2. Foz Do Iguaçu
DAY 247
My internal alarm clock was working well today. Too well, actually because I woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning, way before my alarm supposed to go off. It is dark outside, but I am heading to see the Falls.
Backed everything last night already so I have a quick shower and I am heading out of the door. There are no street lights on the road. Good thing I didn't forget my headlamp. the park entrance is only 500 m from my hotel. I got there and there were already a few people milling around. The ticket window open exactly as they say they would at 5:20.
So what I am doing here today so early? The gates for general admissions open at 8 o'clock in the morning. It cost about $20 per person for a whole day. But, for $50 you can get in at 5:30 and have the falls pretty much to yourself and about to dozen other people. No crowds, no pushing. In the price of the ticket is also a buffet breakfast. I think it is pretty good deal. I will go to great length to avoid the crowds and if they even feed me, that's perfect.
You cannot drive your own vehicle all the way to the Falls like it is on the Argentinian side. we have to dump it at the parking lot and take one of the buses. We boarded our bus and we heading into the darkness. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the Falls. They dumped us at the trailhead leading down towards the falls. there is only one problem, there were no lights and a trail goes through the jungle. Dark out of there. The Boy Scouts taught me well and I was prepared. Using my headlamp, I was leading the way for our little group. it took us another 10 minutes to get down to the viewing platform. You can hear the way before you can see them. You get out of the jungle and the falls are right in front of you. There is also almost a full moon, so there is plenty of light. There is a elevated walkway leading to a viewing platform, which is directly over the edge of the fall. We've been told that it is 80 m all the way down. There is just normal railings all the way around. If you decide to jump over, you better know how to fly. The view from here is beyond impressive. The rushing water of the fall is all around you. There is a lot of water spray coming from the falls so pretty soon I'm soaking wet. I don't care, it is just water, it will dry out. It is still pretty dark to take any pictures. I have my tripod with me again, but it is useless as I would need an underwater camera. I'm just admiring the views and the moment. People around me are snapping pictures with their phones, which I know they'll be totally useless. Just like on the other side, most of the pictures people take are of themselves. I still don't understand why. It's like collecting trophies, “ … look at me where I have been … “ There was one couple which I bumped into for the next three hours. I haven't seen them taking anything else but picture of themselves. And they were taking a lot of pictures. It must be nice to love yourself so much. To each its own, I guess. We were in the platform for over an hour before the official sunrise. People get bored easily. When the clouds started to get nice colours just before Dawn most people were already gone. I was thinking all my pictures with my iPhone because I didn't want to drown my Nikon camera. I have iPhone 14 max Pro, which has insanely good camera. I know that most of the pictures will be quite presentable.
Then finally, the sun started to paint the surroundings with its warm rays. The landscaping around started to change its colours. It was beautiful. I took a good couple hundred pictures from this location so it was time to change the place. There are no trails over here like there are on Argentinian side soda, places where we can take pictures are limited. But those few places have amazing views. This point I switched to Nikon and I was using my tripod and was paying with different camera settings. Some of the pictures I took came out quite well, I think. I took an elevator to another viewing platform, which is above the Falls. There is a beautiful panoramic view from there. When I took picture from every possible angle twice, I went down to the original viewing platform. The water spray wasn't that bad now so I took some pictures with my Nikon. There are a few good ones from there.
Right now, it is after 8 o'clock and the first bus is with mere mortals started to arrive. Time to retreat. I'm heading to the dress restaurant which is at the top of the falls. Only about 200 m from the top of the main fall. you're sitting right on the edge of the river. Quite impressive. And the breakfast is equally impressive. Five stars buffet. Anything your hungry tummy desires including champagne. And who could resist to have champagne for breakfast? Not me… I stuffed myself silly. It was close to 9 o'clock, and they were kicking us out from the restaurant. The normal people were coming. Well, I've got almost 500 pictures, that should keep me busy editing for a few hours. I took a few more pictures on the way out that I hop on the bus and heading out of the park. We were heading out and there were lineups of full buses coming in. It was almost noon and I was here from before 530. Nice job.
I walked by a heliport on my way to the hotel. That is for really Rich people. Or people with no idea what they are doing. 10 minutes flights cost US$200. And helicopter doesn't get below 1000 feet above the falls. I don't think you will get your money’s worth.
And got to my hotel shortly after noon. a short night of sleep, and all that excitement made me tired. So I did what everybody else at these latitudes do every early afternoon. I had a nice siesta in my nicely chilled room.
It was an awesome day. To be honest, I was quite disappointed after seeing the falls on the Argentinian side. I've heard so much about them, but they fell way short of the reputation. No doubt that the extremely low water level has something to do with it. but I also have heard that the Brazilian side is much better. And boy, it sure is. There was no contest at this time. I was very happy about my decision to take it easy and stay two days on each side giving me a fighting chance to take some nice pictures. And I think I have achieved that. If you haven't seen them already go and check them out.
I'm heading out of here first thing tomorrow morning. I don't know what to expect. I'm heading more or less towards the Atlantic coast. It is about 1000 km to get there. I'm sure I will find some cool stuff before I get there.