Foz do Iguaçu

The night bus ride was my most horrible in Brazil. I discovered why the fare was so expensive. There were only about 30 fully reclining seats in the bus so they had to charge more. But the roads were too bumpy to get good sleep. This was aggravated by no air-conditioning. You'd think that for R63.8, they could provide this.

By the time we reached Foz do Iguaçu at break of day most passengers had already alighted. A bleary-eyed me transferred to a local bus heading into the township. I overshot the desired stop and had to walk back to Pousada da Laura. (A web search shows that it's gone upmarket now. It was in a good location.) Laura was a kind hostess who explained that she would not know if she had room for me until the afternoon, but she let me shower and gave me breakfast. I really needed a shower after the sweaty journey. She said to leave my backpack, do my sightseeing and she would have worked out something by the time I got back.

My first impression of Foz do Iguaçu was of an unfinished frontier town. Unplastered concrete buildings and unfinished projects were in evidence. It looked like rural Brazil a few km out of town. Foz has the unenviable record of one of the highest homicide rates in Brazil. However it must be added that practically all of it happens in the slums bordering the Paraná River, away from tourist areas, and is fed by high unemployment and smuggling, as this is where three countries, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, meet. There were swank resorts on the way to the Iguaçu Falls. Laura had said that there were some Asians in neighbouring Paraguay, earning a living as traders I guess. Also Middle Eastern immigrants who had fled the war.

Iguaçu (Iguazú in Spanish) Falls is about 20 km south of the township and shared between Brazil and Argentina. It's roughly in the shape of a mirrored J. About 80% of the jumps are on the Argentinian side, but on the other hand Brazil has the better views. But the best views of all are if you can afford a panoramic helicopter flight, but not me though. On the special Cataratas bus to the falls we passed a heliport.

At the park entrance I fell in with a pair of German girls visiting the falls for the day too. They were taking a break before commencing studies, one in biology and the other in nursing, probably speech therapy, she said. The latter's uncle was working in Brazil so they had a convenient base. Their next destination would be Manaus.

There were many of these ring-tailed pointy-nosed animals in the park. The quati (South American coati, nasua nasua) is a member of the racoon family. It is endemic to the region and was all over the park due the the availability of food to scavenge. We once surprised one digging in a rubbish bin and it made a big bang as it scampered out in fright.

Visitors found them cute and obviously the quati didn't hesitate to accept offers of food. Even I couldn't resist scratching one on its head.

(I deduce from the sequence of photos that this one was taken on my return from the falls, so most probably in the township. So they were all over the place.)

Incidentally I saw a tubular bus stop, just like in Curitiba, so some of the ideas were taken up here too.

The falls are formed by the Iguaçu River tumbling over the edge of Paraná Plateau before running west to join the Paraná River running north-south, separating Paraguay from Argentina and Brazil. It has the second largest annual flow of water after Niagara, but it is half again as tall. Victoria Falls has the widest curtain, because Iguaçu is divided by islands. Then again, the islands allow one to view the falls in portions. Thus one picture cannot show the falls in its entirety, I can only present a sequence going towards the Devil's Throat at the end of Brazilian territory.

The region receives abundant rainfall and the recent rains had strengthened the flow so much that it was too wet to reach the end of the walkway. As you may imagine, a pervasive powerful roar filled the air.

This is looking towards the Argentinian side. Both countries court tourism and hotels of all grades can be had. Puerto Iguazú is the town on the Argentinian side. It is possible to take boat rides on the Argentinian side that go under the falls. However I had planned on only visiting the falls from Brazil.

Around here you had to shout to be heard.

And the final platform on the Brazilian side where you would get soaked from the spray if you didn't have rain gear.

One last picture of the spray churned up, from a higher viewing platform.

One of the Germans, taken at that platform.

On my return to Laura's Pousada, I found that she didn't have room but she took me and three Dutch backpackers to the Hotel San Remo around the corner. In the evening I joined them for dinner nearby. The pizza there was also made with salty cheese, so it wasn't just Ubatuba. At our outside table we were importuned many times by Brazilian kids offering to shine shoes or just begging.