Wet and Wild

Wet and Wild
Foz de Iguacu, Brazil

Foz de Iguacu, Brazil

Crossing the border between Paraguay and Brazil is a very strange affair, it is an open border for South Americans so is probably one of the least used immigrations points in the whole of South America as we could have quite happily crossed from one to the other with no stamps, this would have been ideal given the distinct lack of space in our passports but would have costs us big time when we tried to leave Brazil. So we opted to skip the stamp out of Paraguay but to get stamped into Brazil. This was easier said than done. The way to cross between the countries is by taxi or bus. By bus there is no stopping and therefore no stamps and by taxi we had to use our best Spanish to explain we wanted to pass through Paraguay immigration but go to Brazil immigration, the driver was perplexed by this request but agreed that for an extra $2 we could stop at immigration, a pretty fair deal to avoid a fine on departure. Everything went smoothly until we made it across the border and into the Brazilian town of Foz Iguazu and our poor driver drove round in circles for a good 20 minutes looking for our hotel. He was so sweet and didn’t ask for a single dollar more so for a change we actually overpaid as an appreciation of his efforts.

Fox Iguazu was like a real city, it had shops and supermarkets and banks and pharmacies and we had the freedom to do what we wanted, when and how we wanted to and we got to pay real world prices, so we shopped and ate and shopped some more and celebrated our freedom.

Our hostel in Foz was part of the chain Che Lagarto which had been absolutely horrific for the one night we spent in Colonia in Uruguay but here in Foz it was a very different story. It was actually an 8 story hotel that has been taken over by the hostel chain. It was bright and airy, the rooms were like any posh clean hotel we have ever stayed in, we had air con, fresh white sheets and not a rat or spider to be seen. Oh how we loved the real world.

Foz was an absolutely perfect location, it was bustling, cheap, had fantastic restaurants on the doorstep of the hostel and most of all it was the gateway to much anticipated Iguazu Falls. We had had to skip the falls when we were in Argentina as the cost of getting to them was extortionate, around £200 each return for a bus from BA, so we reluctantly skipped them in the hope that we would be able to get to them from Brazil. The reason we say hope, is that going over the border from Brazil required more visa stamps in our passports which are now reaching critical mass!

Our hotel had a travel agency built in and after researching whether we would be best to get the public bus or a taxi we actually worked out that the tour with the hotel was quicker, easier and pretty much the same price. So we first booked a tour to the Brazilian side of the falls.

We had low expectations of the Brazilian side as everything you read and everyone you speak to raves on about how much better the Argentinian side is, but unsure if we could get to the Argentinian side we set off to explore. After a short journey in a luxurious and brand new minibus, we were given our tickets and directed to the bus that shuttles you through the park to the falls. We followed the crowds and were funnelled down a very nice walkway which gave the most awesome views onto the falls.

The difference between the falls in Brazil and Argentina is that the falls are on the Argentinian side and fall into the Iguazu River which is on the Brazilian side creating a natural border between the countries. The first European record of the falls was in 1541. The name Iguazu is a Guarani word meaning ‘Big Water’.

The falls cover a 2.7 kilometer stretch of land and only around 900 meters of that stretch does not have water falling over it. The height of the waterfalls varies from 60-82 meters and it has the sixth greatest annual flow of water with an average rate of 1,746 m3/s. That is a lot of water!!

The walkways lead you along the waterfalls and thanks to the sun we had some pretty spectacular rainbows forming in the mist which must have been 100 meters high. The final walkway takes you to the face of the waterfall where tourists were backed up buying their disposable ponchos to take on the walkway. The sun was shining and we decided to brave it. It was so enlightening being so close to the waterfall and being soaked by the mist coming off of it. The final part of the Brazillian side is the viewing platform which looks over the falls and into Argentina. We had a coffee and a kitkat which I would like to say was a relaxing experience but we spent the whole time chasing coatis off of our table. The coatis were hysterical to watch and we had both rolled around laughing when one jumped up on a table and stole a sandwich from a small child, we were not laughing so much when we were under attack and defending our kitkats. The visitor centre on the Brazilian side had an incredible exhibition of camera trap photos that had been taken around the falls both on the Brazilian and the Argentinean side, knowing just how hard it was to capture anything on a camera trap made us appreciate these amazing images all the more.

