Iguazu Falls

After Brandon finished golfing on Thursday, the Arza family drove us across the boarder into Brazil to visit “Parque Nacional do Iquaço” (Portuguese for Iguazu National Park). We thought we might run into trouble at the boarder since we don’t have our Brazilian visas, but we were told that the falls is a sort of “neutral” area of Brazil where you’re allowed to visit without having a visa. Sounded good to us.

Guli (the Arza’s 7^th grade daughter) stayed with us as our tour guide as the rest of the family went to do some shopping back in Ciudad del Este. The park was impressive and reminded me a lot of the national parks back in the states. There was a gift shop, snack bar, and museum that you could peruse free of charge. You then paid your bus fare and loaded a double-decker bus that wove through the jungles of the park.

Along the bus route were several stops before getting to the actual “Path of the Falls”. One stop was a trail tour, a 9-kilometer trail (I think it was 9 K, maybe only 7) that took you to an area of the river above the falls where you could raft and kayak. The second stop was another trail that took you down below the falls where you could again board a raft that would paddle right up into the basin of the falls. We saw these boats from where we stood and were quite jealous of their vantage point.

The last stop on the route – our stop – was the Path of the Falls. There was a hotel on site and vendors set up for a canopy tour, a rope bridge walk across a section of the falls, and a repelling wall descent into the mouth of the falls. Maybe next time. We stuck to the trail and were amazed at what we saw.

Around every turn there was a new section of the falls to behold.

Each view seemed more magnificent than the next.

When you thought you’d seen it all, you realized you hadn’t.

The trail wove along the edge of the jungle with several Kodak moment platforms set up with remarkable views in the background. Near the top of the trail, where the first falls cascaded over the edge, we ventured onto a platform walkway that was built over the water. The force of the water created such mist that the full view of their length was masked and we were soaked as we made our way to the end of the platform.

Bailey had been asleep for most of the trip, but awakened in time to enjoy the misty shower. Good thing she’s a water baby! She seemed to enjoy it, even if it did interrupt her nap.

Just above the platform over the water was a lookout tower. After a brief elevator ride, we found ourselves level with the falls, looking out towards the canyon of water below. Simply amazing.