seekingmygreaterperhaps

Oi! Tudo bem?

I had 2 nights in my own bed after my business trip before I jetted off to the Foz do Iguacu. Had I known about the trip to Europe beforehand, I may have planned differently, but alas, off I went. Before I got there, I thought the Foz do Iguacu was a fancy way to say “waterFALLS” – but I was wrong. It’s the Cataratas which is the actual waterfall, Foz is the town which means the mouth of the river.

On my first day, I took a private tour right away from the airplane to go visit Paraguay! It borders this town, and there isn’t a whole lot to see in Paraguay, so I thought I would cross another country off my list by taking a tour. I had a lot of fun with my guide, who showed me the Cataratas del Monday- the Monday waterfalls, which is a big waterfall.

While I was there, I got to go ziplining! Kind of near the waterfall, but not over it or anything. It was a bit cloudy and the air was thick- I was quite sweaty, but it was nice because they kind of did the zipline just for me. Another highlight- seeing a peacock in real life, and it spreading out it’s tail feathers for us.

I also saw the famous church, and a casino! Apparently Brazilians always want to see the casino because it is legal in Paraguay, but not in Brazil.

I ended up booking all of my tours with the same tour company because they did a good job. It’s a small business and relatively new, so I’ll put it here: Bom Viajante Turismo: +55 45 8833-4029 or reservas@bomviajante.com.br < but we all know that WhatsApp is king.

The next 2 days I spent exploring both sides of the Cataratas do Iguacu/ Iguazu. Part of it is on the Brazil side (Iguacu) and the other part is on the Argentina side (Iguazu).

The first stop is the Parque das Aves- which is a bird sanctuary.

The birds in here are mostly rescued from being trafficked, and it was cool to see some beautiful tropical birds. There is a huge macaw exhibit and you are just chillin in there with the macaws flying around. It’s cool while also being somewhat terrifying because they are loud and fast.

Then- onto the falls.

If you’ve ever been to Niagara falls, it’s bigger than that. Iguacu is 3 times as big. You see the squinty pictures of me because the mist was insane! On the Brazil side you see the overview of the falls, and can see them for their giant-ness.

I also paid the extra to do the boat ride. It was totally worth it. I have some go-pro footage, but essentially you just get completely soaking wet. They pull the boat up close to the waterfall, not under it, but close enough where you can’t really open your eyes because you’ll just go blind with water. I was sitting next to a group of Carioca’s (people from Rio) who were just having a hoot of a time, and it made it fun for me too. If you go, wear tons of bug spray because the short walk down to the river bank is a feast for mosquitos. The boat ride might be the highlight of the entire trip for me.

Next Up: Argentina.

Bring your passport, because you cross a land border (and it takes a while) to get to Argentina! I liked this side of the cataratas better, because you’re in it. You walk over the waterfalls on well maintained bridges and you really are right there. TLC said to not go chasing waterfalls, but they must never have been to Iguazu.

I didn’t love the insane amount of people there with me. Iguazu is a huge tourist draw, attracting more than 1 million visitors every year. I mean, I get it, but many tourists aren’t always considerate of others around them.

On this trip, I saw my first coati! I don’t have a picture of it, just a video, because they are trash panda’s and are around picnic tables trying to steal people’s food, and if that food is in a bag, the bag too.

Finally, a proud moment for me. Pictured are the group of Carioca’s and another friend I made at my hostel- we met up for drinks and I was able to talk with them in Portuguese the whole time. If you’ve ever met a person from Rio, they talk really fast, and I did have to ask them to repeat and slow down more than a couple times, but they were good sports about it. I held my own for hours, and even cracked a few jokes! Now I’ve got some new friends, and I’ve been to a beautiful natural wonder.

Thanks for reading! Tchau!