DAY 4, April 12, 2012:
Copacabana Beach:
We were all set to leave Rio and fly to enjoy the magnificent Iguacu waterfalls
Taking pics of the hotel
lobby before leaving...
We spent the early morning
at the beach...Sugar Loaf in the background.
Dog walkers, joggers, bathers...
the beach has it all.
After some time on the beach we packed up and
caught the plush onibus to Rio international airport...
We took a flight from Rio
to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.
We've visited the other
famous falls in the world such as the Niagara in the US/Canada border
and Mosi-o-tunya (Victorian falls) in Zimbabwe/Zambia border. Iguaçu
Falls is definitely the most awesome with Mosi-o-tunya ranking
second!
The Iguazu Falls stretch
in width for 2.7 kilometres (or 1.7 miles). Their height varies
between 60 metres (200 feet) and 82 metres (or 269 feet). This makes
the Iguazu Falls taller than Niagara Falls and twice as wide. Eleanor
Roosevelt is said to have exclaimed on her first sight of the Iguacu
Falls: "Poor Niagara! Niagara is a dripping faucet compared to
this"
The exquisite Iguazu
Falls/ Iguaçu Falls originate from the Iguazu River and are located
on the border of Brazil (in the state of Paraná) and Argentina. This
river forms the boundary between Brazil and Argentina. Visitors can
reach the falls from Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil and Puerto Iguazú in
Argentina, or from Ciudad del Este in Paraguay.
Visitors are advised to
see the Iguazu Falls during spring or autumn, as summer is very hot
and humid, while the water level drops considerably in the winter.
70% of Iguassu Falls is
located on Argentinean territory, but most of the Falls face Brazil.
The Argentine side is no
doubt much more spectacular and has more boardwalks/ viewpoints. So
most visitors prefer to stay on that side and visit the Brazilian
side for enjoying the panorama view which is awesome as well.
We
could have flown into Puerto Iguazú in Argentina but then we have
to again go though immigration. Flying into Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil
made more sense for this reason. However, crossing the border twice
to enjoy the argentinian side is a tiresome routine, i would admit
and we were doing it over the next 2 days!
We had a complimentary
pickup by our hotel. Hotel Harbor Colonial is just 2km away from the
airport and 1 km from Iguacu National Park, BRAZIL. Again, people
usually stay in the town center but we preferred this location near
the Iguacu National Park, BRAZIL.
Usually we draw local
currency from the ATM. For Brazil when i was doing my research, on
Tripadvisor site, a lady was stating her travails where her debit
card had been swallowed at the ATM in Rio's international airport and
multiple withdrawals had been done wiping her account clean. There
was discussion on complicity by a security guard. Probably one off
incident but some similar tales made us exchange currency in Houston
before we started off. We used cash in many transactions. Our stock
was over on our 3rd day in Rio. We approached a
recommended Cambio for USD exchange but they were closing and w did
not have our passports too. So we landed in Foz do Iguacu with not
much local cash. A cambio was near the entrnce of the Iguacu
National Park. We walked up there and changed some USD and then
entered the park.
is the official site.
Special walkways have been
built around the Iguazu Falls to allow visitors to get close up to
this wonder of their natural beauty and power. A long pathway along
the canyon (on the Brazilian side of the falls).
Macuco Safari:
Before taking these
walkways we decided to go on the famous Macuco Safari and bought the
tickets along with the entry ticket
The Safari starts with a
drive of 3 km along a forest trail in a four-wheel drive vehicle.
Then, a 600 meter walking trail leads to a small waterfall called Salto do Macuco.
From there, the
trail continues to the banks of the Iguassu River, where an upstream
zodiac boat tour to Devil´s Throat begins.
The boat ride was truly
out of the world, we got soaked and LOVED it! We had taken our own ponchos
For R$140, macuco safari
is pricey, the jeep ride and walking hike hardly have good info. The
boat ride of 20 minutes is available separate for R$80. This info is
available only In the PARK , not on the internet or in people's
reviews. Wish we had known this earlier...in our experience, only the
boat ride was worth it..The walking trek was done at top speed, with
just 2 stops for some info by our guide. I put in this review and
have got numerous votes thanking me on the TA site.
After the safari we waited
at the station to board their bus to reach the walkways.
The park has plenty of
these coatis...
the coati looks cute but there are warning
boards everywhere about tourists getting bitten by them. They have
become accustomed to being fed by tourists and become aggressive at
the sight of food. The park is overrun with coatis prowling around
for food and they were even toppling bins at the souvenir/snack shop
at the train station
The park stretches for
457,794 acres on the Brazilian side alone; across the Iguazu River in
Argentina its counterpart covers 165,760. In reality this looks like
a carpet of green haze, where the spray from the falls rises like a
cloud between the two sides.
Some 35 jaguars roam the
national park and 30 pumas. As well as big cats, Iguacu and Iguazu
are home to more than 2,000 plant species; toucans and parrots; giant
anteaters and monkeys; as well as, the world’s largest rodent, the
four-foot long capybara.
It's a lovely experience
breezing through the forest and when we catch sight of the falls,
it's a jaw dropping moment!
Eighteen kilometers before
joining the Parana River, the Iguaçu River gains altitude and then
plunges 80 meters down. It can reach up to 2,780 meters wide. Its
geographical formation dates from about 150 millions years, but the
formation of the waterfall’s geographic characteristics began
approximately 200,000 years ago.
The Iguaçu River measures
1,200 meters in width above the falls. Below, it narrows into a 65
meter channel. The total width of the waterfall in the Brazilian
territory is approximately 800 meters and 1,900 m in the Argentinean
side.
The Iguaçu Falls are an
awesome sight ...tonnes of water throw themselves over cliffs and the
mist rises amongst the jungle. 275 separate waterfalls cascade along
the edges of 2,700 meters (1,6 miles) cliffs. They are taller than
Niagara Falls, and twice as wide,waterfalls fall over an area 3km
wide (2km of which is the upper rim of the waterfall). The average
flow of the river is about 1,500 m³ per second, ranging from 500
m³/s in times of drought and 8,500 m³/s in times of flood. The
largest volume of water occurs between the months of October and
March.
There are 19 main falls.
Five of them are on the Brazilian side (Floriano, Deodoro, Benjamin
Constant, Santa Maria and União). The rest are on the Argentinean
side.
A large proportion of the
water is thrust down Devil’s Throat, a long chasm that is 82 metres
high, 150 metres wide and 700 metres long. This Devil’s Throat
(Garganto Diablo) is an awesome sight on Argentinean side. There are
several islands within the river and the falls.
Walking the trail on the
Brazilian side of Iguassu Falls is easy. There is a main trail,
approximately 1,600 meters (one mile) long, This leads us along the
river with its many smaller falls to the base of the biggest
waterfall. There a catwalk extends out over the brink of the series
of falls which make up Devil´s Throat. This side provides a good
general view of the falls.
There is a tower with an
elevator/lift to come to the top of the falls from where we have a
spectacular panoramic view. ..it takes us 3 different levels...
We enjoyed the panorama till park staff hustled us out at 6 pm...
Two more AWESOME days were to follow as we trekked to the Argentine side...next post is here:
Two more AWESOME days were to follow as we trekked to the Argentine side...next post is here:
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