We knew we’d come crashing down to earth after our stay in Rio, which came complete with nice hotel and chocolates on the pillow. What we didn’t know, however, was quite how hard that CRASH back into reality would be…
With heavy heart and heavy luggage, we dragged ourselves away from Rio on Saturday morning and flew just over two hours to Foz do Iguassu. We stepped off the plane and immediately felt the oppressive heat. A couple of crabby taxi drivers (why are Brazilians from big cities friendlier than Brazilians from small towns? CRASH!) took us to our destination only a few kilometers from the airport and a short walk to the national park.
Our accommodation was very nice and crucially had air conditioning but the chocolates on our pillows from Rio were replaced with lizards on the walls and mosquitos in the bathrooms (CRASH!) Yes, we were back in the rainforest, with nary a beach in sight!
We weren’t allowed lunch, even though we were in time for lunch, because we hadn’t reserved in advance, which would have been impossible because we were on an airplane, so we had a snack from the kitchen (CRASH!). On the way back, we were blocked from getting into our room because a couple of ne’er-do-wells were fighting outside our room. Gone was the safe environment of Rio (CRASH!).
We locked ourselves in air conditioning for the next few hours before making our way to the adventure playground just before dinner. It reminded us of some tree top adventure courses we’d done before, just much lower to the ground and in South America, which meant no safety equipment. In under ten minutes we had two out of three kids crying because of bloody wounds. Nothing serious, but enough to call it a day (CRASH!). Back to air conditioning before dinner.
We had an interrupted night of sleep because one child (who shall remain nameless in this blog for fear of future litigation) woke us up several times worried about where the lizards were (CRASH!). As a result the next morning we woke tired, hot and crabby. We slowly made our way on foot to the national park in the searing heat. Unsurprisingly, the masses of people did little to improve our mood.
We walked around the falls with the crowds. Slinking by people who inexplicably stopped in the middle of the path blocking EVERYONE, ducking under all the photo takers (normally we’d respectfully stop and wait, however, had we done that in Iguassu we’d be celebrating Christmas there), and marveling at the immense idiocy of some mad woman who decided to ignore the special notice on the bus (in Portuguese, Spanish and English!), plus written signs specifically warning against feeding the cute but aggressive Coatis.
Then we saw the falls and suddenly it was all worth it! This is why we left Rio. This is why we travel. Absolutely stunning.
And let me tell you, there are not many activities you want to do in oppressively humid 100 degree (38C) heat, but walking through the mist of one of the world’s most powerful waterfalls would be on that short list! Though we sweated through the rest of our walk, the spray of water was delightful on that jam packed boardwalk!
The final activity on the Brazilian side of Iguassu was a boat trip along the river and into the falls…literally. The boat trip was the highlight of our trip to Iguassu. A ton of fun and we enjoyed getting wet in the process.
The little boys weren’t super impressed with going through the waves of the river and under the waterfall, but the rest of us had an absolute blast! This is also another activity for our “fun to do in 100 degree heat” list!
After our boat trip, we headed to the entrance to grab some food before going back to our hotel (since we hadn’t pre-booked a meal at our hotel, we knew we wouldn’t be fed there). As we sat, the heavens opened. You might expect the rainforest to be prepared for the occasional storm, but you would be wrong! Semi-permanent fixtures fell, police officers ran around panicking and yelling at everyone to get inside, tree limbs broke off and blocked the roads and the storm knocked the internet out in our accommodation…for two days!
Seriously people, this is the rainforest! How are you not better equipped for the occasional storm!? CRASH!
The next day, still without internet, we visited the nearby bird sanctuary. We like to visit these places as they’re usually doing good work. This one was helping house, rehabilitate and hopefully reintroduce injured or near-extinct birds into the wild. It was another interesting, but depressing visit. Only 8% of the Atlantic rainforest remains. 120 species of bird have been put in serious jeopardy because of deforestation. In some cases, entire species are extinct in the wild and only a handful remain in captivity. So sad.
Our final day in Iguazu Brazil was again without internet (CRASH!), but we made the most of it by going to the pool. (CRASH! Whoops, that was misplaced, force of habit).
We were looking forward to moving on from our CRASH landing on the Brazilian side to be in civilization on the Argentinian side. We would be in town in a nice apartment with our own kitchen, pool and internet. However, we got an email last minute saying that our accommodation was no longer available and that the owner was moving us to another apartment…CRASH!
Well, at least things can’t get worse….right?!
