Date of Entry: December 22nd 2015
Date of Writing: January 3rd 2015
One Advantage of staying on the Brazilian side of the border is that it’s cheaper to get to the Brazilian falls, of course the downside unless you’re a big group is that it’s harder and more expensive to get to the Argentinean side, since unlike Argentina to Brazil, there’s no direct bus from Brazil to the Falls in Argentina, unless you book a tour, or a private car transfer. Still Iguazu guest house is really nice and while Foz de Iguacu isn’t a beautiful town, i find there’s a little more to do there.
I’m planning to head out at about 10 with Domenico an Italian guy who lives in Toronto and is staying in a hostel for the first time. At breakfast though we meet Danica and Nathalie sisters from Germany who are also going to the falls, and decide to come with us, taking advantage of my experience with the falls. By the time we get on the public bus Sabine, another german has joined our group and together the 5 of us are off to the falls, all getting along well. I’m just glad to have met them all, my last week in Paraguay has been great, but quite lonely overall, and all four of my companions turn out to be really cool people. Plus Danica and Nathalie despite being from Germany both lived in France extensively giving me a chance to practice my french from time to time, plus I respect to sisters who can travel together long term without issue, even if it does make me miss my brother Russell who at this point was still travelling around south east asia. Damn we’re shaping up to be a very well travelled duo.
At any rate together the 5 of us chat away the roughly half hour bus ride to the entrance of the national park which cost’s just 4 Reals (1.25 CAD) and climb off, going to buy our tickets and then climbing onboard the open air double decker bus for the ride to the falls. Of the five of us I’m the only one who has seen either side of the falls, and I relish the looks of awe on 4 faces as we climb out of the bus and head down to the first viewpoint, knowing that this view is just the tip of the iceberg.
As we eventually turn to head down the walkway towards even more incredible views and amazing opportunities for wetness I catch a Coati climbing out of the garbage can looking very satisfied. It’s too bad Argentina has designed there’s to be impenetrable, but no such effort is made in Brazil and it’s bad for these sweet if annoying animal’s health.
We continue on down the trail and wander past a to me familiar collection of view points of the various falls, rainbows blooming regularly like the smiles on the faces of my friends. I love coming here with new people, it’s always fun, especially when said people are awesome.
We keep going, me surprised we haven’t seen iguana’s yet and come to my two favourite photography stops, me happy to take photos for the newcomers and enjoying the incredible beauty all around me as we also find a few iguanas to complete the day.
Here I put my nikon p610 away not wanting to get it wet and head out into the madness with my new friends, who do manage to snap a few photos from out on the impressive walkways in the Brazilian side of the devil’s throat.
After lots of time spent out in the madness of the spray with rainbows around us under the brilliant blue sky we eventually head back towards where the elevator is, but not before going to the best place to get soaked on the Brazilian side and relishing the ridiculous power of the spray.
Drenched to the bone we get a few looks as we board the panoramic elevator and head up to yet another excellent viewpoint of the falls, snapping a few photos together, but sadly most of the good ones are on Domenico’s I phone. Still we’ve got some to include here.
From here we head to the bus to take us back to the park entrance, the others all hungry and tired out by the impressive sun decide to head back to town for lunch, thanks to my diet that’s a no go for me so instead I head back to the main road, crossing it and heading into the highly publicized Parque Das Aves unsure of what to expect.
I’ll say this if you hate the idea of animals in cages, no matter how big or for what reason, then you’ll hate this place, which has deep roots in conservation and wildlife education, but if you can appreciate a good zoo where most of the animals have been rescued, then you’ll love it and it’s well worth the 34 Reals entrance fee (12 CAD).
Once I’m inside I’m at first a little disappointed, some of the cages are a little small and while there’s impressive birds it’s hardly that impressive, despite being built into beautiful natural sub tropical jungle.
But it quickly gets better, starting when I stumble upon a species of Macaw I did not know exist. The colours are so deep and pure they seem like they’re coming out of a sci fi film, and I’m quite impressed. I’ve seen a lot of birds in my travels, but these ones are special, especially for the simplicity of their colouring.
I’ve seen so many flamingoes in the wild now that walking past a group in captivity seems unimportant, but when they start fighting it does prove quite fun to watch, while also glancing at some other rather large birds.
But after passing by the constantly feuding flamingoes the bird park reveals it’s true magic, instead of more small cages they have built giant enclosures, with boardwalks through them, where hundreds of birds have the walk of the place, and we are just the observers.
Getting up close and personal with incredible birds including toucans, a lone spoonbill and so many others is a really cool experience, though as always some tourists take it to far, one older french man with his children repeatedly trying to touch the birds and encouraging them to gnaw on his watch. He only laughs when I tell him you’re definitely not allowed to touch them and tries to get his kids to touch them. Of course when a staff member comes to chide him he pretends he doesn’t know, despite me repeatedly telling him in his mother tongue as well as my own.
I eventually wander out of the first huge enclosure and come across a few of the non avian residents of Parque Das Aves in the form of a huge crocodile, a massive anaconda and lots of turtles.
Continuing through the parc I’me ager to get to the next huge enclosure which I’ve spotted through the jungle in the distance and seems to hold an immense amount of macaws of all varieties, but first there’s a few stops with some of the worlds bigger flightless birds and what I can only describe as an Albino Peacock, another bird I’ve never seen.
From there it’s into the next huge enclosure full of Macaws and parrots which is just a ridiculous place to be, and not a quiet one at that, since Macaws never seem to understand the principle of being quiet, which sort of makes sense with their absurdly bright plumage. Here I see another new species of macaws to go with the blue and yellow, the scarlet and the dark blue seen earlier, this one has an orange breast and is also immensely beautiful.
I spend a solid hour in there, just amazed by the birds all around me, hopping, flying and walking around. Some have been rescued from places that clipped their wings and so cannot truly fly, but macaws are incredible climbers considering they have wings, and use their hooked beaks and dexterous talons to move around and climb effortlessly. It’s quite impressive really.
I eventually head out of the Macaw enclosure and enjoy a few last walks through a butterfly and hummingbird garden before coming out to one final highlight, a bird from Australia I’ve heard stories about but never seen, two cassowary’s, who are certainly the most dinosaur like birds I’ve ever seen, the hard crest on their colourful heads beyond strange. Unfortunately my camera chooses to die at this moment but not before I get to snap a few photos of these strange beasts.
As I head out of the park robbed of my camera there’s a few exhibits set up to teach kids some things about both anaconda’s and macaws and hopefully inspire a respect and foster a love for these remarkable animals. The kids get to touch and take photos with both animals, who are very used to such things as they were rescued from tourist compounds.
Once I’m through the gift shop and out of the park I cross the main street and wait for the bus back to town which is terribly crowded but gets me there, though I’m happy to relax in the air conditioned dorm for a bit before spending the night relaxing and talking with Danica, Natalie, and Sabine,who you’ll get to know a bit more about in the coming entries.
