Iguacu - where three countries meet!

14th - 17th September 2012

We were collected by taxi from our hotel in Arequipa and brought to the airport at 5am. As we were so short on time we booked a flight from Arequipa to Lima rather than taking the bus of 18 hours. This was because our flight from Lima to Iguacu was booked in Trailfinders as part of our round the world ticket from home so we had to fly this day. We knew we were short on time but we really wanted to do Arequipa but as it turned out flying was $15 cheaper than the bus so double score!

Our plane landed in Lima at 9.30am and we were flying again at 1pm but we hadn't much time after collecting our bags,checking in again, going through security and eating! We were flying to Iguacu Falls in Brazil and we weren't sure of the time differences so we knew we either had a 4 hour flight or 9 hour flight and finally the captain announce it was 4 hours so we were delighted! We landed in Iguacu airport 7.30pm Brazil time. We had no Brazilian cash whatsoever and this tiny airport didn't have a cash machine so we were lucky that the taxi took credit card! This was the first sign that we were in a more developed country as we couldn't pay  for anything on the credit card before this in South America.

The town we were staying in is called Foz do Iguacu and is the intersection between three countries - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. We got to our hostel, Iguassu Guest House and were so impressed with our room. It was huge and had loads of towels, fridge, tv and wardrobes! We haven't had any fridge, tv it wardrobes anywhere in South America so it was fantastic! It was about 8.30pm and we hadn't eaten properly all day but the hostel had a BBQ on for 12 riels (€4.50) so we decided to go for that. They also had caipirinhas, a traditional Brazilian cocktail, on a special of three for 12 riels. I said no no I won't drink three, just the one please! We were sitting out chatting to the other guests and Claudio who runs the bar having a lovely time drinking away and before I knew it, I was three caipirinhas down! I said I'd had enough at this stage, there was only ourselves and an Australian girl left but then Claudio decided to give us a cocktail making class and a free drink! It would be rude not to.

Cocktail making class!!

Unfortunately I found out just how bad these drinks are for you when I had to heap two tablespoons of sugar in to counteract the harsh alcohol cachaca which is made from sugar cane. There is no mixer at all in the cocktail so they are pretty strong - its just sugar, lime, cachaca and crushed ice. So delicious! I couldn't be tempted by another and we went to bed after this one.

The next morning we were up for breakfast - not sure if I've mentioned how bad South American breakfasts are but they are pretty terrible with a stale bread roll and jam but this breakfast was a sight to behold! They had brown bread, cereal, ham, cheese, fruit and CAKE! Two types of cake for breakfast. I learned that the brazilians love sugar when I dug into my cereal resembling frosties and even realised the milk had been sweetened! I couldn't being myself to eat cake for breakfast, not being a big lover of it anyways (don't think I ate any wedding cake!) but Ronan enjoyed his chocolate cake even adding some caramel sauce which is usually reserved for pancakes!

After the delight that was breakfast it was time to visit the Brazilian side of Iguacu Falls. Iguacu Falls are a collection of 275 waterfalls which are 20% on the Brazilian border and 80% on the Argentina border. We decided to visit the Brazil side today so took a public bus - finally something we could do on our own!

The Falls were breath-taking, just spectacular! I will let the photos speak for themselves as words cannot describe them. Definitely one of the natural wonders of the world and the best natural site we have ever seen!

First view of the Brazilian side of the Falls

Afterwards we went back into town and went to the supermarket to buy stuff for lunch before heading back out to go to Paraguay! The nearest town in Paraguay is only 4km from Foz  is called Ciudad del Este and is known for having cheap electronics so of course Ronan wanted to go across. It used to be notorious for being dangerous for tourists and despite the hostel telling us it was perfectly safe I must admit I was a little nervous. We got the public bus across - no immigration control or anything so no passport stamp. Claudio had given us the name of a very reputable shop (Audiophone) and we checked the opening times online and it said 8pm. We got to Paraguay at 4pm Brazil time, not realising it was an hour ahead and everything was closed including Audiophone, despite what it said online! So it was a wasted journey but was pretty safe.

By the time we got back to the hostel it was about 6pm so we had some chill out time in the hostel. Claudio was cooking beef stroganoff so we decided to just eat in the hostel again and it was delicious! I did indulge in more caiprinhas also while we were sitting around chatting to other travellers.

The next day, Sunday 16th, we decided to do a tour to the Argentina side - we could have done it alone but it can take over 2 hours as the public buses leave you at immigration rather than waiting and the hostel said it was easier to take a tour. We were collected at 9.30am and driven 20km to the Argentina side of the falls. The immigration was hassle free as the tour guide sorted it all for us. When we got to the Argentina side we were walking with the guide for about an hour before we even saw any waterfalls as we had a couple of kilometres of a walk and he kept stopping to talk about plants and trees! This was annoying as the Brazilian side yesterday was instant gratification and we saw the falls straight away! We were in a large group of about 15 people so it was slow progress.

Where the 3 countries of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay intersected

Start of the Argentinian side

 There was an option to take a short boat ride under the falls so we decided to do that! We knew we were going to get really wet so I had brought a change of clothes and a bikini. Ronan just brought a spare tshirt. I had decided I would just wear my bikini under the life jacket if there was anyone else in one. One other girl was in her bikini so I stripped off all my clothes and put them into the waterproof bags we were provided with. Ronan just had his shorts on but they were his heaviest pair and he had no change with him. We all got into the boat and got some close up photos before being told to put away the cameras as we were going in close. We went under the falls and the weight and sheer volume of water literally took our breath away!! It was crazy how difficult it was to breathe! We were soaked to the skin but it was amazing looking up from the bottom of the falls and seeing it coming down on top of us! Incredible experience!

Boat going under the falls

Afterwards!

When we got back to shore I was able to change into full dry clothes but Ronan was stuck in his wet shorts for the rest of the day. It was only 2pm. We decided to leave the guide at this stage having only done the Lower Trail with him. There were two more trails but we couldn't face doing them with the guide!

Our hostel had warned us to bring food with us as it was so expensive to buy anything here. We bought a bottle of water for €6 so they weren't kidding! We had brought sandwiches with us so ate our lunch before going exploring the High Trail.
While these trails were really good we weren't blown away the way we were on the Brazil side which we were surprised at.

The final trail was the Devil's throat. We had to get the train to this one as it's so far away so myself and Ronan went to the train station. We were surprised not to have seen any of our group in the last couple of hours. Once we got off the train we had a bit of a walk before we saw the Devil's Throat and then we understood what all the fuss was about! It was spectacular! We got some extra time here as our group finally turned up 40mins after we got there so we left at the same time as them.

The Devil´s Throat!

We were supposed to be meeting the bus at 5pm but with all the guides talking about trees it was after 5.30pm by the time we got back to the bus. The others in the group spent 5 hours in the park but only got 20mins at the most important part whereas we had an hour so I was so glad we went off by ourselves!

We were dropped back to the hostel wrecked after walking about 14km between all the different trails! We decided to have dinner in the hostel again as why ruin a good thing! Another fabulous meal! We met Dave and Jodi in the hostel this evening - the third day here and they were the third different couple we had met but they get names as we met them again (and Dave is a Leeds fan so him and Ronan got football chat out of their systems)!  It seemed to be the nature of Foz that people only stayed one night on this side of the border and one night on the Argentina side so we were unusual. We had a great night with them and they were doing the same trip as us for the next few week so we arranged to meet them in Paraty again.

We left Igassu Guest House at 11am the next morning to get the bus out to the airport for our flight at 1pm.