IGUAZU FALLS BRASIL SIDE

Day 294

Iguazu, Argentina

Spellings range from-Iguazu Iguacu Iguassu so you can take your pic!!! No wonder my spelling has gotten so bad since i´ve been away, nothing is spelt in only one way!!!!

We caught the bus to the Brasil side of Iguaz Falls this morning with eight others from the Hostel and once again had to show our passports at the Argentina and Brasil borders. It´s ok at the Argentina border because they don´t have strict controls and just want to enter the information of people leaving and entering the country into their computers...

But, the Brasilian border is a totally different matter.

We all have to get out of the bus at the control point and show our passports individually. And Greg´s and my passport always gets checked closely. Maybe that´s because it has 17 pages of stamps just for 2007!!! Brasilian control doesn´t help much, they stamp the book 3 times to get in, and 1 time to get back out! It´s so strict.

When we asked why this happens and why they need a visa to get into the country we got told it´s because they have imposed visa´s upon any country that demands a visa for Brasilians to enter a country. British don´t require a visa. The US and Australia are the ones that are checked more religiously and have to pay more for visa´s! We got ours in Chicago and we got it cheaper than the US citizens because we were Australian. It cost us US$40 for the visa as opposed to US$100 for American citizens!!!

Anyway, we got through the border ok this morning even though it did take an hour to get to the other side. There are so many people waiting.

And as we crossed from Argentina to Brasil we could see lines and lines of traffic going from Brasil to Argentina! And we were told the reason for this was because everything is so much cheaper in Argentina than Brasil! Fuel is half the price..so the Brasilians go reguarly to Argentina to buy their fuel. They don´t need a visa as they don´t require one to enter their country. Interesting politics!

It took an hour, by bus, to get to the Brasilian side of the Falls and once we were there we realised yes, everything is more expensive! It cost more to get in, it cost more for water, it cost more for sandwiches. And we thought Brasil was cheap! Argentina, we have found out, is so much cheaper!! No wonder we´re so surprised at the quality and the price of our accomodation.

We´re paying very little for our accomodation and we´re supplied with breakfast, our own bathroom and a tremendous view. The Hostel has entertainment, free computers which you can never get on, i might add, and it´s a beautiful place..i´ll show you photos if i can get them downloaded onto the blog..the computer is acting up a bit!

Once inside the Falls we were expecting very little. We thought we´d seen the best on the Argentinian side..

So, we caught the bus to a trail that we decided we´d walk on...it was a 1200m walk against the backdrop of the Falls...

We got out...and once we got onto the trail..

We were absolutely BLOWN AWAY!














The falls...covered the whole distance of the walk, and the falls were so breathtakingly beautiful...even better than what we saw yesterday! The Devi´s mouth of course was spectacular yesterday..but to see the falls just going on and on forever..and to be able to see them in this panaramic view..was just very outstanding!

View of the tropical jungle from the trail..














We´ve learned a bit more about the history....

The Falls on the Brasilian side were created in 1939 and the whole rainforest area covers 185,000 hectares of subtropical rainforest!

The bus we were on had an english commentary and it said the national park was declared by UNESCO as Natural Heritage of Mankind site in 17th November 1986 and they are very proud of that...Argentina was declared in 1984!

The waterfalls cover both sides and all up there are 275 falls, which is just phenomenal. We really saw this on the Brasilian side because you can walk right along side them, whereas on the Argentinian side you can see the tops and bottoms of them..and get wet, like we did...and of course they are also quite spectacular!

It´s a bit like seeing the Niagara falls from the American and the Canadian side..with the American side being more like the Argentinian side.

The falls are higher in the Argentinian side, 1900m than on the Brasilian side, 2700m...

Once you do get to the top of the falls..by elevator on this side, you can view the Devils Throat up close...and it ROARS!!! REALLY ROARS!! I would have to say...that whenever they say the falls roar..it has to be here at the top of the Brasilian side.

We took the lift down...and the bus back..and headed back home after spending the day here..and we really felt good after...


Here, on the bus back! See the tropical jungle in the background..so beautiful!














There is something about waterfalls....they just make you feel like you´re really living..

This one looks like a huge curtain don´t you think














Now we want to go to the Angel Falls in Venezuela!!! We´ve become waterfall mad!

But not this time...maybe when we do our Central America trip.....didn´t know we were planning that hey...hehe

THE JACKET...THE DVD...and ASSERTION

Day 294

Iguazu, Argentina, South America

Well...we got home last night in a taxi for 10 paesos (one paesos by bus but the bus only runs in the day!) and after i finished looking around the large hostel dining hall with my suspicious face on (Anyone wearing my black Mont jacket??) we looked up the Insurance we have. It´s travel insurance for a year..and it doesn´t cover loss of garments..well it does, but it looks at depreciation...and we were thinking..ok, i´ve been wearing it for almost 10 months, every day....so....i think i´d end up owing them!!!!

So..we´re not bothering about insurance..but i tell you...it had just been washed..and was in great shape! haha

Secretly, i´m glad i can justifyably go out and buy myself a cool new jacket because we´re going to need one in Calafate, which is in Patagonia, way down south and is very cold. It´s home to glaciers and mountains..so that´s where i´ll find my new one i think. It´ll be a good momento too. As you can see, i´ve recovered! Does make me think you can´t leave anything in a hostel, especially not one that has about 300 under 25´s who know the value of Mont!

We also arrived back to the hostel last night to find our picture from the Falls was there..and we could take it..because yes, we´d paid 5 reais for it.

But..the dvd was there..and no, we could not take it because we owed 30 reais for it!

Talk about scammers...

The guy said he´d come back to collect the rest of his money...

And Greg was LIVID!

He waited for the guy..and had it out with him.

Greg was very assertive! And we ended up with our video after Greg explained that he paid with a mix of paesos and reais and he was TAKING HIS DVD!!!

The guy...went off with his tail between his legs..

But it does make me think you do have to be assertive in countries like this.

Even while we were sitting at the cafe last night having dinner i was watching and listening to this guy, german i think, sitting on his own at a nearby table. He was having an infusion and just looked like he was soaking up the atmosphere.

An infusion is a metal or ceramic cup that has a pipe looking device in it that you drink tea made from leaves from. It´s common for tea drinking here in Argentina.

Anyway, a local guy walked up to him and asked him for a cigarette. German guy said ok and got out a cigarette for him. He then lit it up. Local guy sat down and started smoking the cigarette. Then he asked if he could have some infusion...which seems to be common, people do share them, but with strangers?

He then brought out his rather large cylindrical pipe he was carrying strung to his back. It had woven bracelets, a bit like the friendship bands you can make, circled all around this cylinder.

He then asked the german guy if he´d like to buy one. How could he not. So he gets out some monety to buy one while local guy produces one for him. Local guy had no change so he asked the waitress of the cafe if she had some. No, she didn´t.

So, German guy gave his cigarette, his tea, his money and ended up with a little friendship bracelet!

I was thinking...How vulnerable can tourists be?

We see it all the time..people getting conned and scammed...it really makes me want to go over and say..hang on a minute, don´t do that!

I think we´ve become cynical travellers..because we´re constantly looking out for scammers and even think a smile from a local means, ´´Do you want to buy?

Sad isn´t it...

Oh well, i guess we´ve learned that´s the way it is in these countries. To survive, you must take advantage of the have´s.

It´s pretty good that Greg and i are now considered the have not´s..because we rarely get scammed ore even asked anymore!!!!

Maybe they can read the band on our forehead that reads,

¨Seasoned¨!!!