the beginning of the walking trail. From there we walked through the forest shrouded paths until we came to a clearing with a viewing point of the long stretching rows of waterfalls. It was beautiful, and the further we walked along the path, the larger the waterfalls got until we came to the end of the trail which brought you clear into the mouth of the ‘Devils Throat’. A bridge/path led closer to the ‘Devils Throat’ and the spray from the falls blew over all of us continually. The thundering of the falls and endless mass of water bounding down the drop of the falls was amazing! But we had no idea how much closer and intimate we were about to get from the Argentinean side...

There is a constant debate as to which side is better: Brazil or Argentina? Brazil gave us the panoramic view of the numerous waterfalls leading from Diablo to much further down the river. However, Argentina got us IN the waterfalls – Literally! After having a swim on the ‘island’ between the waterfalls, we hopped onto a boat which dunked us right under the pummelling white mass of water. It was exhilarating and over much too fast, leaving us soaking wet and chattering about the feeling rushing over us from the falls. Then we took a train further up river to find the path leading to the ‘Devils Throat’. After 1km of walking over the river on a iron bridge/path, we heard the roaring and thundering of the Diablo drop. Upon seeing this part of the falls i was lost in amazement at the beauty and might of water. The river gave way to a gorge where the water plummeted down with endless force and speed into the white cloud of spray below. The water danced down the drop, bouncing off rocks and ledges long the way in thick white clouds or shining white streams, accompanied by the never-ending roar and a tickling spray.

My experience of the Iguaçu falls is indescribable, even with the combination of words and pictures. But i walked away saying how that was possibly the most spectacular view and experience of my life. My eyes were budging from the spectacular visual feast i had just witnessed, my body was pumped with adrenalin and my ears were ringing from the mighty thunder of water. Wow.

The next weekend we found there was more to see than just the falls. We spent the day in the chaos and clutter of the Paraguay shopping centres. (They were so blasé about their boarder that we merely waltzed in and out of Paraguay in a matter of minutes without any record of us being there...) That weekend i dragged Teddy along to visit the animal nature reserve near Itaipu damn. Itaipu is like a middle-land and shared territory between Paraguay and Brazil, with the hydro powered damn which supplies 78% Paraguay’s energy supply and 25% of Brazils. However i was more fascinated with the animal reserve that had been set up by the Itaipu Company due to the extensive damage and uprooting of the ecosystem this damn had caused. Teddy and I happened to be the only 2 on that round of the shift so we got a personal tour at no additional cost! Finally i got to see the magnificent Jaguar. With its colouring i thought it was a leopard but as i crouched closer to the enclosure i saw how much larger and stronger it was. I saw a whole array of indigenous animals that had been rescued, but the Jaguar was the vivid image that stuck in my mind of that tour.

My stay in Iguaçu was over in a flash. It had been only 2 weeks yet i was ready to move on to the big city life again, with all its clutter and chaos! However,I had really bonded with the children and institution in Foz. Once again, most of the ladies didn’t speak English very well at all,yetmanaged to communicate and smile and spend time with these dedicated caretakers. On my last day, the head lady called me over and handed me a gift wrapped up in flowery paper. They had printed a picture of me with the children and put in into a pretty glass frame covered in Portuguese words and phrases. I couldn’t thank them enough for both the experience and the present which had come from their own pockets and hearts.

Im not so sure what Teddy will get up to on the weekends here now that i have dragged him through the best that Foz has to offer, but my eyes and ears were stuck on information about my next destination:Buenos Aires! Thank you Foz, you have been the relief from the madness of Rio City, but now its time to explore the Paris of South Americe!

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