Foz do Iguaçu – Sometimes You Have to Follow the Herd
After my first trip to Brazil, people would often ask where I had been.
Rio de Janeiro was usually the first place mentioned, followed by Foz do Iguaçu.
I had actually visited quite a few Brazilian cities that summer, but somehow I had managed to avoid the most obvious one of them all.
This time, I decided it was probably time to follow the herd.
Even if I knew perfectly well that Foz do Iguaçu was going to be a serious tourist machine.
Arriving in Foz do Iguaçu
I arrived in Foz do Iguaçu early in the morning after an overnight bus from Curitiba.
The journey had gone well, but arriving early always creates the same small problem: you are tired, your hotel room is probably not ready, and you have several hours to fill.
So I took my time walking from the bus station towards the city centre.
It was a grey morning, and the area around the bus terminal was not exactly the most inviting introduction to a new destination.
Things improved as I got closer to the centre, but I have to admit that Foz do Iguaçu itself did not make a huge impression on me.
But that clearly does not stop the tourists from coming.
They know what is waiting just a few kilometres outside the city.
And that was, of course, what I had come for too.
I was not going to pretend otherwise.
Since my room was not ready, I had some time to kill. I found a barber who could tidy up my beard, and there was no shortage of cafés where I could sit and wait.
The weather was less promising. Grey skies were followed by several rain showers, so I could only hope that things would improve by the following morning.
Luckily, they did.
Following the herd to the waterfalls
It was a beautiful sunny morning when I set off for the Brazilian side of Iguaçu National Park.
There are local buses from the city centre, making it relatively straightforward to get to the park without having to join an organised tour.
I arrived shortly before opening time.
There were already plenty of people waiting.
I had not bought my ticket in advance, but surprisingly, everything moved very quickly. Even the queue for the buses that take visitors around the enormous park moved at a remarkably efficient pace.
There are several stops along the route, with different activities available, including bicycle hire and longer hikes.
But I had a more immediate goal.
I wanted to get to the waterfalls before the biggest part of the herd arrived.
So I stayed on the bus until the final stop, where the main walkway towards the viewpoints begins.
The Brazilian side has a series of walkways and viewing platforms running along the edge of the falls. The scenery is enormous, and the further you walk, the more the scale of the waterfalls becomes apparent.
Iguaçu consists of hundreds of individual waterfalls spread along the border between Brazil and Argentina, with the famous Devil’s Throat forming the most dramatic section.
And this is where the experience becomes decidedly wet.
The walkway takes you out over the river towards a spectacular viewpoint close to Devil’s Throat.
Water crashes down all around you, spray fills the air, and staying dry becomes an increasingly unrealistic ambition.
On a sunny day, the spray also creates rainbows in almost every direction.
At this point, there is really no point pretending to be a sophisticated traveller.
You are wet, surrounded by hundreds of other people, and having a great time.
Yes, I took the selfies
Towards the end of the walkway, there is a lift to the upper viewing platform, although you can also take the stairs.
There are restaurants and souvenir shops here as well, and the lift means that visitors who cannot manage the walkways and stairs can still reach the main viewpoints.
It is a tourist machine.
But it is a very well-functioning tourist machine.
You have to fight a little for the best spots, because cameras and selfies are being taken with considerable enthusiasm.
And I am not going to pretend that I am somehow a different species of tourist.
I was completely captivated.
I took my share of photographs.
And yes, I took some selfies.
It was a hectic, wet and thoroughly enjoyable morning.
Sometimes you simply have to follow the herd.
Leaving Brazil
The following day it was time to leave Brazil for this trip.
Paraguay was next.
The most common way to cross the border from Foz do Iguaçu to Ciudad del Este is via the Ponte da Amizade – the Friendship Bridge.
Apart from the enormous amount of traffic using the bridge, crossing is relatively straightforward.
I had been told that this is one of South America’s major smuggling routes, but as a peaceful tourist simply walking across the bridge, I cannot say that I noticed much of it.
On the other side is Ciudad del Este.
The welcome committee was not exactly waiting with open arms.
Instead, I was almost immediately surrounded by taxis and men offering to exchange money.
Since I had no cash I wanted to exchange, I first had to find a bank to withdraw some Paraguayan currency.
By the time I had done that, I had already walked about halfway towards what Google Maps insisted was the city’s bus terminal.
I decided to continue on foot.
According to Google, it should take about an hour.
There was just one small problem.
There was no bus terminal.
I asked several locals, and eventually even the police, where the bus terminal was.
Everyone pointed further down the road.
Another thirty minutes, perhaps.
By now there were no taxis in sight either.
So I continued with what can only be described as reckless confidence.
Eventually I reached something that might, at a generous stretch of the imagination, be described as a bus terminal.
It was not exactly glamorous.
A man came running towards me and asked where I was going.
I told him Encarnación.
He immediately gestured towards a bus and guided me aboard.
This was definitely not a tourist bus.
The smell coming from the toilet was particularly memorable.
But three hours later I was in Encarnación.
And that is where the next part of the journey begins.
Paraguay.
