After checking out of my apartment, I had to figure out how to get to the Brazilian side of the falls from Puerto Iguazu's bus station. It was pouring rain this morning, and even just crossing the street I got soaked. I bought a bus ticket for a bus that would take me directly to the falls, but I had to wait a long time for it. I took the opportunity to walk to a cambio to change my remaining USD to Brazilian reals, getting further soaked in the process.
Back at the bus station, the bus was late, and I got frustrated and jumped on a different bus instead that would take me to Foz's downtown bus station.
Really what I was stressed about more than rain and bus waiting times, was border procedures. Yesterday I had gotten my entry stamp for Brazil because I had heard that the buses going from Puerto Iguazu to Foz do Iguacu do not stop at Brazilian customs. I knew I would need to have an entry stamp in my passport to be allowed to fly out of Brazil, so that is why I made sure I got it yesterday. That is also why I wanted to avoid the exit stamp. But now I was in a bit of a situation, because I had not gotten my passport stamped coming back into Argentina, and it seemed the bus I had originally bought a ticket would stop at the Argentina border. All of it was confusing to me, and with extremely limited Spanish and absolutely no knowledge of Portuguese, I was not quite sure how this was going to all work out.
So I hoped on this Foz bus, paid 5 real and hoped it would just go into Foz without stopping at the border. Unfortunately, it didn't. We stopped at the Argentina border, and despite my efforts to stay on the bus, I was shooed off for processing.
At first the Argentina immigration guy stamped my passport without paying much attention, but before he gave it back to me he noticed something that bothered him and proceeded to talk to someone else who talked to someone else and finally they asked me questions I did not understand. Eventually they brought over an English speaking person who simply asked what date I had entered Argentina. I said "November 15," which was the first day I had arrived. They seem satisfied with that and let me go. Literally the bus was pulling away form the curb as I came out, but he stopped when I waved and I was able to get back on. So that was a relief.
We drove right past Brazilian customs as I expected, so now I felt all set.
At the Foz bus station I bought a public bus ticket to the falls, and that was another half hour or so ride. But, finally, I was there.
My flight is at 18:00, and it was now almost 14:00, so I was running out of time. The entrance area is extremely well equipped with very large lockers, so I was able to lock up my bags before entering the park.
Rather than a train, the Brazilian park has double-decker buses that transport tourists from the entrance to the trails. The rain was stopping now, which was good timing for me.
I rode the bus to the trail head for the trail that accesses the Devil's Throat on this side of the falls. The trail is probably about the same length as the one in Argentina, but this one runs along the Iguazu River instead of over it. It actually provides a much better view of the falls. The first set of falls you see on this trail are the Three Musketeers, and they are incredibly beautiful.
This view is impossible from Argentina, so even though far more of the Iguazu Falls are in Argentina, the view of the falls is much better from Brazil.
While in Argentina by the Devil's Throat there were lots of little birds, here in front of the Three Musketeers there were much larger birds, perhaps vultures. In many ways they were behaving similarly to the birds I saw yesterday; somehow the chaotic water is obviously providing lots of feeding opportunities.
I was really hustling along this trail, even jogging in places, but the view was breathtaking, and mostly I had the trail to myself.
I passed a couple of large lizards--at least three feet long each--lying on top of each other.
The Three Musketeers and Devil's Throat are the largest of the sets of the Iguazu Falls you can see from this trail, but there were little falls all over the place as well.
Once again I found the view much better from this side than the Argentinian side.
While looking at the Devil's Throat, this butterfly landed right in front of me!
And this coati came by. They are interesting animals, but I began to see why they are not entirely desirable. I get the impression they are a little like raccoons.
The dining area nearby had tables plastered with these warnings:
I continued walking up to the end of the trail, whence you can see the upper river, which actually looks surprisingly calm relative to what is about to happen to all that water!
I had a chance to buy and mail a postcard here (no hour long wait!), so I did that and then caught the bus back to the entrance.
There I unlocked my bag and waited for the bus. I did not have to wait long, and then it was a quick ride from there to here at the Foz do Iguacu airport, in plenty of time to catch my Avianca flight to Sao Paulo.
My shoes and socks are still damp and I could certainly use a shower, so I am hoping to use an airport VIP lounge once I get to Sao Paulo. From there I will fly to O'Hare overnight, then Denver, until finally getting home to Edmonton tomorrow afternoon. Here is the map of my entire trip:
