Day 111, Iguaçu Falls

The following takes place on Friday, March 18, 2011

Alright, I made it! I am in Brazil! The last country on the South American leg of the trip. Not quite sure its hit me quite yet, but oh well. With the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls out of the way, it was time to check out the Brazilian side known by its Portuguese name of Iguaçu Falls.

As I had previously mentioned, there's an old saying that says "Argentina has the falls, Brazil has the view." And this is true. The city that straddles the border of Argentina and Paraguay is Foz do Iguaçu. From my hostel I caught a city bus that heads out of the city limits and right to the front door of the National Park.

You can tell right away that it's a bit different from the Argentine side. The map shows one main road that you have to take transit through, with a few stops along the way for trails to adventure sports.

Once I figured out the right line to buy a ticket at and got through the gates, I hopped on the bus waiting and took it up to the path leading to the views of the falls. It is true what they say about Brazil having the view. The views are stunning and gives a much more expansive idea as to how large these waterfalls actually are. But while the views are great, the one sad thing about the Brazil side is how little time you really need to walk this particular path up to the catwalk by the Devil's Throat.

Yup, that's right. I made it there again! The path eventually makes its way to a long catwalk over the falls as well as a tall viewing platform beside a large portion of the falls. While taking pictures while over the falls was next to impossible with all the water falling on you(the last thing I need is for a broken camera), the pictures from the start of the catwalk and on the platform were awesome.

I continued up to the gift shop/restaurant area and amused myself for a bit watching the cute, squeeking animals. I can't remember for the life of me what they're called but they're all over this and the Argentinian side of the falls. Super cute and super crafty. They know where the food is and will do whatever they can to get it.

However, after just two hours of wandering around I was done. I had seen everything there was to see. A quick stop off the bus at one of the side trails revealed that all the other trails you have to pay to go on as they're private and either lead to miniture wildlife preserves, or adventure tour things like rafting or wall climbing. With not being entirely keen on spending that much money, I opted to leave the park.

Not disappointed though at all. I've seen Iguazu/Iguaçu Falls. I've seen the wonder of nature. I was satisfied and happy.