Up bright and early for our 7:40 pick up to go to Brazil. On the way in from the airport the other day, our driver asked us about our plans and we told him we were going to Brazil today. He said he could set up transportation to the park, then “we’d go get lunch”, then take us to the airport for our flight. We asked if he would take us, and he said there were 10 drivers so he wasn’t sure if it would be he or someone else.
We knew it was a little tricky getting to the Brazil side. Taking public transportation is a pain – you have to go through 2 passport controls and then take a different bus in the park, etc. So, we agreed to go with our driver. He told us to check out and have all our luggage ready – he didn’t know if we’d take it with us or we’d come back and get it. Ok.
The appointed hour arrived, and up pulls a bus. Uh oh. Not a bus!!! Well, turns out we were hoodwinked into a bus tour to Brazil with about 40 other folks (all of whom spoke Spanish – only 2 other English speakers aboard and they were German). We had to drive around the city stopping at other hotels picking others up for about an hour before we even headed to Brazil. Needless to say – we were more than a little irritated.
At the Argentina border, our guide took all our passports and got us cleared through passport control. Then on the Brazilian side, we all had to get out and have our passports stamped personally. We were first in line – and a good thing – because they were having some issue with our passports. We had visa’s from 2008 when we went to Rio, but apparently these passport folks weren’t liking them. It took about 10 minutes before they finally stamped the darn things and let us through. We think they couldn’t find the entry stamp for the 2008 visa – because they kept rifling through the passports looking at stamps. The whole time we were thinking – what happens if they won’t let us come in the country? Will we have to take a taxi back to the hotel? What would we do!!!
Finally back on the road – and into the Brazilian park. Stood in line for tickets and were shocked to find out it cost $42 to get in! The guidebooks all said it was $4 each – not $21 each. Oh well – too late to turn back now. After all that hassle and aggravation, though, it turned out to be a great day. Once in the park we were on our own. With a specific meeting place and time to come back to the dreaded bus!
We boarded a bus inside the park – which is absolutely huge – and rode it for about 15 minutes to the beginning of the trail. It takes about an hour or so to hike the trail, which is all stone and cement, unlike the steel grates on the Argentina side. The trail meanders through the rain forest giving glimpses of the falls every so often.
The panoramic view you have of the Falls here is spectacular. A completely different experience than on the Argentina side. You can really get a whole perspective on the size and scope of the monsters from here. You can hear the water and feel the spray occasionally, but you are mostly soaking in the beauty of the water and the flora and fauna across the river.
As we wandered down the trails, we noticed the butterflies. There were some on the Argentina side, but here, there were thousands. All over the trail, on the railings, on your shoulder, your arms, your ankles. And on the ground! When we stopped for a rest stop, there were hundreds just fluttering their wings on the ground. You had to be careful where you stepped so you didn’t crush them!
The last part of the trail is the main attraction – it’s a walkway out onto the river at the bottom of one set of falls and at the very top of the falls so that you can look over the edge of the river right where it goes into the Brazilian side of the Devil’s Throat. You can feel the power of the water here – rushing down the stone walls into the river base on one side and then going over another “cliff” on the other. You hear it, see it, feel it – just amazing. And you don’t take pictures if you value your camera!!! Needless to say you get soaked to the skin with the spray off the falls – we didn’t even make it to the end of the walkway before we were dripping wet and turned back.
The upside to getting drenched in the Brazilian Rainforest is that it cools you off and you dry pretty quickly. We were completely drip dried by the time we hit the end of the trail at our meeting point. We had to cool our heels a bit since we were early, but a Coke Zero on a bench watching the butterflies helped us pass the time until we gathered with the group and headed back on the park bus to our big bus.
Next stop was lunch at a typical Brazilian buffet – not included in the tour price – but very reasonable and very good. We loaded up on food, figuring that we might not be able to get a good meal by the time we get to BA – since it’s New Year’s eve and most every place will need reservations or have special pricing.
After lunch we had to stop at the obligatory shopping stop. Ick. It’s a huge duty free store at the border where they check your passports and allow you back into the country. You have to lock your purse in a big bag that they only unlock when you buy something – it was a pain. And EXPENSIVE. Why anyone would shop there, we can’t quite figure out. The weird thing was everything was priced in US dollars. Bizarre.
Another weird thing is that I was having a heck of a time finding glasses of wine. At lunch and at the duty free shop they only sold bottles. So I ended up taking sips of Ed’s beer all day long!
Finally out of the shopping melee, we waited on our bus for another little bus to come and take us to the airport. We were fretting about time a little, but no need to worry. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare – there are only 2 gates and they weren’t even open when we arrived!
Went to the little restaurant for a drink – once again – no glasses of wine. Oh well – will have to wait for BA. Headed back to security at our boarding time – and got on the plane. LAN is a great airline, very friendly, service oriented, gave us snacks both ways – and free beer. Can’t beat that!
We landed in BA without a hitch, picked up our bag that we had stored at the airport, grabbed a taxi and headed into BA for our 3 day stay………
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