After last evening’s excellent buffet, this morning’s breakfast was rather disappointing. However, after being total pigs at the buffet, we really weren’t that hungry at breakfast anyway. We boarded the bus by 8 a.m., passports and visas in hand, for our first foray across the river from Brazil to Argentina.
We spent quite a bit of time waiting on the bus as our tour leader and local guide took our documents to be scanned and stamped, first by Brazilian authorities, and then on the other side of the bridge by the Argentines. No one from either country ever looked at us, and we never got off the bus, but it is now clear that none of us is using the passport of anyone on the Interpol wanted list.
We arrived at the entrance to one of Argentina’s oldest national parks by 9 a.m. — not because the border officers were so incredibly efficient, but because standard time in Argentina is an hour behind that of Brazil. It got an hour earlier as soon as we crossed the river. Nevertheless, we were part of the mass of humanity gathered as the gates were opened, and found our way to the first departure of the little Disney-style train that hauled us a couple miles to the head of the trail.
It’s impossible to get lost on these trails, as they are more like steel cat-walks. The first was about 800 meters out to the edge of “Gargantua Diablo,” the largest of the Iguazu falls. Along the way we were able to see a variety of birds, turtles, and fish. From the end of the catwalk we could clearly see the Brazilian side where we had been yesterday — not really all that far away.
We walked back the same 800 meters and got back onto the train for a short ride to a different trail head. The beginning of this trail was guarded by a rather large caiman (South American alligator) lurking under the bridge, but he did not challenge us — only posed for his photo.
This trail was a mix of asphalt and catwalk, and took us on a 1500 meter loop across the entire expanse of smaller falls. There seemed to be a different perspective at every step, and while the Brazilian side had given us the big picture, this walk allowed us to appreciate just how expansive these falls really are. Our phones told us that we had a good 5K of walking by the end of the trail.
The group enjoyed lunch at an outdoor “food court,” but we only snacked on a couple apples. There will be another big buffet at the resort tonight, and we’re still feeling quite stuffed. The return trip across the border involved more waiting on the bus for documents to be processed. Crossing the bridge back to Brazil we could see three nations at once, as Paraguay was not that far off in the distance. Although it feels like we are out in the sticks, we were surprised to learn that the urban population of the three cities converging here among the three countries totals well over a million.
We spent quite a bit of time waiting on the bus as our tour leader and local guide took our documents to be scanned and stamped, first by Brazilian authorities, and then on the other side of the bridge by the Argentines. No one from either country ever looked at us, and we never got off the bus, but it is now clear that none of us is using the passport of anyone on the Interpol wanted list.
We arrived at the entrance to one of Argentina’s oldest national parks by 9 a.m. — not because the border officers were so incredibly efficient, but because standard time in Argentina is an hour behind that of Brazil. It got an hour earlier as soon as we crossed the river. Nevertheless, we were part of the mass of humanity gathered as the gates were opened, and found our way to the first departure of the little Disney-style train that hauled us a couple miles to the head of the trail.
The group enjoyed lunch at an outdoor “food court,” but we only snacked on a couple apples. There will be another big buffet at the resort tonight, and we’re still feeling quite stuffed. The return trip across the border involved more waiting on the bus for documents to be processed. Crossing the bridge back to Brazil we could see three nations at once, as Paraguay was not that far off in the distance. Although it feels like we are out in the sticks, we were surprised to learn that the urban population of the three cities converging here among the three countries totals well over a million.
We were back to the resort in plenty of time for a dip in the pool and some relaxation involving cold Brazilian beer. Before dinner, our tour director arranged with the tender of the hotel bar for a demonstration of how to create the caipirinha (pronounced kai-purr-REEN-ah), the national cocktail of Brazil, which we have enjoyed several times already, but had not yet learned to make for ourselves. We also had a half bottle of wine left to finish at dinner from last night. Clearly we are ending the day well-oiled.
No comments:
Post a Comment