"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”– Lao Tzu
Brazil’s Iguacu Falls
14 Jun 2012 | 1 Comment | posted by Intrepid Explorer | in Full Travel Blog, South America
Thomas Jansson in his rain hat at Iguazu Falls
Day 143 – Foz Do Iguacu, Brazil
After another veeeery long bus ride, we arrived in the town of Foz Do Iguacu, Brazil. The massive Igazu Falls is actually split between Brazil and Argentina, with Puerto Iguazu, Arg, on the other side of the river. And to make things just a bit more complex, about 20 mins away you have the border of Paraguay, and the city of Ciudad Del Este. As you can imagine, navigating the area can be a bit interesting!
So we decided to visit the Brazil side straight from the bus. Taking our massive rucksacks with us, we annoyed lots of people on the small public buses as we travelled towards the National Park. Lucky for us, there were lockers there so we dumped the bags and headed in.
.JPG "The Brazilian Side of Foz De Iguacu")
The Brazilian Side of Foz De Iguacu
The general perception is that the Argentina side of the falls is better, as you can get much closer. But from Brazil you get to see the whole picture, and the hundreds of waterfalls. Apparently there are between 150 to 300 falls, depending on the water level. From every angle you can see dozens! The biggest of the falls is the Devil’s Throat (Gargantua del Diablo), but from this side you don’t get a great view of it. But you do get up close and personal with one big waterfall, there’s a walkway staight into the spray! I thought it was good, but Jon wasn’t as impressed. Wait til tomorrow, I guess.
.JPG "Jon and the Quati at Iguazu Falls")
Jon and the Quati
The other cool thing to see besides the falls were the loads of Quati (Coati in English) that were hanging around the park. They look like a cross between an anteater and a racoon, and were not scared of people at all! Anytime you got down next to them they started pawing your bag looking for food, and we saw more than one scale a garbage can and disappear inside of it. Too funny, but I can imagine it’s not as amusing for the park staff!
Erika and the Statue
After we’d had our fill of the falls, it was time to head back to Argentina, after nearly 4 months away. Our hostel was in Puerto Iguazu and after we see the other side of the falls, it’ll be easy to catch a bus to Paraguay. So, that’s the plan!
This article was written by: Intrepid Explorer
1 Comment
Poor Tomas. He appears to have had a bad hair (fur) day
As for Coati’s, we have them right here in the desert. Good pics as always.