Iguazu Falls

Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Foz de Iguacu, State of Parana, Brazil
30th

Today we head into the old City . The bus ride takes about 20 minutes, and is 10 times better than the system they have in Bogota. The buses are better and so is the ride.

We arrive at the centro station and find our way to the Plaza De Armas. This is without a doubt the nicest Plaza yet. The old historical buildings are architecturally beautiful. Some of the buildings and Cathedrals are over 500 years old. A lot of the little shops are closed as it is Sunday, but the main pedestrian mall is buzzing with people. There is a stage in the Plaza where a band is playing music. Cannot believe how loud it is, and yet how crystal clear the music is.

Lunch is a typical Peruvian meal, vegetable soup, rice with chicken, followed by a nice lemon tea. All this for $3. Not bad at all. I am amazed at the number of police and riot police in the Plaza. There would have to be one hundred or more. Don't really understand why, as there are no protests taking place. Some of the rifles the police have look like they dated back to WW2, they are so old .

Not much else happens when we get back to the apartment. Just some chillin before we try some fast food from Popeye’s. It’s a bit like KFC. Its ok but won’t be eating there again. That’s our fix for junk food over with.

31st

Nothing exciting today, just some walking around the back streets to see if there is anything of interest. A lot of shops are still trading, but there are not many people walking around. We see some of the competitors for the Dakar Desert race that is starting in Lima on the 5th. Would have liked to gone to the scrutineering area to see all the vehicles, but this was not allowed. Something like 700 vehicles are there.

Our last meal for 2012 is in Chili’s. A restaurant chain similar to TGI Fridays. They run a daily special, and Monday is 2 pork chops, rice, vegetables and a stuffed potato all for $5. Only just managed to finish the plate . This is our last night in Peru. There is so much to see in Peru. We have only scratched the surface, and will have to come back one day to see more. We enjoyed our stay in Lima. The apartment we stayed in was well appointed with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. A fully equipped kitchen and a comfortable lounge room. We were only on the second floor so no views.

It is nice having a kitchen as we can now make our own coffee with the little Moka pot. Some of the coffees we have had in the last month have been terrible. The best coffee we had was in at the Burger joint in La Paz. Even in Bogota, Colombia when we did the bike tour we stopped at a coffee roaster/cafe. I thought we will be treated to a really nice coffee, but all we got was brown coloured warm milk. Looks like they like their coffee very weak. Haven’t bothered to cook any meals yet as it is so cheap to eat out and get good food.

1st

Neither of us slept much last night . They don’t really celebrate NYE as such. But what the local people do is set off their own fireworks all night long. And they are not little bangs. Some were so loud I thought we were in a war zone. Just as you get to sleep there is another huge explosion. It does subside at around 3am and we are up at 7am. Need to be at the airport for our midday flight to Iguacu Falls in Brazil. Edwin our driver is early, so we finish packing and head to the airport. It’s not that busy, and the plane departs on time. It’s a 5 hour flight, and we won’t land till 7.30pm. Lucky the hotel I have booked is collecting us from the airport.

We wait for nearly an hour and our ride does not show. Very disappointed. We catch a taxi to the hotel, where they make some excuses. They don’t even bother to compensate me as I am now $25 out of pocket. We don’t eat tea till 9pm. Everything is closed except a burger joint.

2rd

We wake to a glorious day . Lots of blue sky and it’s about 25 with high humidity. Breakfast is included here and what a spread. There is so much to choose from, and we leave with very full stomachs. Today we plan to see Iguacu Falls. The walk to the bus terminal takes about 20 minutes. There just happens to be a tourist booth at the bus terminal. . I ask the young lady about visiting the falls and the bird park, as we planned to visit the bird park tomorrow. She tells us to go to the bird park first as it is right next to the entrance to the Falls entrance. We take her advice and get off at the bird park.

The entrance fee is about $10 each. The bird park is outstanding. There is such a large variety of birds. They have huge aviaries that you walk through. There are so many Toucans, and so tame you can even get to touch one. I think we spent at least an hour watching the Toucans.

The next aviary houses Macaws. What and amazing sight to be able to see them without a fence separating us . The next aviary is full of huge butterflies and humming birds. The humming birds are incredibly tiny. We watch them feeding from little feeders, but they are nearly impossible to get a photo of, as they are so fast. One of them comes right up to me and hovers all the way around my head. The amount of air his little wings make is astonishing. And the noise his wings make is quite loud. I think we must have spent an hour in this enclosure, as it was so cool watching these little birds darting all over the place.

There are so many birds I cannot name them all. The golden parrots we cool, and so were the owls. I haven’t seen an owl before, and it was so good to see a few different types of owls. One of the owls was over 2 foot tall. We have lunch at the bird park as the food is very reasonable priced. I check the time and it is after 2pm. Before we leave the park we are able to hold a macaw and a boa constrictor snake. What a great park.

The entrance to the falls park is a short walk, and we get in line for the tickets . The park is not cheap, about $20 each. The falls is about 10 kilometres from the entrance, and a bus ride is included in the entrance fee. The bus drops us off at the start of the falls, and it’s a 1.5k walk to the main falls. The view keeps getting better and better as we make our way along the path. There are lots of lizards, and some cool little fury animals along the way. Condors are flying above us. The walk is hard work as the path has many uphill sections and its about 100% humidity.

We finally reach the main part of the falls, and what a sight it is. The noise is deafening. The walk way to the middle view platform is very crowded, and we push our way through. The mist from the falls is quite heavy and we are get soaking wet. It’s a really great way to get cool. With the falls behind us we head up to the top viewing area where the bus leaves from. The view here is of a tranquil river about to fall off a cliff.

Its after 6pm when we return to the hotel . What a great day. I would have to say that the bird park put a bigger smile on my face. The falls were great, but the birds were ever so cool.

3rd.

A lazy day today. We must have walked 12 to 14ks yesterday and the heat and humidity has taken its toll. I feel a little exhausted and the legs are telling me they need a rest.

4th

Early start as the flight leaves at 9.30am. We depart on time and arrive at Rio around 11.30am. it was a good flight. The bus ride to the apartment at Niteroi take just over 1 hour. Niteroi is on the opposite side of the bay to the famous Copacabana Beach. We do some shopping as we are here for a week. I get a little shock as the food prices here are a lot more than the other countries we have been in.The place we are staying in is huge. 250 square metres, and overlooks a beach and has a great view of Sugarloaf mountain ( at least we will when the clouds go away)
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