Las Cataratas

While I was shopping for groceries today, Teague insisted that he select some snacks "for the airplane". I was unable to convince him that we're not flying anywhere this weekend. I think this means we need a travel intervention. Now that Sean has started his formal classes (more on this later), our traveling will be less frequent. Good news for Teague's poor Lightnin' McQueen suitcase.

Last weekend we took a trip to Iguazu Falls to get our first glimpse of Brazil and, of course, to see the spectacular waterfalls. There are 275 separate falls located on the river that divides Brazil and Argentina. Tour guides tell us that Teddy Roosevelt's wife said, "Poor Niagra!" when she visited. They're that spectacular! The area is located in the middle of tropical rain forests with tons of colorful wildlife and is also home to thousands of beautiful butterflies.




We started our trip on the Brazil side, because it offered the best panoramic view of the falls. While there, we walked the length of the park and then out to Devil's Throat, the viewing area nearest to the largest waterfall. The mist literally drenched us, so we have some potentially scary Christmas card photos. The Brazil side also has an amazing Bird Park. I expected to see a couple of parrots and some flamingos, but they had hundreds of brilliantly colored birds. Unfortunately it was pouring during our visit, so we couldn't get as close to them as we would have liked. On Sunday, we went back into Brazil to see Itaipu Dam and the city of Foz de Igazu. The dam is shared with the country of Paraguay, and is currently the largest in the world. The tour actually took us into Paraguay, so by the end of the day, we had been in 3 countries. Just like a drug mule.

Tres Fronteras--where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet.

We spent Saturday on the Argentina side and took a crazy ride on a zodiac that brought us right up under the falls. They actually give you a special plastic bag to keep your belongings dry, and of course they have a guy on the boat who videos the entire ride. The Brazilians behind us yelled "Yeee-high" for 9 minutes & 59 seconds of the 10 minute ride. They were pretty stoked. After we dried off and hiked around, we took another boat through the calmer rivers near the falls and got to see toucans and a crocodile up close and personal.

See that boat heading toward the falls?


We were on it. We got a little wet.

On the flight home, the pilot decided not to land mid-landing and did a go-around for another approach. The cockpit doors on the planes down here are not closed, so I'm sure the flight crew heard the gasps from the peanut gallery, followed by a hearty round of applause (and possibly one 'boo' from someone I know) when we finally landed. But they did serve a meal. Ham and cheese sandwiches and ham flavored crackers, naturally.

The ochenta y ocho (88) butterfly.



The "here's what you're missing out on" braille information plaque.


The toucans were so close!


Robot Teague at Itaipu.