« Foz Do Iguaçu »
Day 6:
Wednesday, March 6, 2002
So, we decided to take Celio up on his offer and met him at 8:30 AM to begin our adventures. His deal was for $200 US he would drive us to Argentina, a scenic viewing point of the tri-country valley (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina), the Itaipu damn, downtown Iguassu, and take us back to the hotel. Naturally, I was the skeptic, but after some independent validation, we were all comfortable with the deal. So, his first move which at one point in time I felt was a conscious scam, was to recommend we start with the Falls. He said it was supposed to rain today, with a sixth sense like Crocodile Dundee. Anyway, we agreed and headed to the Falls.
Much
like the press says, the Argentina side is the premier side to enjoy the falls.
We climbed on an open truck (not unlike a military van) and traveled across a dirt
paved road through a rain forest to the water’s edge. The ride was
accompanied by a Brazilian nature fanatic explaining all of the wild life in the
forest. After a quick hike down a hill we came to a 30’ speed boat
waiting for us. We climbed aboard and were instructed to place all
possessions in waterproof provided grocery bags.
After
we all climbed aboard 
(the Summers', a couple from Toronto, and guy from NY, and
us) , we secured our life jackets and sped through the wilderness along the
Iguacu river. The river was fairly wide and the boat traveled pretty fast,
but it was still another interesting viewpoint. The waterway we were
traveling on was at the bottom of the falls 5 miles downstream. We were
traveling towards the mouth of the falls.
When
we rounded the corner of the river and caught our first glimpse of the falls, it
was truly mesmerizing. The sound was deafening and created an awe
inspiring
sense of power. We drew nearer and the captain spun the boat
around and allowed us to take pictures from the bottom of the falls. With
more than six falls dropping water from 70 feet in an arc of about 240 degrees,
this was truly magnificent. After snapping our pictures and placing our
cameras back in their protective bags, we succumbed to the power of nature.
We entered the falls. Water crashed over everyone in the boat, with not a
single item left dry. We should have seen it coming when our driver put
on a dry suit with little but his eyes showing.
After
dunking the boat into water shed, we headed to Devil’s throat. We pulled
up short from going into the devil’s canyon, but could still stand awe struck
of
truly one of the natural wonders of the world. Naturally, on the way
back, our captain dipped us in simpleton fall of approximately 65’ and 12’
wide.
Back
to dry land, we decided to take a ferry to an island in the middle of the water
causeway between the devil’s throat and baby’s back. The island
offered three hikes all with interesting views, the most interesting being the
canyon of the vulture and panoramic viewing of the falls that drenched us.
Next
we climbed up the face of the mountain on the Argentina side, stopping briefly
for lunch at a clearing along the way. At the top of the precipice, we
took a 
train ride through the rain forest towards the devil’s throat. At
the train stop, we exited and walked on a metal bridge over the water to a
viewpoint at the top of the devil’s throat. We could see the Brazilian
walkway in the middle of maelstrom which was located at the base of the falls.
It was nice to gain perspective by viewing the Devil’s Throat from both the
basin and height (precipice). I cannot emphasize enough the utter
amazement of seeing something so unbelievably impressive. I am sure a
similar feeling has been felt at other natural locales like Grand Canyon or
Yosemite. However, I can promise you it will be a life memorable moment
when you experience awesome sight that is Iguassu Falls.
We
took the train back through the rain forest to our original drop off, where
Celio was waiting for us. The four us were gabbing about the amazement and
discussing the next stop point. Unfortunately, Celio explained that we
missed the last entry for the Itaipu Damn. This was when my cynicism had
me thinking Celio chose the falls first because it would succumb all of our
time, leaving little balance for the rest of activities. However, on our
trip back to Brazil the sky starting falling, a torrential downpour. Clearly, if we were to miss an item on the agenda today; it would definitely not
be the falls. So, it worked out for the best.
Two
other interesting things happened on our drive home, one while driving and one
at the Brazilian
border
patrol. The driving point while probably
not
categorically interesting was humorous to us four. It was during this
drive that I stumped our driver for the first and only time with a English
phrase.
Still trying to work Celio to ensure we were getting a good deal,
I asked him, “What he proposed we do with the balance of our time.” I
thought I was being polite, which my wife and friends found humorous. The
second thing, and certainly the more interesting, is when driving back from
Argentina, the border patrol forces you to get out of the car and clean your
shoes. Apparently, there are some diseases being transported by the dirt
on people's shoes, so they take this quite seriously.
That
night we headed to a highly recommended restaurant called , “Zaragoza”.
It was a seafood place with a menu filled with lobster options, which unfortunately
were not relevant as the restaurant was out of lobster. Anyway, we
still choose a variant of different options and were graced with delicious food.
I still maintain that I may have had the best cream of asparagus soup I have
ever tasted anywhere in the world.
