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Published: October 23rd 2007
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Finally in Brazil a country we have been looking forward to since we first stated planning this trip 2 years ago. Unfortunately for us we didn’t plan our time very well, which means we only have 6 weeks here and with a country only slightly smaller then the U.S that is no time at all!
Our first stop for Brazil was Foz do Iguaçu to see the Iguaçu falls from the Brazilian side. We managed to get an early bus from Asuncion and we finally arrived in Brazil 7 hours later. The border crossing was easy enough and after all the hassle of having the Yellow Fever vaccinations they didn’t even ask us for the certificate which apparently they would not let you into the country without!! Everybody told us that Brazil was going to be expensive and we noticed the difference straight away with us having to pay 14 pound a night for a shitty room which looked like it was in the middle of being refurbished.
We had a walk around Foz and it was very quiet and hot so looked for a bar to chill out at and we managed to find a few with people
doing the same. Michelle was happy enough as they had three different beers that she has never tried before and could add the beer labels to her now huge collection, she must have tried near enough 70 different beers and I have tried them too and still not found one I like! As there was not much to go back for at the hostel we stayed out until around about midnight. On the way home we were in for a surprise, there was prostitutes everywhere and we haven’t seen so many since we were in Thailand a few years back. Just like Thailand a few she-he’s for the gentleman with different tastes!
The next day we went to Itaipu dam for a guided tour. We needn’t had bothered and wasn’t worth the 4 quid. The tour was very organised and we got to learn a lot of different things but when we went to see the dam it was just like any other but on a huge scale, as in a huge concrete wall stopping the water! To build the dam the amount of concrete used would be enough to build 210 Maracanas and the amount of steel would
build 380 Eiffel towers! The dam has been voted as one of the 7 man made wonders of the natural world. It would have been impressive if we got to see the dam open but no joy, so had to just settle for the wall! I gave some info about the dam in the Paraguay blog see below.
Paraguay have shared a project with Brazil to help produce power for both of the countries and in 1984 they built one of the biggest dams in the world that produces 90% of electricity for Paraguay and 25% for Brazil. In all the project has worked very well for both countries and I suppose it is a green way of getting energy. The downside of this project is that to build this dam they had to destroy lots of forest, move thousands of people and submerge Sete Quedas falls, the Paraguayan equivalent of Iguazu falls, many of the people that have seen these falls before the tragedy said they were even more impressive. It’s scary to think they could destroy something so beautiful but I suppose you have to weigh up what’s more important, the energy it creates or the natural
Itaipu Dam
The largest hydro electric power plant in the world. It supplies 90% of electricitry for Paraguay and 25% for Brazil wonder? See pictures of Iguazu to get an idea of what the falls look like.
Our last day in Foz we went to see the waterfall. This time our luck was a better than the wet of Argentina and we had a bright and sunny day. As soon as we arrived we knew the experience was going to be different as there were shit loads of people and had to queue for 30 minutes just to get through the door, not a good start as you know, I hate tourists! Even with all those people it still cant spoil the views we got to see, they were just as good as Argentina, breathtaking and you have to take a step back just to comprehend what you are seeing. For me its the size of the place which is hardest to grasp as in the past any water fall has been in one area and usually one stream but here there are hundreds and they just go on for ever and every new turn in the trail brings out a new picture opportunity. See the pictures even though they look the same most of the pictures are of different parts
of the falls, its hard to explain the size; you just have to go to see it for yourself. The whole day was great a part from the stupid tourists getting in the way of some of our shots. We managed to get a few good ones and will have to blow a few of them up when we get home. Our favourites were the ones with rainbows in them as it made the falls look even more spectacular.
For me I couldn’t pick between which was the better side to view the falls as both sides have their advantages and differences but still amazing and would recommend to everybody to do them both. In Argentina you have more viewing platforms and can make more of a day of it as there are more trails and because of this can get away from the crowds. For cost, Argentina is alot cheaper especially when you want to include boat rides to get soaked under the falls as I think Brazil was nearly double the cost.
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