We woke on October 2nd to Keith's birthday on a bus going along the highway with beautiful landscape of rolling hills of Assuncion to Foz do Iguaçu. We woke up in another State in Brazil. Our bus arrived an hour late and our host picked us up at the station. We arrived to Marcello's home to meet his wife Karina and the two Schnauzers. We had a great lunch to start our visit. Keith had to do some work so we sat at the table had lunch, talked, learned some Portuguese and then we took a walk around the town. We were hoping to see the river, border with Paraguay but could not. We went to the market and back to the apartment and stayed up late with Marcello talking about traveling and our life becoming Untethered.
Landscape from Cascavel to Foz do Iguaçu, State of Paraná
Happy Birthday Keith from the bus
Assuncion to Foz do Iguaçu
View from Marcello and Karina's apartment looking at Paraguay. From the large tower out is Paraguay.
Lights of Foz do Iguaçu in the foreground and Paraguay in the background
3 October, Saturday we woke to the table set and had breakfast with Karina. We decided to take a tour of the Hydroelectric Plant since it was a rainy day but could not go to the plant since they are on strike in Brasil. We decided to walk part way to the Bird Park (Parque das Aves). This is a beautiful park and must see, the best we have seen in the World. We were there for 4 hours and could have spent more time there. We hung out in the aviaries with Scarlet Ibis and Toucans flying past us.
Sunday, 4 October, we caught the bus on a partly sunny warm day to Catartas do Iguaçu. We started the day by taking the bus to Macuco Safari tour by electric vehicle then 1200 meter walk to a small water fall and then to the boat that takes you to the falls on the Argentina side to view from the river then upstream to another set of falls. You get soaking wet, first forward under the falls then reverse under the falls and back. Downstream back through class 4 and 5 waves. AMAZING! Worth ever penny and full of fun. We stood in the sun for a bit to get dry with smiles on our faces. We laughed all the way up and back from the falls and were still smiling as we made our way to the bus.
We then went to the Tower that overlooks the entire falls. We walked to the end area where the restaurant closed at 16:00, put got a snack there before we headed back to Foz. We got to the apartment changed and met Luis Santos at Januese Confectionaria for coffee and a sweet. We then went to dinner with Karina and Marcello.
Monday was a work day and weather was not great. We met Luis Santos again at Janeuse Confectionaria for coffee. He told us about his visit to Itaipu on the Paraguay side. Marcello and Karina picked us up with Marcello's son, Louis. We went to Ouvidoria for dinner. We shared food and drink with many laughs. Another fun evening in Foz do Iguaçu.
On Tuesday, October 6th - up early and into the car for our adventure to Paraguay to see Barragem de Itaipu (Itaipu Binacional). Marcello drove us to the wrong entrance at first and then we were directed to the area for the beginning of the tour. We watched an informative film of the construction of the hydroelectric plant. We hopped on the bus with a school group to see the damn, we then drove to the Brazil side to see the lake and where the water empties into the river. Very good tour with a lot of information. When we returned to the information center our guide took us to the scale model of the dam. We met Donna from Toulouse, France and then she joined us to head back to Brazil. Marcello drove back to the first entrance we went to and we picked on him that he wanted to say ‘good-bye to the guard”. We then stopped for breakfast and coffee. On our drive back to the border, we got stuck in traffic for 2 hours due to construction, compared to the morning when we drove straight across without stopping. While leaving we missed the entrance to exit and were in front of the motorcycle path, Marcello backed up and then“Marcello Andretti” drove us through the parking lot and into the right path. Phew, we then made it across the border back into Brazil. Marcello smuggled three internationals across the border without having to stop. We then went to lunch and back to the apartment. A fantastic day with Marcello.
We booked our tickets to Florianopolis on the night bus at 17.40. Before we left, we laughed while trying to take a photo of the 4 of us while trying to include the Schnauzers.
Marcello and Karina we the perfect hosts, we learned so much from each other. Marcello spoke really good English and Karina became more comfortable, we struggled with Portuguese but were always able to smile and communicate with each other. Thank you for the great time in "Foz". (Marcello e Karina Nós, os anfitriões perfeitos , aprendemos muito um do outro. Marcello falou muito bom Inglês e Karina tornou-se mais confortável, temos lutado com Português mas foram sempre capaz de sorrir e se comunicar uns com os outros . Obrigado por o grande tempo em " Foz ".)
We met Donna on the bus, nice to see a familiar face. Within an hour we stopped to pick up more passengers at 20:47. Then at 21:00 we stopped for dinner. Keith and Wayne had just started watching the movie 'Serena' When we stopped.
