December 14 - 16
We had a sensible departure time for Iguacu - spelling Iguassu, Iguazzu etc - but we are using the name as spelled at their airport. Instead of a taxi, we took the Real bus and had a little tour of Rio on the way to the International Airport for one tenth the cost of a taxi.
Our flight was pleasant and uneventful and we were actually given a hot sandwich gratis! We also learned this country is cola crazy - no gingerale, no 7-up.
We arrived in Foz do Iguacu (ig-wa-SUE) on a hot day with only a few clouds and were met by our young guide, Luiz. He is a University student studying ecology, etc. Business seems to be slow as this was another tour with few customers...in this case just us.We started tour of the Falls on the Brazilian side.
The next day we journied to the Argentinian side. As we approached the falls, we could see the spray of the largest section of the falls which is referred to as the `"Devil´s Throat. ' Iguacu (in the native dialect meaning the end of the big waters), consists of 275 individual waterfalls in varying layers and sizes. It is very impressive and we must say, beats Niagara Falls. The Brazilian and Argentinian governments have created a huge national park system with amazing walkways that go over parts of the river and also contain balconies for photo taking. The river separates the two countries and also produces the world's second largest hydro electric power in one location.
After finishing our viewing and picture taking, we took a trail to the bottom of the falls where we boarded a jet boat for our Gran Adventura tour with over 35 university students (all singing the local soccer cheer) for a trip into the bottom of the falls (not once but 3 times) getting thoroughly soaked. The kids could hardly wait for the run under the falls. We knew it was coming and saved our raincoats from our Amazon jungle walk just for this. After the dunking, we headed down the river to a truck that was waiting to take us on a 20 minute ride through the jungl.e with a guide who specialized in local fauna and flora.
The entire park area is filled with millions of the most beautifully coloured butterflies we have ever seen ranging from clear yellows, reds, and blues to irridescent colours and many with multi-patterned wings.
WOW!!!! Until we started planning this trip Barb had not heard of these falls. So glad we got to see a UNESCO Heritage Site. Our pictures will say more than words can describe.
We stayed at the Continental Inn. Again a wonderful hotel with a great pool area and of course cold beer. We actually had time to walk to a large shopping centre which was air conditioned and offered a variety of stores selling Brazilian wear.
Flight back to Rio uneventful as was the bus ride, other than we got the slow ride to our Hotel.
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