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Published: September 1st 2007
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Whilst I waited for Sanj in Sao Paulo airport, I began thinking about my travels so far and it dawned on me that it was an end of a beautiful chapter in my life, travelling solita. It has been such a special experience, just having the confidence to take buses, be it chicken or posh tourist buses in Bolivia, getting to know children who have touched my life far more than I have touched theirs and meeting fellow travellers with weird and wonderful experiences themselves. And the lone traveller experience was all ending, because now I was to travel Brazil as a couple with my future husband.
Brazil is expensive, when you’re used to paying a pound for decent meal. Our taxi to the hotel cost 130R$, which is over 30 squid. Tip: get a metered taxi, the booths just rip you off.
Didn’t get to see much of Sao Paulo because the next day I had planned for us to take an overnight bus to the Iguacu Falls. We arrived at the bus terminal Tiete, hot and bothered after a crowded metro journey, and I just asked around for journeys to Foz, the Brazilian side of the
Falls. There were no cama or semi-camas for the 14 hour buses to Foz. I didn’t even have to ask Sanj whether he minded taking a ‘normal’ twelve hour bus, his face said it all. I had to understand that he had arrived fresh from London, where one hour journeys in traffic are painful. I don’t know how many booths we visited, but none of them advised me that there was a comfortable cama bus going to the Argentinian side Puerto Iguassu - it was sheer luck that we had come across it.
Although the bus journey was comfortable, it was long. It stopped in Foz, where we could have quite easily disembarked and got to our hostel but no, the oh so prim and law abiding bus conductor refused to allow us to get off. So we had to waste two hours of our precious time at border control in Puerto Iguazu, when we were only going to get a taxi back to Foz anyway! Why wasn’t I more persistent?
We arrived at about 4pm at our hotel in Foz. I didn’t want to waste valuable site seeing time, so agreed when the taxi driver offered to
take us to the Brazilian side of the falls. We arrived 15 minutes before the park was about to close.
The Brazilian side only needs 2 hours max. It has a better overview of the falls. The scenery is spectacular, and we bought some geeky looking plastic raincoats so we could get showered by the permanent cloud of water spray at Devil’s throat. By the time we got back it was dark.
The 12 hour bus took its toll on us and so we didn’t wake up in time to go to the Argentine side, about an hour’s drive away. Instead we went to the Brazilian side, not to see the falls, but to do a 3 hour trail on mountain bike, finishing in the Parana River, that creates a natural border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The weather was superb, hot and humid, something I appreciated after months of cold in Peru and Bolivia. And the ride was pleasant, cruising through a semi tropical rainforest. Unfortunately you cannot go by yourself, so we had a guide with us, talking about ‘farms’ and ‘ferns’ and various other plant things.
After the biking, it was off to see
a view point over the Parana River, looking at caymans. Then we went on a boat trip and did some kayaking. Kayaking isn’t my forte, and poor Sanj had to endure 360 degree turns the whole way.
We hadn’t planned to see the Argentine side…I mean, a waterfall is a waterfall. That was until we met a Chilean travel agent by the name Luis…..stay away from the Agency that is opposite Hotel del Rey and don’t be fooled by the keywords ‘budget’ and ‘backpackers’. He is very sweet mouthed, a bit of a slime ball, and he will rip you off big time. We had just wanted to enquire about bus times to Campo Grande, and we were stupid enough to book an Argentine falls side tour AND a Pantanal tour through him. Apparent later that he made a handsome profit on our Pantanal tour. In Brazil it is better to cut out the third parties, they really do charge you for it.
The Argentine side is by far better, and well worth a visit, so maybe Luis wasn’t so useless afterall. You get up close and personal to the waterfalls (get on a boat trip), gushing down
a 300 ft drop, all 450 gallons of it per second. The Devil’s Gorge is spectacular. I have been to Niagra, and it isn’t a patch on Iguazu. Maybe because of the surrounding rainforest or the sheer number (all 275 of them) of separate waterfalls. A trip worthwhile. And if any of you come across Luis, give him a slap for us!
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