Iguaçu Falls, Brazil, unbelievable and breathtaking

For me, Brazil equals, music, food, smells, passion, excitement and the new. It has it all, including the spectacular waterfalls that make up the Iguaçu Falls. We flew internally from Manaus in the Amazon, via Sao Paulo, with Tam airlines to Foz de Iguaçu in June 2012. We visited for two nights, so three days in total. Cool air contrasted with moments in the day when the sun warmed the spirit. We saw double rainbows across the falls and that in itself was thrilling.

The falls are easy to locate by taxi, hire car or bus.  We took a mixture of taxi and bus as we spent the first night in a hotel near the airport, because for some reason unknown to us flights arrive at 2am from Manaus.

The Iguaçu Falls are located between Brazil on the one side and Argentina and Paraguay on the other extremities.  On the Brazilian side the falls are located in a National Park, surrounded by a rainforest, where numerous, birds, flowers and insects live freely. There is an entrance fee to get into the park which is open in daylight hours. The park is called Parque Nacional del Iguaçu and covers an area of 185,262 hectares. It was created in 1939 and both the park on the Brazilian and Argentinean sides were declared as Unesco World Heritage Sites in 1986.

It is possible to stay in the Park in hotels opposite the falls on either side.  We stayed in the hotel Cataratas. There are cheaper options in the nearby town, but for the best experience, stay overnight and wake up in glorious comfort to rainbows and breathtaking views of cascading water over rocks. You can even fly over the falls or take a bus to the Argentinean side to gain a different perspective.

These falls are higher than Niagara falls and are easily accessed, with a fairly direct walk down to a viewing point right in the middle of a flowing river. You do need waterproofs if you plan to take that walk. There are lifts up and down to the walkway. Walking trails look enticing around the park and buses go up and down from the entrance, stopping at viewing points along the way before finally reaching cafes and gift shops. Once you are in the park the buses are free.

The falls create a mist, that envelopes the trees and surroundings. The number of falls changes depending on whether the rivers are flooded and how they flow and cascade over the rocks.

Next to the entrance of the park is a Bird Park and that is also worth a visit.

At the end of our visit to the falls we flew to Rio de Janeiro.  I will write more about Rio in a further posting. Enjoy the photos, but do not use them without permission.  Thanks

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