Day 4 ... goodbye Rio and hello Falls

Today it was time to say goodbye to Rio. We have had two incredibly full days ... seen Christ the Redeemer,  Sugarloaf,  Tijuca National Park, visited a favela, walked the old town, visited Santa Teresa, dipped our toes in the Atlantic Ocean at Copacabana and eaten some wonderful food!

After packing our cases, indulging in a final breakfast and checking out, we met up with Paulo and his son Ricardo for our transfer to the airport. We were booked on an 11.15am flight to Iguassu Falls. With the assistance of Paulo and Ricardo we were quickly and smoothly checked in and airside (although Ian had to go through a secondary screening ... probably too much metal in his body!).

Our flight from Rio to Iguassu Falls was smooth and arrived ahead of schedule. We were given a snack of crackers and chocolate biscuits with a soft drink of our choice. Nothing fancy but better than nothing!

Our arrival into Iguassu was through the Brazilian airport. We disembarked, followed the arrows to luggage and watched the men manually placing the luggage onto the conveyor belt through the window! Luggage collected we headed off to find our guide.

 

Maria was waiting for us ... a young, cheerful Argentinean.  We headed out to the car and our driver Evandro, and headed straight to the Brazilian side of the Falls.

Now ... the Falls. There is only one way to describe them ...  😲😲😲.

They are incredible. There are over 160 (up to 200) actual falls within the Falls depending on how much water there is. Massive cascades of water  (3,600 cubic metres per second) ... pouring over rocks and granite cliff faces, around islands, from one cascade level to another. At every turn there is another fall. More water, more spray, thunderous noise. It was incredible!

There were butterflies everywhere  ... so many different ones. They landed on you and then happily sat on your fingers. There were lizards, geckos and skinks, coati and vultures. Maria had an excellent eye and was quick to spot things to point out to us.

An absolute highlight of the waterfall was the long walkway over the top of one of the main Falls that put you right at the water. Maria warned us that we would get wet ... and then stayed behind holding my bag ... whilst we ventured out. The spray was incredible. The sound thunderous. We got absolutely drenched. We found rainbows. We laughed and we took photos ... even though our phones were soaked!

One final look at Iguassu from the Brazilian side ... and then it was time to say goodbye to the Falls ... for today.

Ian here. Evandro was waiting for us with the door open but we couldn't get in his nice clean car until I grabbed a towel from my suitcase to stretch over the back seat to soak up some of our wetness. A sedate drive back out of the park along the beautifully manicured surrounds. Most unlike the construction site that was the road to the Brazilian border post. Maria took care of everything there and in minutes we were crossing the bridge across the Iguazu River - which incidentally is marked yellow and green on the Brazilian side and blue and white on the Argentinean side (think flags!).

 

The Argentine border post was a whole different thing. You stay in your car and (after a 45 minute queue) you pull up beside a small booth. Evandro handed out the passports and paperwork Maria had prepared as we drove. The car pulled forward a little so the man in the booth could match our smiling faces with the dour passport photos. And ... having passed the test we were on our way.

 

Our accommodation is at a lodge in the forest about 10 minutes from town (Puerto Iguazu - at the meeting point of the Argentine, Brazilian and Paraguayan border).

 

We arrived to check in about 5.45 and immediately signed up for the 6pm guided Nature Walk (all activities included in your fee). A very quick change into dry clothes and we met up with Nadia and 7 other guests for a wander through the grounds of the lodge and surrounding area. Trees, lianas, vines, strangler fig, epiphytes, colourful flowers, insects, toxic butterflies local culture, ponds, frogs ... we saw them all. And the final spotlighting to see the bright green eyes of burrowing spiders. How fun was that! And because of the mixed group it was presented in both Spanish and English.

 Back at 7.30 in the dark and straight in to dinner at the lodge's restaurant. Classy presentation of meals, champagne cocktails, bread rolls with accompanying three cheese spread, and the largest glass of wine Jacqui has ever seen. (Jacqui here... I may have licked the remaining caramel from the dessert plate!).  Way out of my zone, but after a magical day it was a magical finish.

 

Best left there. We now have to go and deal with the mess in our room. And an early start tomorrow. See you then!

Steps ... 10,756

Kms ... 8.23km

Photos ... 556 (plus about 90 from Ian)