It
could have been a tale of three since Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil
all have access to the Iguazu River where the three borders actually
meet - a popular tourist attraction. Unfortunately, I did not get a
chance to see this part; I did not even get the chance to make it to
Paraguay. Paraguay, it seems, gets the short-end of the stick as even
the cab drivers shun Paraguay. We were trying to find a reason to go and
they actually discouraged us against it. My buddy David visited Iguazu
Falls the previous weekend and he has way better photos and, I think,
did better job telling the story about the falls on his blog, but here’s my version.
Brazil – Foz do Iguazu
Day 1
We
arrived in Foz do Iguazu, Brazil, the city where the national park is
located, at around 9am. After checking into the newly renovated Recanto Park Hotel and a hot
breakfast, we made our way to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the
World. From
the wiki link, I learned that the Iguazu waterfalls are arranged like a
reversed letter “J”. The Brazilian side holds about 20% of the falls
(mostly the final curve of the “J”) while the Argentinean side holds the
rest. To me, the amazing thing about the Brazilian side was the
panoramic view and the fact that at almost every point during the
walkway from the first view point of the falls to the crescendo, the
Devil’s throat (the highest and deepest part of all the waterfalls) you
have most of the waterfalls on the Argentinean side in plain view.
During the entire walk you are flanked by this panoramic view of all the
waterfalls while you take in the amazing flora and fauna of the
rainforest. We spotted a blue humming bird, monkeys, coatis and a wide
array of butterflies. Below are some highlights.
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| Butterflies we spotted on the trek |
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| The Calm and The Storm of Iguazu Falls |
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| Views of the Falls and Devil's Throat from the Brazil side |
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| Quenching our thirst at the falls! |
Day 2 – Parque de Aves (Bird Park)
I
had previously mentioned that Ms. Webb and Mrs. Daniel’s students were
kind enough to write me farewell letters prior to my departure. Although most of their letters were focused on giving me
valuable advice for my travels, some of them asked for some favors. One
such favor was to make sure I spot a Toucan and get some photos. Can I
be honest and say that I had no clue what a Toucan was until I read
those letters? Luckily for Mary Kate and the rest of Ms. Webb and Mrs.
Daniel’s 3rd grade class, there happened to be a bird park next to the entrance of Iguazu Falls. Here are some of our sightings – Enjoy!!
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| A toucan, parrots, a parakeet, two hyacinth macaws, and my other favorite: the hummingbird |
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| The various sleeping postures of the flamingo. |
Argentina – Puerto Iguazu
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| In Argentina and Brazil at the same time! |
From
the Brazilian side of the falls, Argentina is literally a stone throw
away. After my bird park visit, I decided to catch a cab to Argentina to
get a different point of view of the Iguazu falls. There were
definitely more waterfalls on the Argentinean side and something can be
said about the ease of getting pretty close to the falls, which was not
possible on the Brazil side. On the Argentinean side, it is pretty cool
that you could take a lower trail (a bottoms-up view of a number of the
falls) and an upper trail (a top-down view of certain falls).
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| images from the upper trail (above) and the lower trail (below). |
Also,
there is a Rainforest Ecological Train that brings you to the entrance
of the Devil’s throat. My one complaint, however, is that there was a
lot more walking and climbing of stairs than I anticipated. I guess I
did not notice it as much on the Brazilian side because the panoramic
view kept me engaged and in awe at all times, but on the Argentinean
side, I found myself wondering how long I would have to walk before I
encountered my next waterfall. For example, there is 0.6 mile or
10-minute walk through the Rainforest and over the river that brings you
over the falls of the Devil’s Throat, which on the Argentinean side was
UNBELIEVABLE! I guess it was worth the wait…and the walk.
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| Much of the trail on the Argentina side has a view like this one. |
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| It's impossible to see the middle of Devil's Throat. But you might see a rainbow! |
|
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| The falls from the Argentina side. |
In
my opinion it is hard and maybe unfair to compare both sides of the
waterfalls as they are two very different perspectives and experiences.
As one person put it, you see the beauty of the falls better on the Brazilian side, but you feel them more on the Argentinean side.
I
will conclude by sharing an experience I found really amusing. I don’t
know why; I am telling myself that I may have looked like a basketball
player since I am 6’2”, but almost a dozen different people wanted to
get pictures with me at the Devil’s Throat. It started with a group of
kids and then the requests just kept coming. One lady actually gestured
and then spoke in Spanish – I believe she was telling me that she does
not know who I am, but since everyone else is getting a picture, she
would like one as well. I was able to sneak my camera in for some
photos…only in South America!
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| Me and my fans.. Only in South America. |
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| This was posted at the falls. I thought it was interesting. |
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