Friday, January 18, 2019 – More Falls, and Brazil
We were both up by 5:30, and so we had time to spare before we had to get ready to start at 7:00. We drove to the park posthaste and entered early. Breakfast today was served at the Melia Hotel in the park itself, by special arrangement between Awasi and them.
It was actually a fair amount better than the breakfast at Awasi. The menu was much larger, and they even have sparkling wine on the buffet!
And the view was impressive! You can see the mist from Devil's Throat from your breakfast table.
At 8:15 we started off to hike the Macuco Trail. We were the first ones on the trail and Nieves had to take down some spider webs as we passed through. This one was off to the side so we didn't have to disturb it.
Some nice flowers along the way.
And other flora too. Apparently these mushrooms are edible. We didn't try them.
Nice jungle, with occasional muddy spots along the trail, but a great hike. There was a beautiful waterfall at the end. It was complete with a private swimming pool. We dunked our feet, while Nieves took a dip to cool off.
Coming back we heard toucan calls, saw ocelot tracks that were a day or so old, and we found fresh tapir tracks that weren’t there when we had passed through before. Just missed it! We did see some ants, very busy running along their own trail.
Back to the Melia Hotel, where we waited for Nieves to collect the truck. Then back to Awasi for a much-needed shower and cool down.
We had our lunch out on the patio while we watched the storm clouds gather. They had a taco special which we both had. The fries were a nice touch, but the salt was great after that big long hike.
Would Brazil be a wash out? That would be such a disappointment!
At 2:30 we started off and passed through Argentinian immigration, then Brazilian immigration and customs. A bit of a process, but they were happy with the e-visas which I had printed out, and we were through.
On the way to the park it started pouring! We met our chauffered car part way there, and the driver followed us to the park entrance. We parked in an intense downpour. Ponchos on, we ran for shelter while Nieves bought tickets. It was quite a downpour!
The Brazilian side works differently than the Argentine side. I was expecting to have to take the park bus from the ticket office to the falls walk, but Nieves had better ideas.
Awasi arranged a private car for us, so we don’t have to wait for the bus. No need to wait in a queue. And on cue, as we approached the Belmond Hotel, the rain stopped.
So we had dry weather to start along the Falls View Walk. And it was a great view!
There were cascades wherever you looked. In this view we are at the beginning of the walk, and Devil's Throat is hidden in the mist to the left.
This hotel on the other side looks familiar. It's where we had breakfast this morning! These two hotels are about 1/2 mile apart, as the crow flies. But it takes an hour to drive from one to the other. Crows don't need passports or immigration control.
Cascades of all sizes as we walked along.
The Brazilian lizards looked skinny compared to the big guy outside our hotel room, back in Argentina.
Close-up of one of many falls on the Argentina side,
And a wider-angle view, showing the second tier of falls below.
We could now start to see the main event, off in the distance.
Just an amazing landscape!
I am pretty sure that this is a different perspective of the Three Musketeers.
These falls are probably intermittent. Very small and delicate, hidden in the rainforest.
On the Brazilian side, there is a two-tier falls just next to Devil's Throat. You can walk out on the "mezzanine" level to get a closer view. Should we?
Time for the ponchos again, because the water spray is incredible! We left our good cameras with Nieves, grabbed our (hopefully) water-resistant cell phone cameras, and headed into the mist on the catwalk.
The force of the water coming down into Devil's Throat was intense. Mist was flying everywhere. You may get a few seconds to snap a picture before your lens gets drenched.
Much calmer looking over towards Salto Floriano.
Hard to compare to the Argentina side. Both experiences are neat but they are different. We were up above Devil's Throat yesterday and today, we seem to be deep down inside it. The amount of spray is much larger on this side.
No doubt you need rain gear here.
And don't bring any good cameras, unless you know that they are waterproof.
The sunglasses are more to protect our eyes from the constant spray, than to protect from glare.
When it gets too intense, turn away from the falls. There is always something to see here.
Drenched, we headed back to dry land. It felt cold now that we were wet, and the sun was obscured by clouds. But that didn't last long.
Of course, this is the perfect selfie spot, right at the edge of Salto Floriana.
We found an opening for Chris to pose.
Almost at the end of the walkway! As we finished our circuit, the rain started up again. Couldn’t have timed it better. We climbed a set of steps to the exit.
An overview shot, from the end of El Camino de las Cataratas. Time to head out before we get soaked.
