Iguacu – Brazilian Side

12/1/09

(I know I spelled the falls differently, one is Spanish, one is Portuguese)

After last night's late dinner, we sleep in this morning. Some time around 11am, we sneak into Brazil to see the foz (falls) from their side. In Brazil, you don't get as close to the falls, but you get better overall (panoramic?) views. We can see where we were yesterday and how it fits into the overall layout of the whole falls complex. The falls are scattered. It's not like Niagara, where there is one giant waterfall (plus the American one) and nothing else. There is the devil's throat, the center of which is the border. The falls are almost continuous on the Brazilian side, but only continue for a few hundred feed across before hitting the shore. On the Argentine side, the falls also continue for a few hundred feet, then there is an island/cliff, then some more falls, then some stepped falls, more islands/cliffs and this goes on for most of a mile. There are countless small (relatively) falls just bursting out of the jungle.

The walk out at the bottom of the Brazilian side is very wet. We are extremely close to (and downwind of) a fairly large section. We also go up to the top of the tower to get a great view of the whole thing. Overall, I don't think Iguacu is as big as Victoria Falls and it looks like more water flows over Niagara, but Iguacu is prettier.

After sneaking out of Brazil, we buy overnight bus tickets to the Uruguayan border and head back to our hostel for one last swim.

The bus seats are the best yet. They are similar to a business class airplane seat and recline almost completely horizontally. Where were these on my trip through Paraguay?