Iguassu Falls

Friday, 19 April, 2013
This morning we said goodbye to Rio de Janeiro and flew to Foz do Iguazu which is a town on the Brazilian side of the Iguazu River where the falls are located.  The borders of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay converge here.  The trip was a bit tedious as we had to fly to a city called Curitiba for a two hour layover and then take another flight to Foz do Iguazu.  Nothing much going on in Curitiba although it is a sizeable place (300,000 population) in an agricultural area.  Some high hills in the distance but otherwise very flat around the city. Of course we just stayed in the airport.
After collecting our gear at Foz do Iguazu Airport, the bus took us straight to the national park and the falls.  We spent the rest of the afternoon with our guide, Wilson, walking the trail alongside the various falls that make up the whole mighty system of waterfalls which plunge over the sides of a three mile long cataract in an otherwise fairly flat landscape.   There is no indication of the presence of the falls until actually reaching the edge.  Then it is mind-blowing - on such a huge scale!  There are around 300 separate waterfalls of varying widths.  It is all pretty overwhelming - here are some photos which give some idea of the scale of the falls.

Yes, I was there!

Lookout point with a spectacular view

There are about 300 separate falls - these are in Argentina, viewed from Brazil

At the head of the cataract - Devil's Throat

As we walked through the forest on the Brazilian side of the chasm there were ever changing views of the different falls that lie in Argentina.  Along the way we saw an armadillo scuffling about on the forest floor a well as one of the many coatis which inhabit the area.

Busy little armidillo

 At the end of the walk is the mighty Devil's Throat waterfall. I bought a poncho and ventured out on the bridge below the Devil's Throat - still got rather wet from all the spray.  The roar of the water is deafening!

Venturing out on the boardwalk below Devil's Throat

Slightly scary and rather damp - on the boardwalk

An elevator ascends to the top of the chasm, with a number of platforms along the way to take in the views.

View from the top - Devil's Throat

There were a dozen or more little coatis around the cafeteria at the top, all on the hunt for food - diving into rubbish bins and jumping on to tables - they will try to get into your pockets or bags if they think you have any food.  Extremely voracious eaters to say the least.  They have big bushy tails and long snouts - not the prettiest of animals but kind of entertaining.

Cheeky coati

Our next stop was the Mabu Thermas Resort Hotel ,near Foz do Iguazu,  where we stayed for the next two nights - our base for visiting the falls.  The hotel seems to be in the middle of nowhere but it does have hot pools and is very nice - just a place to stay while visiting the Falls.

Pool area of Mabu Thermas Resort

Saturday 20 April, 2013
We departed early Saturday morning to cross the border so that we could view the falls from the Argentina side.  Before leaving Brazil we crossed the Iguazu River.  From the bridge we were able to see Argentina (left), Paraguay (centre) and Brazil (right) all at once - a bit unusual.

Three countries! Strangely, they all look the same.

Getting out of Brazil was a doddle - getting into Argentina took an hour and a half.   We hung about in the carpark at the border and then finally had a twenty minute drive through the national park to a rail line where we rode a tourist type open carriage train to the beginning of the trail. There were plenty of coatis hanging about at the entrance to the park as well as signs warning about their nastier habits.

Be warned!

What you got in there?

The whole group took the first walk of about one hour along the top of the chasm, crossing bridges over the branches of the river just as the waters plunged over the cliffs.  The views were again spectacular and photos are much more effective than words.

Iguazu Falls, Argentina 

A very noisy place

The view to Brazil on the other side of the river

On our return those of us who fancied lots of steps took the lower trail to be close to the river and some of the points where we could stand at the bottom of the falls. Once again the photos tell the story.

Along the lower path

"Thrill-a-minute" boat ride

Rainbows everywhere

Spray everywhere

Another day of blue skies and sunshine so everything looked absolutely beautiful.  The Iguazu Falls are breathtaking and the governments of Brazil and Argentina have been very conscientious in preserving the area to protect the native flora and fauna.  The coatis have integrated with humans - they are totally fearless but other wildlife is hard to spot.  Didn't see any monkeys and apparently the jaguars only come out at night.  At the end of the walking tours we had lunch - empanadas - ok, but not my favourite food, at one of the cafes in the big picnic area in the national park.  We sat under an enormous fig tree, attracting close attention from some pretty yellow and black birds - yes they love empanadas.  Then we crossed back to Brazil - a much quicker process - to go to the Iguazu Bird Park

Lunch under the fig tree

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                                          Pretty bird in fig tree - Iguazu National Park, Argentina

The Bird Park was begun by an English family and most of the birds have been rescued from smugglers by rangers throughout Brazil.  It is beautifully laid out and the birds have enormous aviaries, some of which can be entered by visitors.  There are also some other creatures - anacondas, caymans, turtles which are not nearly as pretty as the birds.

My favourites were the flamingos and the comical toucans, most of which are free to hop about or fly around - careful where you put your feet- in one part of the park they are all over the boardwalk and railings.  

Funny Toucan

And his handsome friend

Beautiful flamingoes

Another highlight was the hummingbird and butterfly aviary.   There are dozens of different butterflies in all colours of the rainbow and some quite large.  The tiny hummingbirds hover at the feeders - impossible to photograph as they move so quickly.  Before leaving we had our photos taken with Maria, a large blue macaw. We really enjoyed our visit to this lovely park.  A nice relaxing end to our stay in Foz do Iguazu.

Ann and Maria Macaw



And tomorrow?  For once we don't have to leave too early as we have an afternoon flight to Buenos Aires.   However we do need to take on the lengthy border crossing into Argentina again, as we are flying out from a different airport.  At least we won't have to go through customs and immigration again when we reach Buenos Aires and we will fly into the "downtown " airport - not too far from our hotel.  What good management Globus!  Getting to the Iguazu Falls is a bit of a mission but certainly very well worth the effort!