Saturday, June 2

Today was the DAY. We visited Iguazu National Park for a day packed full of activities. We left the hotel at 8:30 to get to the park at 9 A.M. when it opened. We had to disembark from the bus to go through the gate, then got back on to drive into the park. Even at opening, there were tons and tons of people there. We headed to our first stop, downstream of the falls.

Hurrah for electric vehicles and uncomfortable smiles

We got onto a little electric cart called the 'Macuco Safari'. It rolled through the dense forest on a little gravel road in the woods. I sat in the front row of the cart, uncomfortably close to the tour guide. He showed us some species of tree and tried to crack jokes, but I just tried avoiding eye contact. At some point, the path was too steep for the electric car and we had to transfer to a diesel powered jeep. So much for sustainability. At the final point, above the river, we all got changed and ready for the boat tour of the falls and then rafting back down. We took a little trolley car down to the boat, then all got on board. I was seated right next to the captain. We headed a kilometer or two upstream, through some rapids. We turned a bend and suddenly the falls were in sight. There were tiny waterfalls coming down from all around the perimeter of the river. The captain pulled into a calm area, we all cinched our rain jackets down, and then plunged under a fall. He darted in and out, splashing people in the front and back of the boat. We were all completely soaked.

Descent to the river

Before the plunge

Once everyone received a thorough dousing, we headed slightly downstream to where the rafts were. All but 4 people decided to whitewater raft. We all stood on the dock, donned slightly more secure looking life vests, and put a helmet on. Then we signed a waiver before we were shooed onto the boat. As the heaviest one on the boat, I got put at the front. Our Brazilian guide told us he barely spoke any English, then coached us on forwards, backwards, and stop. I was only slightly concerned when he didn't tell us what to do if we fell off. He snapped pictures, then we headed towards the 'rapids'.

If you didn't know I'm kind of strong

Before the plunge

We plunged right into a trough, and the wave was like two feet above the front of the boat. We were more buoyant than I expected, though, and our boat pushed through without us getting too wet. We went through a couple of waves, then had a gap, then a section or two more, and then we were out. We were through the waves in probably ten minutes, and it got progressively easier as we went along. Altogether I didn't think it was that scary, and wish it had lasted longer. When we got to a calm section, the guides tied our three rafts together, and we all got to jump in and swim. We splashed around in the water, then climbed back in and floated back to the dock we started at. We all changed, then took the electric cars back to the top of the trail.

Mmm piranha snacks

Don't ask why we all decided to jump in in our rain shells

The bus took us a kilometer or two further down the road, and we passed by a big ol' pink hotel. It was big, and it was pink, and thanks to information supplied by Fabio, our secondary tour guide, I learned that it was built in the 1950's. We stopped, and then got out on a concrete trail that looked over part of the falls. We were at the lowest reaches, where our boat had stopped to turn around before. The trail meandered down the hillside, filled with tourists and quati, a nasty little pointy noised varmint that will apparently attack tourists for food. They bumbled around the feet of tourists as we stopped to take photos at scenic overlooks. The further we walked along the path, the more and more of the falls we could see. The final part of the falls is tiered, with two drops of water ringing the entire wall of the canyon. You can walk out onto the middle shelf, and feel the spray of the falls and watch it spill down below. It was amazing, and I kept drying my camera from the spray while I tried to take as many pictures as possible.

After the falls, we had lunch next to the river, feasting ourselves while listening to the dull roar of the falls and watching the water pass by. Then we went on another tour. We were originally supposed to bike on some trails, but apparently it was too wet so instead we had to take a freaking electric truck, which I was less than happy about. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll actually be able to successfully bike in Brazil. We took this trail to the river upstream of the falls, then took a boat a bit downstream to where some kayaks were tied up. We kayaked for a bit, then headed to a lodge downstream where we docked and had some snacks. As we were eating we saw toucans in the trees above, then more, and more. There were at least ten toucans perched in the trees above us, and we watched them fly around for a few minutes before they flew away.

So peaceful...

The little black speck in the middle is a toucan