Fun at the Falls

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Sarah: Hello! Am writing this from our hostel in Foz do Iguacu on Wednesday morning after a day at the spectacular Iguazu Falls yesterday!

We had an airport hotel in São Paulo Sunday night, since we got in pretty late and had our flights to Foz do Iguazu booked for lunchtime the next day. Plus we haven't heard many reasons to visit São Paulo as a tourist, so this was to be a flying visit. It was nice to be somewhere with air con that doesn't sound like a jet plane taking off and the pool / jacuzzi on the 27th floor were not all bad either!

Monday was an uneventful day of travelling to Foz. On our first night here we took advantage of the free caiprinhas laid on by the hostel and mixed with some of our travelling chums on the rooftop terrace as the sun went down. being in the Atlantic Rainforest, we were surrounded by very verdant landscape that has been typical of our route through Brazil. Being a major tourist attraction this landscape is also punctuated by lots of big garish hotels, casinos and tat shops!

It was a bit of a slow start this morning due to my possible over enjoyment of the caiprinhas the previous night, but we made it to the falls and set off on the paths that lead you through all the different panoramas of the Brazilian side of the falls. (The falls are where the borders of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet).

The transfer bus warned us not to feed the quatis (or coatis in some languages).... having done a lot of wildlife research in preparation for our trip, we realised these were the little raccoon-like creatures Nick had promised I'd see - excited! They are not as cute as they look unfortunately, and within 5 mins we'd seen one grab a pack of biscuits out of a mans bag he'd left on the ground and his wife kicked the quatis away (with the biscuits in tow). The falls were as amazing as we imagined and the mist was a welcome natural coolant and hangover cure! We were also surrounded by all kinds of butterflies, more quatis and birds (no toucans, apparently they come out later in the day, but there were several renditions of 'Toucan Play at that Game').

As you walk around the trails, more and more of the falls are revealed, they seem to go on forever! We went on a walkway right over some of the falls and rejected the plastic ponchos on sale and got absolutely soaked by the spray. We soon dried off though in the hot sun! The falls themselves are mesmerising as you watch the relatively calm water in some places crash down. They were well worth the visit.

In the afternoon we took a walk through a part of the Atlantic Rainforest where the falls are located. It was a bit quieter than the main part of the falls and full of more amazing butterflies. On the way back along the trail I was inches away from stepping on a little snake! Sadly, it had recently been run over by one of the rangers vans and breathed its last as I took it's photo...

We've been told that the Argentinian side of the falls are well worth a visit, but we've decided to stop chasing waterfalls and stick to the bird park instead (largest bird park in all of Latin America apparently). So, hopefully today will bring positive toucan sighting, albeit in captivity.

Hope everyone is well. Nick is now all better thankfully and well back in the game!

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