Brazil

Having mentioned to John last night about getting to the Falls and Brazil, by this morning he’d sorted a driver out for us for the day (the same guy that had brought us from the airport yesterday). And for 180 Argentinean pesos, around £30-£35 he was ours to do with as we pleased! So, getting into the car at 8:30am, we asked our driver Filisberto to take us to Brazil!

I had mentioned right on the very first blog entry back in January that we were going to go to Brazil, but out of all the countries I’d listed this was the most uncertain. We didn’t know what the visa situation would be, we didn’t know what it would cost, and we didn’t even know if we could get a driver to take us. We’d read reports that it was possible to find drivers who would just drive you through the border without stopping, thus negating the need for any visa whatsoever, but we’d decided not to spend the rest of the trip in a Brazilian jail! So it was of some relief that we discovered our brilliant UK passports entitled us to a simple, free border crossing without any fees or waiting! For the Americans staying at the Secret Garden, it would cost them US$150 dollars each and at least a three hour wait for a visa!

So, within five minutes we had reached the Argentinean border,

completed the exit formalities, and then found ourselves driving on a bridge in no-mans-land between Argentina and Brazil!

After arriving at the Brazilian checkpoint, we got our sparkling Brazilian passport stamps, and then entered Brazil! We don’t know why, after all the places we’ve visited on this trip, but being in Brazil felt so exotic!!

Our first stop of the day was at the Brazilian side of Iguazú Falls, at a place called Foz do Iguaçu.

Having paid our entrance fee of 8 Euros each, we jumped on the free bus to take us the several kilometres from the park entrance to the waterfalls.

Getting off the bus at the hotel within the national park, we headed down a long, winding track, getting our first views of the falls.

The main reason for coming over to the Brazilian side of the falls is to see the whole panorama of the Argentinean side. So, ironically, although the best falls are in Argentina, you can’t really appreciate them entirely without going to Brazil!

Straight away, we knew that we were experiencing something absolutely phenomenal. The water breaking down the cliffs, surrounded by Amazonian rainforest (it’s the same vegetation here as in the Amazon) was a sight we’d been waiting our whole lives to see.

The best thing about it, as well, was that the views just didn’t stop. Each bend in the track gave a new perspective, and it seemed, a new waterfall to look at,

and the views just kept coming

and coming

and coming!

The largest, most powerful waterfall in Iguazú Falls is the Devils Throat, and it was to the walkway here that we now headed.

The noise was pure exhilaration; millions of gallons of water torrenting relentlessly over the void to the rocks below. It became quite exciting for one little ‘un in our party!

We continued along the walkway, looking at an overhang complete with a rainbow on one of smaller falls,

and then reached the end of the walkway for our first full view of the Devils Throat.

The spray from the water was everywhere, instantly soaking us through,

And the little ‘un again got rather over excited!

We walked back along the walkway, getting different angles on the falls at each stage

and then headed to a nearby glass elevator right at the side of another waterfall

to take us back to the top of the cliffs.

The views again from here were something else; we could even see the platform for the Devils Throat on the Argentinean side right in the distance, a place we were going to later today!

Getting the bus back to the front entrance, we met back up with Filisberto and headed back to Argentina, crossing the bridge back across the border.

We’d been in Brazil for only three hours, but what a three hours it was!

So, the Brazilian side now a receding memory in our five second attention spans, we headed into the Argentinean side of Iguazú Falls. Slightly more expensive to get into than the Brazilian side, at 60 Argentinean Pesos each, it nonetheless had much more facilities available.

The first thing we did on entering the park was to purchase a Jungle Explorer ticket. This gave us a one hour trip in a combination of an army truck followed by a speedboat ride into the waterfalls.

The army truck element of the trip, which involved driving bumpily through rainforest and mud and looking at, errrr, tree after tree after tree wasn’t something to remember for the rest of our lives.

But the speedboat element definitely was!

Having descended a series of steps for what seemed like a lifetime, we finally reached the river and the speedboat below.

