It didn’t take us long to get settled into our new little home, a cool hostel on the outskirts of town. This was my first hostel with a pool that actually had water in it, which came in handy given how steamy it was. Ross described it as a summer camp with alcohol, and I’d have to say that’s pretty accurate. They had great meals there at bargain prices, although there was some false advertising. In my opinion, bar-b-que, means bar-b-que, not just meat cooked on the grill. No matter what you want to call it, the food was good. They even had a tango show one night. Like I said, a pretty cool place.
The following day, we took an odd tour of the Argentinean side of Iguazu. We got picked up okay, then once we arrived, the driver said, just pay the entrance fee and you’ll see some people in yellow shirts. Well, sounds easy enough but for what we paid, this was one of the most unorganized tours I took the whole time I was in South America. We did finally find the guys in yellow and took a jungle tour (it was just a truck ride) to the river. We all loaded on the boat and were headed up the river to the falls when something didn’t seem right. Our driver thought so as well, so they called for another boat to pick us up. Instead of turning around and going back to the dock, they brought the other boat nose-to-nose with ours, in swift currents, and got all the people to transfer to the new boat. Those of you who know me well, know I’m a sailor and one of the cardinal boating rules is NEVER step into a boat with anything in your hands. But here we were, hands jam-packed with our daypacks, cameras, video recorders, etc. stepping from one boat to another, in a current most excellent swimmers would have had trouble surviving, if they had fallen overboard. I’m not a safety freak but I obviously wasn’t too happy about the way that was handled.
After our drenching boat ride, our so called organized “tour” was over and we were free for the rest of the day to wander around to all the various look out points. It was a little cloudy that day and it seems to take forever for us to dry but by mid-afternoon, the sun had come out and it was baking hot. We had a brilliant time wandering from vista to vista and took probably a gazillion photos. I remember Ross and I having a discussion about the park and saying that someone should have told us this little tidbit of infomation. So, just so you know, you really do have to be paying attention to the train schedule if you’re going to be picked up by a tour company at the gate later in the day. The trains run pretty frequently but it’s easy to get caught up with all the stops on the way out to the big stop, La Garganta del Diablo, and not make the train back to the main gate in time. I guess is what I’m saying is plan ahead and keep track of the time. We made it, but it was only because we were really fast walkers and were a bit lucky.
We ran into some guys on our bus (one of whom had the worst sunburn I’ve ever seen in my life…on his foot) who said that you didn’t need to bother going to the Brazilian side of the falls. And if it hadn’t been for a strange turn of events I would have missed out, big time. So, here’s the rest of the story…
The next day, Ross and I went into town to figure out how to get to Paraguay. He needed to replace his camera and we had heard that was the best place to do it. At least that’s where everyone in South America goes to buy electronic equipment. Plus, do you know anyone who’s been to Paraguay? More than likely not, I only know three people and Ross and I are two of them.
We finally found a tour agency that said they could get me to Paraguay without going through Brazil. It had never been done before but it would work. One of the frequent problems I ran into is being American. And the reason why seems to be because it’s so difficult to get into America. If we charge a lot for a Brazilian to enter the States you can bet that it will cost you a fortune to enter Brazil. Because I wanted to head to The Galapagos (where I’m headed to tomorrow) I had pretty much made peace with the fact that I’d just have to come back to Brazil…150 dollars for a 30 day visa is pretty pricey, especially when I just wanted to go see water. Plus, I knew I was already going to have to pay $45 to get into Paraguay and then another $135 to get into Bolivia. I didn’t like the fact that I was going to miss Brazil but as I said, I had made peace with it and I had supposedly found a way to bypass the Brazilian visa and still go to Paraguay so we were set. Until the taxi driver came to pick us up the next morning.
No, you can’t get to Paraguay without going to Brazil and buying a Brazilian visa first. So, as you can imagine, it was like a circus trying to get our money back from the agency. And since I had to buy a visa for Brazil, Ross and I decided to make the best of it; we were going to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls. And man, am I ever glad we did. Anyone who says you don’t need to go to both sides is a dork. It’s like two totally different worlds. On the Argentinean side you’re actually on top of the falls for the most part. On the Brazilian side you’re underneath them. It’s a completely different angle.
If you’re ever going to head to Foz do Iguaçu, then you really should stay at Hostel Natura. It’s a great little family-run hostel. It’s out in the middle of nowhere but it’s really worth the effort to get out there. (Just don’t try to walk down the dirt road after it rains…unbelievably muddy.) They’ve got a pool, excellent food, and lots of space to just chill out. It’s almost like being at home except for the place was spotless. I don’t have any desire to clean that much.
Besides going to the waterfalls, there is also a water park which has really cool water slides. Andrew, Andy, Ross, and I took turns acting like we were 12 again, high-tailing it back up the stairs almost as soon as we had hit the water. I don’t have any pictures but Andrew did have a waterproof camera so he does have some pictures and video. Hopefully he’ll remember to send it on once he’s recovered from Carnaval in Salvador.
Another completely cool thing to do in Foz do Iguaçu is to go to the Parque des Aves (Bird Park, for those of you who don’t speak Portuguese). They had an incredible amount of birds there. They even had several cages you could walk through, although I can see how that could be dangerous. There were a few signs about birds being a little aggressive but I was more worried about falling objects i.e. poo. They not only had birds there but they also had a great butterfly exhibit, some monkeys, and snakes. One of my favorite exhibits was the enormous hummingbird exhibit. When you walked through the place you could hear (and see) hummingbirds zipping around which was a little wild and nerve-racking but also really cool. Just as you’re about to finish your self-guided tour there’s an open area where they have a parrot and a snake that you can hold. Of course, Ross and I couldn’t resist.
And the fun doesn't stop there. Before leaving for Paraguay via taxi, we decided to go have a look at the Itaipu Dam which is between Brazil and Paraguay. I've been on a tour of Hoover Dam and this makes that one look rinky-dink. It is enormous! As far as size goes, it's not the biggest dam in the world (I believe that one's located in China) but even not being at full capacity, they produce the most energy. Technically, Ross and I went on the "Spanish" tour so we wouldn't have to wait another couple of hours (bad planning on our part) but it worked out alright and most of the time the girl would explain to us in English as well. Translating isn't too hard but some figures are unbelievable and when you go to repeat them, you go, "Nah, I couldn't have heard that right." But sure enough, you did.
We had a great time on the tour. Both Brazil and Paraguay have their own tours. They actually share the dam 50-50 and both people from both countries work side by side. Even though Paraguay is South America's poorest country (next to Bolivia), the technology they have available to them is incredible. A portion of the dam may be located in a 3rd world country but it's a 1st rate facility. Right now, they are able to produce 90% of Paraguay's energy needs and 20% of Brazil's consumption. They also give you cool shoes and a little hard hat to wear. It doesn't get much better than that as far as I'm concerned!
The next portion of this journey is the part I have already written but don’t have. I did have it. I had it on a 16 gig memory stick I bought for $6 in Cuidad del Este. The memory stick is now in the trash somewhere in Peru. Ross, who is also at Carnaval but in Rio has promised to email it to me when he gets back to Ireland, which won’t be long.
1 comment:
I'm really excited for you to be state-side, because I can't wait to meet you and photograph your dogs! But I'm also dreading it because I love reading your stories so much. Something tells me you will have plenty of adventures here to blog about, though!
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