Gone South for the Winter....PART TWO (Part One Below)

For those of you who ignored the title, I’ll say it again: READ THE POST BELOW FIRST! OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE CONFUSED!

But of course, Paraguay had to come to an end. So three hours and two Christmas presents later, the three of us crossed the bridge again (this time in a taxi, thank god!) with our giant shopping bags and waited through customs to get back into Brazil. Once we were there, our whole reunited party got back into the car and drove two hours to get to Cataracts National Park, home of the biggest waterfall in South America : Foz de Iguaçu. We payed the entrance fee and got onto a double-decker bus that would take us the 5 kilometers to the trail to the waterfalls.

You know the phrase “half the fun is getting there?” that was especially true in the case of the Foz. The trail that leads to the viewing decks is 1km long and full of b-e-a-uitiful scenery. Becca and I took a special interest in the hundreds of beautiful flowers and extremely friendly butterflies that are perfectly willing to sit on your finger for as long as you want while you take photos. They were absolutely gorgeous and came in vibrant purples, blues, and canary yellow. They weren’t scared of people at all and dart around you non stop, sometimes landing on your shoulder or on top of your head. The path was built against a cliff that was over grown with wildlife, but left patches open so you could view the waterfalls as you descend into the valley. The first thing you notice is the sound. Then you see the first waterfall. It is, of course, beautiful and huge. You take tons of photos because it is so gorgeous and amazing. Then you walk another minute or two and see a new waterfall and the cycle repeats. This goes on the whole trail until you get to what’s called “A Garganta de Diablo” or “Devil’s Throat.” It’s essentially a crescent-shaped, two-tier waterfall that funnels the water into one pounding river at the very bottom of a giant valley that divides Brazil and Argentina. It was so beautiful, so loud, and wet! The sad thing is, we came during the dry season! The photos pictured here are the ones I took, and my host dad told me that is about 1/10^th of the normal amount of water, and that usually if you stand where Becca and I stood, you would be soaked from head to toe from the mist.

All together it was an incredibly busy day completely stuffed with awwwwwesome experiences.