Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side

A coati looks for food

Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side

Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side

The devil´s throat from the Brazilian side

A small rainbow by the falls

A butterfly perched on a railing

Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

The Triple Frontier

May 20, 2008

Waterfall, nothing can harm me at all

My worries seem so very small

With my waterfall

I can see my rainbow calling me

Through the misty breeze

Of my waterfall.

- Jimi Hendrix

The Brazilian side is supposed to offer better views of the falls because the distance gives you a better perspective and broader view. It was simple enough to get there by changing buses in Foz do Iguaçu and it turned out that there really wasn´t that much to the Brazilian side of the falls. There is essentially one walking trail that makes its way along the edge of the cliff overlooking the falls on the Argentine side with great panoramic views. At the end the path approaches the dramatic viewpoint of the Devil´s Throat and there is a viewing platform set out in the middle of the river with smaller waterfalls to the left, the Devil´s Throat straight ahead, and the other lesser falls opposite the river on the right. With the pounding water and blowing wind, the mist from the water was carried everywhere and created almost constant rainbows that were illuminated by the brightly shining sun. From the end of the trail you can take an elevator up to the top of a viewing tower for views over the river above the falls. That was pretty much the extent of the Brazilian side, occupying only about 2-3 hours at most.

Since I was planning to travel through Paraguay to get to Bolivia I had to get a Paraguayan visa, which I decided to do before visiting Ciudad del Este. I went to the Paraguayan Consulate in Puerto Iguazu, after having to ask two different people because it had moved, and after finding it they told me that they don´t issue visas and I would have to go to the consulate in Foz do Iguaçu. After I found the consulate they asked me to fill out the form and told me to come back in one hour. That seemed surprisingly simple, except for the fact that you could only pay in US Dollars so I had to change reais to dollars. Anyways, I returned in one hour and they told me that the visa wouldn´t be ready until the afternoon, around 1:30-2pm. I returned again at 1:30pm and they told me that it was lunch hour and to come back in an hour. I didn´t see any point in arguing so I just left.

I came back again at 2:30pm and waited for 15 minutes before they called me into the office. They asked if I was planning to work in Paraguay and if I had a ticket out of Paraguay. I told them that I had a ticket back to the US but not from Paraguay and that I didn´t have it with me. Then she made a phone call and after some quick talking asked me if I had a credit card, which I showed her, then she asked if I had a visa for Brazil. After this she took my form, a passport photo, my money, and my credit card and disappeared for 30 minutes, then re-appeared with my credit card, change, and my passport with the visa. It wasn’t as easy as it first appeared but thankfully that leaves only procuring the Bolivian visa as the last visa I will need. Next stop Paraguay.