The first surprise was being given a waterproof bag and being told to take our shoes and socks off! Slightly concerned as to how wet this was going to get, we did as we were told, and put the bright orange lifejackets on, which felt more restrictive than an alcoholic attending a temperance society meeting!

Mandy had the bright idea of bringing an emergency waterproof poncho with her, which she had been bought as a leaving present from work. My work hadn’t bought me a waterproof emergency poncho, so I zipped my jacket up! Guess which one of us stayed drier. Read on to find out! You won’t be kept in suspense long!

The boat set off! And straight away, we hit a wave on the rapids, a great splodge of water came over the side of the boat, and every item of clothing I was wearing was instantly soaked!

It went through my leather jacket, my Adidas top, and my t-shirt, such was the deluge! And it wasn’t over yet!

Pausing to allow for photos to be taken of the falls

(allowing me time to fit my waterproof camera casing I bought in Cairns), we then proceeded to head right over to the falls. The driver of the boat tantalisingly held back to enable us to see the rush of water right in front of us,

and then pressed down the accelerator and drove right through the spray!

If there was any piece of me that wasn’t saturated before, it certainly was now! Imagine a swimming pool being emptied over your head and you’re not even close! But it was a pure, 100% adrenaline rush and immense fun.

The boat trip ended, and we then had the unenviable task of negotiating miles of steep steps to reach the top of the falls again. Although the views were often stunningly beautiful,

we were more concerned with trying to keep our jeans from falling down from the thirteen stones of extra water we’d accumulated!

Finally reaching the summit after about forty five minutes of climbing, we reached a fast food area, complete with the Coati animals that frequent the falls,

and had a quick lunch of Chicken Empanadas before continuing.

We jumped onto the train going to the Argentinean side of the Devils Throat; the train was so slow in taking off and moving that it occurred to us we could’ve walked the three km quicker and we were a bit bemused by it all!

But then the train gradually picked up speed, and we were much happier bunnies!

On reaching the Devils Throat train station, we still had a fair walk to do in our soaked clothes before actually reaching it. Proceeding along the walkways

it was hard to imagine that the quiet waters we could see along the way would soon turn into a raging torrent.

But, we turned a corner and saw the start of the waterfall.

This was without a doubt the most stunning sight of the day, and the most impressive natural phenomena we had seen in our entire lives.

It’s hard to describe the feeling seeing the mass of water plummet downwards. Photographs don’t go any way to capturing this. Neither, I suspect, will the video I shot. It just leaves you completely in awe, and is almost dizzying to watch.

It was impossible to see the bottom of the falls, such was the wall of spray that was being thrown into the atmosphere.

We could just make out the Brazilian side we had been on this morning

and the views looking back towards the Brazilian side were spectacular in the extreme.

It was purely a “once-in-a-lifetime” moment, and one that we will never forget.

We caught the train back to the Central Station, and took a walk on the Upper Trail, walking over the tops of the waterfalls the boat had ploughed us through.

And then we headed towards the Sheraton Hotel, where we had arranged to meet Filisberto at 6:15pm. Passing a strangely located lighthouse-esque structure,

I found enough energy levels to run up it and stick my tongue out at Mandy below,

before we reached the Sheraton,

took in one last view of the falls

and then went to meet Filisberto as the sun finally died for the day. Driving back we were soaked, absolutely exhausted, and absolutely elated at the day

We went for a couple of caipirinhas that night, meeting a couple of new guests from St Louis, but we were so tired that we couldn’t really be sociable. So we made our excuses and left, falling asleep in bed at the unbelievably early time of 9:40pm.

Amazing, amazing day. And we so very nearly missed it out! There’s an often repeated phrase attributed to former first lady of the US, Eleanor Roosevelt, who on seeing Iguazú Falls for the first time expressed “Poor Niagara”. I hate using this phrase here, because for some reason it strikes me as a bit lame, but it is so apt. We went to Niagara Falls a few years ago, and for ages it remained one of our favourite sights, surpassing even the Grand Canyon in our esteem. But it just doesn’t compare to Iguazú Falls in any respect.

This truly is the best waterfall in the world.

What a day!