I know, I know..it´s been awhile since my last entry, but when you´re on the road, there are lots of things to do, and also, consistent email access is hard to come by. On Tuesday, I spent the day in Iguazu Falls (Foz do Iguaçu), a town that borders on Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, and has waterfalls that border on Brazil and Argentina. Originally, when I had planned this portion of my trip, I had decided to spend one full day there, but after talking to people after I started my trip, I soon realized that one day wouldn´t be enough. I came to this conclusion because there is a Brazilian side and an Argentine side of the falls, so I kept asking people which side I should go to in my 24 hours in the town. Most people said the Argentine side, since there was more to do there (you really get to go down into the falls, whereas on the Brazil side, you get more of a panoramic view of the falls), but given my time restriction, I wouldn´t have time to do that, so I should just stick to the Brazil side... but since my flight was supposed to land in the morning, I ultimately figured that I would just decide on the day of, depending on how quickly I could get to my hotel, drop off my bags and get moving.
By the time I got everything in order and was ready to get out the door, I was told that it would take me two hours to get to the Argentine side if I were to take the bus, as opposed to 40 minutes by car. Thus, in an effort to see what I wanted to see, I managed to get a decent price with the hotel tour company (a small tour company), and in no time at all, I was out the door in a big tour van, just me and the owner of the tour company, who had otherwise planned to take the day off. First, he drove me across the Argentine border to the falls on that side, where we hiked the Upper Circuit of the falls, which provide a closer look at some of the falls. After walking along that path, we then walked the path called ´´Garganta del Diablo´´ (Devil´s Throat), where I got a great view of both sides of the falls. After that, we walked back to the car and drove back across the border (thus crossing a time zone) to Brazil, where we hiked 1km or so along the scenic route of Brazilian side, and by 4:30pm, I had completed my mission that none of my interviewees had previously thought possible (the Argentine and Brazilian parks close at 5:30pm and 6pm, respectively). One thing I learned from my tourguide was that with bigger tour companies, when clients have such a limited time in Iguazu Falls (as I did), they don´t offer tours to both the Brazilian and Argentine sides -- rather, they just have to choose one or the other. Lucky for me, timing (and staffing) worked out in my favor.
By the time I got back to the hotel, I was exhausted (eight cookies is not really enough to tide you over during the day, even if they are dulce-de-leche-flavored), but I didn´t want to go to sleep, so I decided to walk around the hotel and see what else there was. I ended up finding a pool, gym, game room, etc., and once I found that, I ended up going swimming for a bit and then catching dinner at a churrascaria later on at night. But don´t worry, I did not eat the chicken hearts or turkey testicles that they had advertised on their pamphlets (among other choice meats).
The next morning, it was off to Rio de Janeiro, where I am now...but there´s no time to write about it now, so when I have some time, I´ll fill you in on the latest.
´Til then, though, be well and maybe go against the odds -- after all, who knows? It might just work out after all.
abraços,
missy :)
http://andsmilestogobeforeisleep.blogspot.com
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