Arara Azul Grande (Hyacinth Macaw)
Grou Coroado Africano (Grey Crowned Crane)
Flamingos in the pond, mirror wall in the background keeps the birds thinking there are more of them in the colony
Bromeliads in bloom along the paths within the park
Inside the Pantanal Aviary with the Guara' (Scarlet Ibis) in flight
Toucan in the Pantanal Aviary
Toucan
Toucans landed above us
Keith with a toucan in the Pantanal Aviary
Wayne with toucan in the Pantanal Aviary
Pantanal Aviary - Scarlet Ibis and Toucans flying
Male and female Harpy Eagles. It is the largest and most powerful raptor found in the Americas
Macaw aviary with multiple different macaw species flying loose around us
Inside the Butterfly and Hummingbird exhibit, Keith gives a butterfly a ride
Golden Conure
Wayne with a large Macaw outside the aviary
Wayne and Keith at the small waterfall on Macuco Safari
Wayne beneath the small waterfall on Macuco Safari
Heading upstream to the falls
Approaching the falls from Brazil to Argentina
Looking upstream to the falls in Brazil
Argentina's falls
Keith and Wayne with the falls of Argentina behind us
Iguaçu Falls, Brazil
Boat is taking us to the falls on the right, get ready to get very wet :)
Keith drying off in the sun after the wild wet time
Walked to The Path of the Falls stop and walked 1,200 meters to the overview of the falls, stopping each time to take photos and look at this wonderful area. We are in another UNESCO site, imagine how wonderful and powerful mother nature is.
Iguaçu Falls walking 1,200 meter walk along the river
Keith and Wayne with Iguaçu Falls behind us
We then went to the Tower that overlooks the entire falls. We walked to the end area where the restaurant closed at 16:00, put got a snack there before we headed back to Foz. We got to the apartment changed and met Luis Santos at Januese Confectionaria for coffee and a sweet. We then went to dinner with Karina and Marcello.
Monday was a work day and weather was not great. We met Luis Santos again at Janeuse Confectionaria for coffee. He told us about his visit to Itaipu on the Paraguay side. Marcello and Karina picked us up with Marcello's son, Louis. We went to Ouvidoria for dinner. We shared food and drink with many laughs. Another fun evening in Foz do Iguaçu.
On Tuesday, October 6th - up early and into the car for our adventure to Paraguay to see Barragem de Itaipu (Itaipu Binacional). Marcello drove us to the wrong entrance at first and then we were directed to the area for the beginning of the tour. We watched an informative film of the construction of the hydroelectric plant. We hopped on the bus with a school group to see the damn, we then drove to the Brazil side to see the lake and where the water empties into the river. Very good tour with a lot of information. When we returned to the information center our guide took us to the scale model of the dam. We met Donna from Toulouse, France and then she joined us to head back to Brazil. Marcello drove back to the first entrance we went to and we picked on him that he wanted to say ‘good-bye to the guard”. We then stopped for breakfast and coffee. On our drive back to the border, we got stuck in traffic for 2 hours due to construction, compared to the morning when we drove straight across without stopping. While leaving we missed the entrance to exit and were in front of the motorcycle path, Marcello backed up and then“Marcello Andretti” drove us through the parking lot and into the right path. Phew, we then made it across the border back into Brazil. Marcello smuggled three internationals across the border without having to stop. We then went to lunch and back to the apartment. A fantastic day with Marcello.
Our first stop were the slides where water goes to the river
Penstocks with turbines inside them running the damn
Height of the dam above the ground with school group looking down into the damn
Man made Lake at Itaipú Oeste
Paraná River looking from Paraguay to Brazil, crossing the dam
Real working model of Itaipú
Being smuggled out of Ciudad del Este to the Friendship Bridge border crossing
Marcello and Karina with us before we left their home.
On the bus, ready to head off to our next stop, Florianopolis.
Marcello and Karina we the perfect hosts, we learned so much from each other. Marcello spoke really good English and Karina became more comfortable, we struggled with Portuguese but were always able to smile and communicate with each other. Thank you for the great time in "Foz". (Marcello e Karina Nós, os anfitriões perfeitos , aprendemos muito um do outro. Marcello falou muito bom Inglês e Karina tornou-se mais confortável, temos lutado com Português mas foram sempre capaz de sorrir e se comunicar uns com os outros . Obrigado por o grande tempo em " Foz ".)
We met Donna on the bus, nice to see a familiar face. Within an hour we stopped to pick up more passengers at 20:47. Then at 21:00 we stopped for dinner. Keith and Wayne had just started watching the movie 'Serena' When we stopped.
Wayne and Keith you are amazing!
ReplyDeleteWe love to have hosted you, i sure we'll still laugh a lot together ...
We wish you a very nice trip
Karina and Marcello