Having seen the Brazillian side of the falls and been well and truly blown away by just how magnificent they were we needed to see the Argentinian side for ourselves. After speaking to the tour guide at the hostel we worked out that to get to the Argentinian side we just needed space for a stamp into and then out of Argentina, we are not stamped out or back into Brazil, so armed with post its I attacked Tim’s passport, covered the spaces we needed to preserve and attached two huge yellow ‘stamp here’ post its and hoped for the best.

Once again we were picked up from our hostel and delivered in a luxury minibus across the border and into Argentina, the guide had no problem getting the customs to stamp where we needed and we were in. The weather for our day on the Argentinian side was not quite as bright and sunny as the day before but it was still ok, we had decided that we were going to take the tour on the Argentinian side which takes you in a truck through part of the pristine jungle and then on a boat up to the falls. Having got our tickets, we started to walk along one of the trails and we were greeted by a few curious coatis, then I saw a familiar face. Having spent hours chasing these monkeys in Paraguay I couldn’t believe my eyes when there was a troop of capuchins there to greet us and the gate. Sadly we only had a few minutes with the monkeys as we had to catch our tour. The first part of the tour took us on a converted flat bed truck down through some forest paths, sadly there was not much to be seen, but it was beautiful to see some of the amazing flora and fauna in the area. When we had booked the boat tour, we were aware that we might get wet and that we would be given dry bags for all our belongings, but never did we anticipate just how wet we were going to get. As we got on the boat Tim asked if he could have his packed lunch, I reluctantly advised him that this wasn’t that kind of boat trip. With our belongings safely in dry bags Tim put on his pack-a-parka and rolled up his shorts to stop them getting wet. The boat set off, slowly at first and then faster and faster as we crossed rapid after rapid. We got to the face of the falls and after half the boat had posed on the front for a photo we were ready for the main event. I thought that we would go up close to the fall and get wet in the mist. I was wrong. The boat went full pelt under the falls and literally drowned us. Tim’s pack-a-parka was full of water and he was sitting in a puddle with his rolled up shorts. Not satisfied with how wet we had got the first time the captain took us in again, it was literally like being punched in the face with a waterfall. Not quite the relaxing splash we had experienced in the falls in Brazil, but wow, what an experience. Knowing what we know now next time I might just take a change of clothes. Remember I mentioned earlier th
at the weather wasn’t quite as nice in Argentina, well we spent the next 5 hours walking round in cold wet clothes chaffing our every step. The walkways on the Argentinian side are immense and took so long to get around we very nearly missed one walkway, partially because we kept getting distracted with watching coatis. The main event on the Argentinian side is the Devils Throat, this part of the falls is U-shaped, 82 metre high, 150 m wide, and 700 m long, it is absolutely terrifying to see as the river than runs into it is calm and serene and then suddenly there is just a drop off where the water cascades and smashes into the river below. The walkway over the Devils Throat is incredible in that you are surrounded 360 degrees by water and feel like you are literally in the Devils Throat. As we made our way back across the walkway the heavens opened, most people ran for over, but we were still so wet it had little impact on us. We caught the train back to the last walkway that we had missed and amazingly we were greeted with a pair of Toucans sitting in a tree. As we walked out of the park to catch our bus home our luck was in as we saw a giant catfish, a turtle, a little red deer and even an agouti which is like a miniature capybara. Seriously we just saw more wildlife in one day at possibly the most busy tourist attraction in Argentina than we did in 4 weeks living in the jungle; there is something not quite right there!!

Damp, but over the moon at having ticked an amazing wonder of the modern world off our to-do list we were onwards to our next destination to see the bright lights, the big Jesus and the most scantily clad of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro here we come!