Las Cataratas (Part 2 - Brazil)

I gave you one picture from the Brazil side yesterday so here's one of La Garganta del Diablo from the Argentinian side to even up the score!

Normally my Monday would've been a busy day at the school but as this was National Sovereignty day in Argentina the schools were closed and I got to come to Brazil for a few hours.

There's at least a couple of ways to get to the Brazilian Park of Las Cataratas. My Rough Guide came up trumps by suggesting Crucero Del Norte bus company as they do a direct bus there and back from Puerto Iguazu bus terminal (20 paces from my hotel!). So I booked a seat on their 08:10 departure.

This bus left pretty much on time and the Argentinian border control was careful and efficient so went was reasonably quick. Not so the Brazilian side. The bus driver collected everyone's passport and disappeared. I didn't know what to think of this but was still waiting along with the rest of the bus about an hour later. Finally the driver came back and asked a poor French bloke to hand out the passports. There are quite a lot of French people visiting the falls. This chap started calling out names but soon worked out that pronunciation was a problem so decided to pass them around. I tried to speak to this guy for a while but found myself mixing up French and Spanish. Maybe I only have room for 1 plus a little of a second language in my small head and my school french is being replaced by spanish!

So eventually we get to the park entrance and the Brazilian side appears to be more expensive than the Argentinian side. It was 100 Pesos entrance yesterday for the whole day (apart from La Gran Aventura). Today it was 120 pesos entry. Not much more I agree but comparing what you get it felt like a rip off to me. My guide book had said the Brazilian side is more high-tech and I think that is probably the case. We needed to take an open topped bus to the falls walkway (versus nice old train in Argentina) and this had commentary in 3 or 4 languages. There were a few optional stop off points for walks, kayaking, cycling etc etc. You could even get a helicopter ride on the brazilian side but on grounds of wildlife disturbance I boycotted that. Apparently Argentina has actually banned the helicopters from their airspace for this reason. Fair play I say.

Ok, too much writing and not enough pictures...

Looks like there are some folks leaving for a Gran Aventura at the bottom of that one.

La garganta in the middle of the shot in the distance.

You get pretty close to this part which is on the Brazil side so another opportunity to get a bit wet (duly taken as it's very hot and humid!)

There's a highish viewing platform that gives a look down




















In fairness, there is a different perspective from this side and probably better for the panoramic type view. However, you can do this side justice in about an hour or two really versus a whole day of fun in Argentina.

I'd originally thought I'd be able to get a bus back about 11 but the Brazil customs wait killed off that idea. I had some time to kill therefore before the next bus at 13:00.

During this time I went to the excellent Parque des Aves - Bird park just a 5 minute walk from the falls park entrance. On my way over I was thinking I've only got half an hour, how much would I be willing to pay? 50 pesos was what I came up with in my head. I asked a fellow visitor who'd just bought tickets and he said 50 pesos - I think he was from Argentina as he was folding away some pesos and spoke Castellano. However, when I got to the ticket box they asked where I was from. Proudly I chirped back "Escosia", only to be charged 70 pesos! It seems Brazilians get cheap entry and so do other nearby countries. Oh well, 70 pesos is about £10. I'm not hear very often. But it did add to the feeling that the Brazilian side was a bit pricey in comparison.

All thoughts of cash were soon dismissed however because this was an excellent little bird house. The birds appear to have plenty room (although I'm no expert) and some have big enclosures visitors can walk through. There is a double door airlock system to stop escapes for those wondering.

Some pics...

The toucans are not shy!

They way they carry on I think they would take the huff if you didn't take their picture!

 Yes, yes, very pretty, there you go I've taken your picture. They are seriously beautiful birds and seem to enjoy fooling around. Something tells me they are after food rather than a photo, though.

This is a caiman and although a little bigger looks the same as the one we saw in the wild on Sunday on the Ecological boat trip.











There was also a mariposa (butterfly) enclosure. In this there was also humming birds. I couldn't move fast enough to get a picture of one of those! The most amazing thing was the sound they made as they flew by. Those things don't half move!

There was one enclosure that was closed and I was half disappointed about this and half relieved. As I got closer to this one I began to hear a cacophony of squawking and cries. "Oho, what have we here" I thought. This was the parrot enclosure and these guys were biiiig and misbehaving. There were warning signs about taking care in this enclosure, but after surviving the Macuco trail the day before I wasn't about to flinch at a bunch of parrots. Stiffening my back and pushing back my shoulders I took an assertive step forward towards the entrance only to see the "CERRADO" sign. "CLOSED". I would've gone in if it had been open, honest! However those things were going ballistic and flying about having a go at each other. Maybe it was feeding time or something but I can just see me going in there and having to fight my way back out with peck injuries and feathers sticking out of my hair!

Well, that was about it for the Brazilian Cataratas. I was hoping to get some pool time at the hotel before my bus but another hourish wait at Brazilian customs put paid to that - thanks fellas! To be fair it did look very busy at the border, maybe due to the Argentina holiday.

So now I only have a couple of days of teaching left before I head off down south to El Calafate at the weekend to begin the more relaxing part of my sabbatical. So far since I stopped work I've been doing a 2000 mile cycle challenge for charity, learning spanish, learning how to teach English and teaching English. Time to rest and be a tourist for a while I think (although, I'll still be leaning spanish of course). El Calafate is in Patagonia with mountains, lakes and glaciers.

Now some of you may scoff but although I love Misiones and have had a fantastic time here, it really is getting too hot for me now as we head towards summer and I'm looking forward to going somewhere a bit colder. I think I'm allowed to say this as I'm one of the few people who don't complain about the weather in Scotland. However, I'm sure many of you facing morning frosts etc just now back home will probably take umbrage. Call me mad but it's so hot here that a morning frost or two right now would suit me just fine!