DAY 7: April 2, 2012
IN BRAZIL SIDE OF
IGUACU ONCE AGAIN.
We started the day
a little late by our usual standards--so had to wait in queue with
the general crowd for tickets at 10.30. We are so used to be
everywhere bright and early, so it was a bit of an issue wasting time
in a queue.
This is the rainbow pool at the entrance of the national park.
All trails marked here...
READY FOR THE JEEP
RIDE--glass top for the jeeps.
on the double
decker...
About 23 km or 15 miles before the junction where Iguacu joins Parana river, are the great Iguassu Falls,
Walking the trail
on the Brazilian side of Iguassu Falls is easy as said earlier.
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 GARGANTA DEL DIABLO where a catwalk extends out
over the brink.
we did all the
trails/several levels and had a great time
This side provides
a good general view of the falls.
At the top the
trail leads to the end of the tour in front of the Iguassu River
above the falls.
Here, there is a
souvenir shop, We bought some nice Tshirts with the logo and lovely souvenirs too with macaws and the famous semiprecious stone of Brazil.
. There is a lovely bird park on Brazil side just adjacent
to the national park. 28R$ entry; open 8.30—5.30
This is red ibis
on tree...and flamingos on the ground...
Flamingos on the
ground at the bottom of pic.
These are grey crowned cranes--This species and the closely related black-crowned crane are the only cranes that can roost in trees, because of a long hind toe that can grasp branches.
The grey-crowned crane is about 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and weighs 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs)and a wingspan of 2 m (6.5 ft). Its body plumage is mainly grey. The wings are also predominantly white, but contain feathers with a range of colours. The head has a crown of stiff golden feathers. The sides of the face are white, and there is a bright red inflatable throat pouch. The bill is relatively short and grey, and the legs are black. They have long legs for wading through the grasses.
The
grey-crowned crane has a breeding display involving dancing, bowing,
and jumping. It has a booming call which involves inflation of
the red gular sac. It also makes a honking sound quite different from
the trumpeting of other crane species. Both sexes dance, and
immature birds join the adults. Dancing is an integral part of
courtship, but also may be done at any time of the year.
camera shy....
Here's a toucan on
the branch--this is a shy guy--there are very naughty ones as well
This is Curassow
restricted to tropical South America.
Amazing how all
birds are out in the open--there is a net high up in the ceiling
though.
Here are green,
yellow parakeets.
These colorful
macaws are so noisy...
A naughty toucan
caught in flight...it was kind of purposely flying low very near
us...whooshing past us as if playing...
the same toucan flying low past us and then turning its back on us.
Then we were in
the reptiles section—iguana here...
Caiman sunning
itself near pond
turtles hardly
visible in pic.
Here's the dreaded
rattlesnake.
A different
colored toucan--they come in 5 shade combinations
Here are some
lovely macaws... nice restaurant with live music.
A guy was helping
us hold a macaw. Could have spent a whole day with this
sweetie...weighs quite a bit, claws feel like barbed wire.
This is a mature
sweet bird as opposed to the naughty ones we saw earlier
Scare at the Airport:
We were in hurry
for our flight which was scheduled at 3.45pm. We were both flying
back to Rio from where I was to be on my international flight back to
Houston while son had to take the domestic flight to Sao Paulo.
We caught a taxi
back to our hotel a km away, got their free shuttle ride to the airport another km away. As we
won't have adequate time at the Rio airport before taking our
separate flights, I spent few minutes repacking our bags.
We then
went to the checkin counter at 5 minutes before 3 PM. The guy there
took his time and then told us "CERRADO"... we are too late for checkin and the
gates are closed! The flight timing had been changed to 3.20 and they
were boarding. It is such a small airport and people were walking to
the plane we could see through the window.
We requested him
repeatedly to let us check our one bag and join the boarding line, We showed him our onward flight tickets for international and domestic connection and pleaded. But he vehemently refused saying checkin closes at 3pm and pointed at
the wall clock there which was showing 3 just then. But we had been
standing there for 5 minutes when he chose not to attend to us and
frankly we had thought the flight was at 3.45; that had been the
original schedule! The guy was smirking at our misery and said we can buy new tickets all over!
Our problem was everything should be rescheduled and walkup international flight may not be easy
Son was contemplating buying new flight tickets and asking him for suggestions .
I told the guy "I would like to speak to your supervisor
please". He called up a young lady and we made a fervent request
to her. She was on phone, gestured us to wait, then thankfully called
up an employee to take our checked bag after tagging it. She also
gave us our boarding passes. Took her just a coiuple of minutes! We thanked her profusely and joined the
line of boarding passengers and got on our plane
Whew! From then on
we always check our flight's timings on the official site looking out for changes.. mostly we
get an email informing of changes, but it doesn't hurt to be careful!
Isla San Martin
Hang gliding in Rio:
VIDEOS:
Here are videos of the Terrific Iguazu falls on Brazil side, Argentina side as well as the island San Martin, all with music and captions.
brasil iguacu
Argentina Iguazu
national park
Hang gliding in Rio:
Here are some pics
of the tandem flight son took before he returned back home. He had
done the canopy, ziplining etc too and had had a great time. Video link above
I'll post the rest of the videos a little later as this has been so hugely delayed. We would return to AWESOME ARGENTINA for a 17 days holiday which I'll cover soon
I'll post the rest of the videos a little later as this has been so hugely delayed. We would return to AWESOME ARGENTINA for a 17 days holiday which I'll cover soon
I wanted to continue with Awesome Argentina where we had a 17 day holiday but decided I'll start with our recent 18 day vacation in New Zealand...it starts here:
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2017/03/how-to-plan-trip-to-new-zealand.html
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