The Last (Brasilian) Post
Today was a busy day. After a hostel breakfast that was somewhat below the lofty standards most Brasilian hostels have set, Ross and I headed for the bus stop and got the local bus out to the Visitor Centre of the Cataratas do Iguacu, otherwise known as the Iguacu Falls, one of the largest and most spectacular of nature´s wonders on this planet. Well, we went to the Brasilian side today, anyway. They lie on the border of Argentina and Brasil, very close to their mutual borders with Paraguay, and I´ll leave the introduction to Eleanor Roosevelt, who is reported to have remarked on seeing them "Poor Niagara!". The actual mechanics of going to see them involve buying a ticket and getting on another bus that takes you the best part of 9km through the National Park to where the trail to the Falls themselves starts. This is at the Hotel Las Cataratas, the only hotel inside the National Park on the Brasilian side, and somewhere I was intrigued to see given how many times I, via suggestions from consultants at Journey Latin America, had sent people here whilst working at Trailfinders. To be honest, my first and overriding impression is "Pink".
The trail itself wound down, through the sweltering heat, towards the falls, taking in views across to various of the "lesser" falls on the Argentine side of the border. Numerous Kodak moments, quite large crowds, plenty of sweating to be done. Hot, hot day. And then, finally, we get to the money shot: the first views of the Garganta del Diablo, the "Devil´s Throat" which forms the heart of the falls, and is the source of the majority of photos. It is stunning. A trail takes us out, close to the base of the Floriano Falls, to a point where we can get clear shots (well, clear apart from the omnipresent spray) of the Throat. It is simply stunning. I could try all I like to describe it, but my words will not do it justice. Once I can, I will put photos up, but still, the only way to properly appreciate this wonder of the world is to go and see it. And this was only the Brasilian view, which is apparently good for the far-away pictures but you get closer to much more of the falls on the Argentine side, where I should be tomorrow.
After this natural majesty, Ross and I took a breather, had a (fast-food) bite to eat, and headed back to the Park entrance, and thence across the road into the Parque das Aves, a bird park which Caio, one of the owners of Tucano House, had strongly recommended I should see. And he was right. An extraordinary collection of birdlife, some of it in large cages and other enclosures, but the more spectacular parts in walk-through aviaries. So today I have been nearly hit in the face by both Tucans and Macaws flying at me, had my picture taken with one of the latter perched on my shoulder (and made several amateur attempts to appear in photos with the former, some rather more successful than others!), and seen more birds than I could shake an exceedingly big stick at, some of them critically endangered to the point where captive breeding grounds like this are one of the few hopes to save the species. Oh, and I saw a bunch of flamingoes happily clustering around mirrors - apparently the appearance of more birds, hence a larger flock, makes them feel more secure, and thus more likely to breed. A mirror as an aphrodisiac, who´da thunk it...
This evening, after a last visit to, and occasional disagreement with, a Brasilian ATM, Ross and I headed off to a loacl Churrascaria for another of those All-You-Can-Eat BBQs I had sampled in Rio. Suffice to say, what with that and the caipirinha I felt compelled to have to stave off the heat when we got back, I am currently one very fat, happy Pat.
The trail itself wound down, through the sweltering heat, towards the falls, taking in views across to various of the "lesser" falls on the Argentine side of the border. Numerous Kodak moments, quite large crowds, plenty of sweating to be done. Hot, hot day. And then, finally, we get to the money shot: the first views of the Garganta del Diablo, the "Devil´s Throat" which forms the heart of the falls, and is the source of the majority of photos. It is stunning. A trail takes us out, close to the base of the Floriano Falls, to a point where we can get clear shots (well, clear apart from the omnipresent spray) of the Throat. It is simply stunning. I could try all I like to describe it, but my words will not do it justice. Once I can, I will put photos up, but still, the only way to properly appreciate this wonder of the world is to go and see it. And this was only the Brasilian view, which is apparently good for the far-away pictures but you get closer to much more of the falls on the Argentine side, where I should be tomorrow.
After this natural majesty, Ross and I took a breather, had a (fast-food) bite to eat, and headed back to the Park entrance, and thence across the road into the Parque das Aves, a bird park which Caio, one of the owners of Tucano House, had strongly recommended I should see. And he was right. An extraordinary collection of birdlife, some of it in large cages and other enclosures, but the more spectacular parts in walk-through aviaries. So today I have been nearly hit in the face by both Tucans and Macaws flying at me, had my picture taken with one of the latter perched on my shoulder (and made several amateur attempts to appear in photos with the former, some rather more successful than others!), and seen more birds than I could shake an exceedingly big stick at, some of them critically endangered to the point where captive breeding grounds like this are one of the few hopes to save the species. Oh, and I saw a bunch of flamingoes happily clustering around mirrors - apparently the appearance of more birds, hence a larger flock, makes them feel more secure, and thus more likely to breed. A mirror as an aphrodisiac, who´da thunk it...
This evening, after a last visit to, and occasional disagreement with, a Brasilian ATM, Ross and I headed off to a loacl Churrascaria for another of those All-You-Can-Eat BBQs I had sampled in Rio. Suffice to say, what with that and the caipirinha I felt compelled to have to stave off the heat when we got back, I am currently one very fat, happy Pat.
posted by Pat at 12:00 pm
<< Home