3 days, 3 countries.
The past few days have been pretty busy but also amazing. Obviously, before leaving Brazil and heading to Argentina we had to stop at Iguazu falls and this makes perfect sense as it is possible to see Iguazu falls from both Brazil and Argentina so it made a perfect crossing point. We arrived from Rio into Foz de Iguazu stupidly early (5AM). Joe was able to take a nap on the floor of the airport but I struggled with this so just had to power on through. Our first hurdle was to get a bus into Foz de Iguazu so we could drop our bags and then head to the falls. We had done the research and knew that we needed to get the 120 bus, however, 3 buses went passed and didn’t let us on, not being able to speak any Portuguese I had no idea why but we eventually made it. We later found out that the airport was the middle stop, therefore the buses that didn’t let us on were actually stopping at the falls before heading into town.
Iguazu Falls - Brazil
The day we arrived we dropped our stuff off and got back on the same bus (120) that we had used to get from the airport and headed straight to the falls. Once at the entrance we waited in line for a bus that took us to a trek that lead to the main falls. As soon as we got off the bus we noticed a few Raccoon type creatures which were really quite cute. However, according to the signs they can be quite vicious. We carried on down the 1.5km trek which followed the river. It was a beautiful walk but unfortunately there were a lot of people and because of this it wasn’t as serene as it could have been. We went about midday so maybe a better time to go would have been in the morning.
Once you get to the end of the trek there’s a bridge that takes you into the middle of the river where you get a fantastic view of the falls from the bottom along with a lot of water spray. It’s magnificent seeing how big the falls are when you are stood right in the middle.
It was at this point I started getting texts about Internet usage. I am on a three contract and am able to use my inclusive minutes in Brazil but not in Argentina. Now I was still in Brazil but stood extremely close to the border so my phone must have picked up an Argentinian signal and started charging me. Ahhh by the end of the trip I had £24 internet service charges. What a way to make a beautiful stunning experience turn sour. Fortunately, I rang three and they reimbursed me completely!!
All in all it was an amazing day with the Brazil side of the falls being truly stunning!
Itaipu Dam - Paraguay
The following day we decided to nip into Paraguay and visit the Itaipu Dam. It is possible to do this trip from Brazil but after doing some research it looked as though the cheapest option was Paraguay as their tour around the dam is free.
We started our journey into Paraguay and Joe started to panic as we passed the border. If you are on a public bus they don’t stop at the border so you just go along through. However, this appeared to be the norm.
We ended up getting off the bus at the last stop which was the complete wrong stop and struggled to work out how to get to the Dam as no one spoke English. At this point we had no map or translator downloaded but some how managed to work out where to get a Taxi. Fortunately, the Itaipu dam visitor center had WiFi so we were able to plan the route back to Brazil and download a translator.
The Dam itself was amazing to see, a lot bigger than I had expected. We went on a tour bus around the site but unfortunately the tour was in Spanish. The Dam itself produces 80% of Paraguay’s electricity and 20% of Brazil’s so it is some pretty impressive engineering.
Walking through Ciudad del Este to find the bus back to Brazil we picked up a stray puppy. The puppy followed us for what must have been 2km before we finally managed to lose it. It is a good job we didn’t have our own car or Joe would definitely have tried to bring him home!
Iguazu Falls - Argentina
To get from Brazil to Argentina we hopped on a bus from Foz du Iguazu (Brazil) to Puerto Iguazu (Argentina) and this time the bus did stop at the border. This was pretty straight forward although 3 busses did drive past leaving us stoof in the rain for 1.5 hours. Fortunately the bus did eventually stop and we had no futher problems as we only had enough Brazilian Real for the bus so we weren’t left with too much unwanted cash.
From Puerto Iguazu it was straight forward to get the bus to the falls. The price for the falls on the Argentinian side was more expensive than for the Brazil side but it’s definitely worth it to see the falls from a different perspective. From this side you end up walking over a bridge on top of the falls whereas on the Brazil side you walk into the middle at the bottom of the falls.
We got to the National Park with what we thought was enough time to see the falls and do a small trek before we needed to get our flight. However, it ended up taking ages to get to the main area for the falls as you have to take a train and it’s some distance away. We ended up having to race our way through the park to ensure we got back and to the airport on time. It was a shame we had to rush our way around but even for a short time the spectacular view was worth it.
Cara