But look, more coatis! They are scampering around the walkway, oblivious to all the tourists milling around.
They are probably looking for food. Speaking of which, I'm hungry too!
Our chauffered car was waiting and the driver dropped us off at the parking lot, where we hopped into the Awasi truck for the drive home. A bit longer wait at both the Brazil exit, then we crossed the Tancredo Neves Bridge back to Argentina.
There was a bit of a wait at the Argentinian entry, maybe 10-15 minutes in all. Not bad at all, according to Nieves. It could be much worse. She said that sometimes it's a two hour wait!
But they have another trick up their sleeve if the wait is too long. They will radio to the lodge, and have another employee drive a truck to the border and park it on the Argentina side. That employee will then walk through immigration and come find us in the line. We would then leave our truck with the employee, walk across the border, and take the new truck home, while employee waits to clear customs. These guys think of everything!
We were home at 6:30 and got ready for dinner. We had a nice welcome drink – a mix of vodka, melon, and lemon juice topped with a float of Malbec! Very imaginative work by Pepe.
Some nice colors tonight. But certainly too cloudy for a full moon walk.
We ate inside and had another great meal. I started with beef carpaccio and Chris had prawns.
Chris's main was interesting - a corn rotolo, which was a pasta-like tube made of corn flour, filled with vegetables. I had a nice piece of sirloin.
The usual animals were on the table as well. Come to think of it, we haven't seen a real toucan yet. Maybe tomorrow?
I had yerba mate for dessert. It was yerba mate ice cream over a crumble, with yerba mate tea also.
Off to bed early, right after dinner. We have another early wake up on our last day here. We will have breakfast at the hotel in the park again, so that we can get an early start hiking the falls circuits on the Argentina side.
We were both up by 5:30, and so we had time to spare before we had to get ready to start at 7:00. We drove to the park posthaste and entered early. Breakfast today was served at the Melia Hotel in the park itself, by special arrangement between Awasi and them.
 |
| View from Breakfast, Melia Hotel Iguazu Park |
And the view was impressive! You can see the mist from Devil's Throat from your breakfast table.
At 8:15 we started off to hike the Macuco Trail. We were the first ones on the trail and Nieves had to take down some spider webs as we passed through. This one was off to the side so we didn't have to disturb it.
Some nice flowers along the way.
And other flora too. Apparently these mushrooms are edible. We didn't try them.
 |
| Not Iguazu Falls |
Nice jungle, with occasional muddy spots along the trail, but a great hike. There was a beautiful waterfall at the end. It was complete with a private swimming pool. We dunked our feet, while Nieves took a dip to cool off.
Coming back we heard toucan calls, saw ocelot tracks that were a day or so old, and we found fresh tapir tracks that weren’t there when we had passed through before. Just missed it! We did see some ants, very busy running along their own trail.
Back to the Melia Hotel, where we waited for Nieves to collect the truck. Then back to Awasi for a much-needed shower and cool down.
We had our lunch out on the patio while we watched the storm clouds gather. They had a taco special which we both had. The fries were a nice touch, but the salt was great after that big long hike.Would Brazil be a wash out? That would be such a disappointment!
At 2:30 we started off and passed through Argentinian immigration, then Brazilian immigration and customs. A bit of a process, but they were happy with the e-visas which I had printed out, and we were through.
 |
| Waiting at Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
On the way to the park it started pouring! We met our chauffered car part way there, and the driver followed us to the park entrance. We parked in an intense downpour. Ponchos on, we ran for shelter while Nieves bought tickets. It was quite a downpour!
 |
| Belmond Hotel das Cataratas, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
The Brazilian side works differently than the Argentine side. I was expecting to have to take the park bus from the ticket office to the falls walk, but Nieves had better ideas.
Awasi arranged a private car for us, so we don’t have to wait for the bus. No need to wait in a queue. And on cue, as we approached the Belmond Hotel, the rain stopped.
 |
| El Camino de las Cataratas, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
So we had dry weather to start along the Falls View Walk. And it was a great view!
There were cascades wherever you looked. In this view we are at the beginning of the walk, and Devil's Throat is hidden in the mist to the left.
 |
| Hotel Gran Meliá Iguazú, Iguazú NP, Argentina |
This hotel on the other side looks familiar. It's where we had breakfast this morning! These two hotels are about 1/2 mile apart, as the crow flies. But it takes an hour to drive from one to the other. Crows don't need passports or immigration control.
