Day 9 – 11 Three days in Iguazu

It’s been three days of great ups and downs here in Iguazu, and tomorrow we move on into Argentina.

Day 9 – Helicopter and falls

It’s day nine and our first whole day in Iguazu. Today my food team had the job of making breakfast before we headed out for the day.

I left camp at nine and we went to the heliport next to the Iguazu Falls part entrance. From there we got a 15 minutes wonderful ride over the falls. A small helicopter and the possibility to open part of the window you get a great view of what to expect later.

Last time I visited I didn’t do the flight, so this was a great start.

After the flight we went into the park and did the trek to look at the water from the Brazilian side. After a light shower in the end we had lunch in the park. The lunch was spiced up with Coatis running in and being chased off my the staff. It got even better when an Asian girl started screaming and jumping on top of the table whenever a coati came in.

After lunch we found our way out of the park and did a walk through the bird park that is located just next to it.

In the afternoon four of us grabbed a taxi, asked for a place with good food and ended up at an Italian restaurant in town. Great meal and some world problem solving ensued.

Day 10 – Visiting Argentina

Time to see the falls from the other side. The last time I visited we had great weather and we did the boat trip up the river to get soaked by the falls.

This time the falls decided we didn’t need the boat.

As we rolled across the boarder dark clouds came rolling in. And as we boarded the train to take us to Devils Throat the rain started pouring.

When we got to the end station we were deliberating whether to just turn back. However after getting rain ponchos we pushed on. The ponchos didn’t help much and soon we were soaking wet and the wind blowing along the trail didn’t help.

We decided to go back on the train and then just spend the rest of the day somewhere inside.

The train ride back was uneventful until we suddenly stopped, a tree ha broke and was blocking the track. Luckily it happened just meters from the station so walking the last bit wasn’t as bad as we thought.

After getting a coffee and since we already were soaked we pushed on to do the upper trail as well. I guess we did the speed tour, going around in 30 minutes.

Back at the start we went to the food court and actually meet some of the others we had come across the border with. We got some food, dried up a bit and eventually the rain seemed to lighten. Now in a good mood we pushed on to do the lower trail as well. This time the rain kept away an it actually got quite nice. Our walking speed went down and mote photos were taken.

All in all it turned out to be a very good trip.

If you are to visit the Iguazu falls you definitely need to see it from the Argentinian side. It’s a much better walk and you get very close to the action.

And if you’re lucky like we were you might spot a cayman in the shallow river waters.

When we got back to our camp site in Brazil we had the traditional pink party. Lot of nice food and drinks. Worthy end to the day.

Day 11 – Power plant, Paraguay and go cart

Last day in Iguazu and despite the party yesterday people were up bright and early. My original plan for this day was just to relax by the pool. Events yesterday changed those plans. When I was taking a picture of the falls I managed to loose my lens shade into the river. Never to be seen again I guess.

So I decided to join a group of people visiting the Itaipu power plant.And then to go on a short stint into Paraguay to do some shopping.

Ciudad del Este is know for it’s shopping. Especially electric items. So getting a lens shade should be an issue, right? Wrong.

After trawling photo stores for over an hour I gave up. There are lots of great shops that sell all kind of photo accessories, as long as it is Nikon or Cannon. There is event a big part dedicated to Sony electronics. But as soon as you mention Sony lenses it turns quiet. Not that people didn’t want to help, it just didn’t seem to be there.

Guess I need to live without it, perhaps I can get lucky in Buenos Aires.

At least I managed to get a new charging cable for my phone, as that one was starting to fall apart as well.

When we got back to the bus it was time for a bit of cleaning. We are going to have a few days now with a lot of diving so it’s nice to get it cleaned out. Don’t want anything in there that might breed mosquitoes or other nasties. 

My last adventure in Igazu was of a faster kind. Not far from our camp site there is a go cart track and six of us went there to do some racing. 20 minutes of speeding around is great. On the way back we grabbed some food and a few beers, and now it’s time to get ready for tomorrow.

We are leaving for Argentina tomorrow, just a short drive to our next planned stop. However there is a border to cross.