We are several days behind in our blog entries, but here is a quick update on our whereabouts. We arrived on Wednesday in Foz do Iguaçu after a crazy 15-hour bus ride from Paraty. After dropping our bags in our pousada, we went to the Parque Nacional do Iguaçu (Brazilian side) to see the Cataratas (or waterfalls). We were very lucky with the weather as the sun was out. The falls were spectacular, on a far grander scale than Niagara (with apologies to John´s Canadian relatives). Words can´t really convey how impressive the falls are; we´ll try to get some photos up soon, but this video gives some idea.
The next day we went to Itaipu Dam, advertised as one of the 7 modern wonders of the world. The visit started with a film about the construction of the dam, although only the positive aspects were described and there was no mention of its potential negative ecological impact. The visit is well organised, tourists are put on a bus and there are two stops to take pictures of the dam before the bus drives along the lower and upper parts of the dam. The ride over the higher part was mildly uncomfortable from the bus rooftop but it was a great view over the dam and the reservoir. As the water is high at the moment, there was also an impressive spillover cascade (greater volume than all of Igauzu falls, apparently).
We arrived today on the Argentine side (Puerto Iguazu) after some fairly simple formalities. We made it to the Argentine side of the falls by early afternoon and enjoyed some great hikes along the falls (en los paseos inferior y superior). Once again, we were very lucky with the weather and enjoyed some impressive rainbows. We were also greeted by some monkeys and coatis, seemingly cute little animals that reportedly get very feisty around food. Unfortunately, we were not able to go to the full length of the Garganta del Diablo (Devil´s throat), we were stopped 20m before the end of the trail, for security reasons apparently. The water is high at the moment, which may explain this measure. From what I understood, there were no barriers on the side at the end of the pathway... Anyhow, the trails of the paseos inferior y superior offered some great sights, and the high water meant the waterfalls were even more powerful than usual. In the evening, for a good kick-off to our stay in Argentina, we had our first empanadas, which were excellent.
Tomorrow we are heading to San Ignacio and later to Posadas to visit the ruins of some Jesuit missions, arriving in Salta early next week.
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