Cascades of all sizes as we walked along.
The Brazilian lizards looked skinny compared to the big guy outside our hotel room, back in Argentina.
 |
| Rivadavia Falls, Camino de las Cataratas, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
Close-up of one of many falls on the Argentina side,
 |
| Rivadavia (top) and Three Musketeers Falls (bottom) |
And a wider-angle view, showing the second tier of falls below.
 |
| Looking towards Devil's Throat, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
We could now start to see the main event, off in the distance.
Just an amazing landscape!
I am pretty sure that this is a different perspective of the Three Musketeers.
These falls are probably intermittent. Very small and delicate, hidden in the rainforest.
 |
| Catwalk over Santa Maria Falls, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
On the Brazilian side, there is a two-tier falls just next to Devil's Throat. You can walk out on the "mezzanine" level to get a closer view. Should we?
 |
| Salto Floriano, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
Time for the ponchos again, because the water spray is incredible! We left our good cameras with Nieves, grabbed our (hopefully) water-resistant cell phone cameras, and headed into the mist on the catwalk.
 |
| Into Devil's Throat, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
The force of the water coming down into Devil's Throat was intense. Mist was flying everywhere. You may get a few seconds to snap a picture before your lens gets drenched.
Much calmer looking over towards Salto Floriano.
Hard to compare to the Argentina side. Both experiences are neat but they are different. We were up above Devil's Throat yesterday and today, we seem to be deep down inside it. The amount of spray is much larger on this side.
No doubt you need rain gear here.
And don't bring any good cameras, unless you know that they are waterproof.
The sunglasses are more to protect our eyes from the constant spray, than to protect from glare.
 |
| Downriver, overlooking Santa Maria Falls, , Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
When it gets too intense, turn away from the falls. There is always something to see here.
Drenched, we headed back to dry land. It felt cold now that we were wet, and the sun was obscured by clouds. But that didn't last long.
Of course, this is the perfect selfie spot, right at the edge of Salto Floriana.
We found an opening for Chris to pose.
 |
| Atop Salto Floriano, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
Almost at the end of the walkway! As we finished our circuit, the rain started up again. Couldn’t have timed it better. We climbed a set of steps to the exit.
 |
| Catwalk Overview, Iguaçu NP, Brazil |
An overview shot, from the end of El Camino de las Cataratas. Time to head out before we get soaked.
But look, more coatis! They are scampering around the walkway, oblivious to all the tourists milling around.
They are probably looking for food. Speaking of which, I'm hungry too!
 |
| Crossing back into Argentina, Tancredo Neves Bridge |
Our chauffered car was waiting and the driver dropped us off at the parking lot, where we hopped into the Awasi truck for the drive home. A bit longer wait at both the Brazil exit, then we crossed the Tancredo Neves Bridge back to Argentina.
 |
| Waiting for Customs, Argentina |
There was a bit of a wait at the Argentinian entry, maybe 10-15 minutes in all. Not bad at all, according to Nieves. It could be much worse. She said that sometimes it's a two hour wait!
But they have another trick up their sleeve if the wait is too long. They will radio to the lodge, and have another employee drive a truck to the border and park it on the Argentina side. That employee will then walk through immigration and come find us in the line. We would then leave our truck with the employee, walk across the border, and take the new truck home, while employee waits to clear customs. These guys think of everything!
We were home at 6:30 and got ready for dinner. We had a nice welcome drink – a mix of vodka, melon, and lemon juice topped with a float of Malbec! Very imaginative work by Pepe.
Some nice colors tonight. But certainly too cloudy for a full moon walk.
 |
| Beef Carpaccio, Dinner at Awasi Iguazu |
We ate inside and had another great meal. I started with beef carpaccio and Chris had prawns.
 |
| Corn Rotolo, Dinner at Awasi Iguazu |
Chris's main was interesting - a corn rotolo, which was a pasta-like tube made of corn flour, filled with vegetables. I had a nice piece of sirloin.
The usual animals were on the table as well. Come to think of it, we haven't seen a real toucan yet. Maybe tomorrow?
I had yerba mate for dessert. It was yerba mate ice cream over a crumble, with yerba mate tea also.
Off to bed early, right after dinner. We have another early wake up on our last day here. We will have breakfast at the hotel in the park again, so that we can get an early start hiking the falls circuits on the Argentina side.
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