Iguacu Falls, Brazil (+ a little bit of Paraguay!)

Tuesday 7^th March 2017 - photos to follow. Beers beckon.....

Big day – Iguacu Water Falls, Itaipu Dam and Bird Park.

photo- spot the silly git on the observation platform!



Early start. 8.15 start with a day of 36 degree temperatures.

Iguacu National Park – tried to spot Jaguar, Lynx and Puma.  Also Tapir, Raccoons, and Capibara (a giant rodent that looks like a huge guinea-pig). Saw the last two in numerous quantities, and unfortunately as people have been feeding raccoons, the big cats have been coming nearer to humans to eat the raccoons, and have been causing some problems in the park. Reports of tourists being injured.  We were warned to stay 100 metres away from the cats.

Then on to the Iguacu Falls – or other various names of Iguazu, Iguassu Falls and Iguaçu Falls.  The forest trail leads to the first falls which are fairly mind-blowing and use up most of your camera battery.  Then you move through to find there are about 270 individual waterfalls.  Far more spectacular than Niagara Falls, this is a Unesco World Heritage Site - the different vistas and sheer soaking you get just walking around it is magnificent.  The other bonus is – it’s warm! As soon as you get wet, you’re drying off.  The Falls originate from the Iguazu River and are located on the border of Brazil (in the state of Paraná) and Argentina. The river itself drops, with the heart of the site a semicircular waterfall some 80 m high and 2,700m diameter.

Roberto using the Marine branch to search for Paddington.





























Iain took the opportunity to go up in a helicopter and take some pictures from on high. Sadly only a brief flight, but gave a great overview of the whole panorama.

 

Parque das Aves – beautifully laid-out bird park, in Atlantic Rainforest conditions, where you can walk through the ‘cages’ and are surrounded by parrots, parakeets, flamingos, toucans, butterflies, harpy eagles, macaws, plus various better-caged anacondas, rhea, boa-constrictor and alligators. Very impressive conservation conditions and well-being of endangered species.

 

Further trip to see the Itaipu Dam. For the stattos – 8 km long, 196 feet tall (equivalent to 65 storey building), 1350 km2 reservoir. Penstocks through which 700,000 litres of water flows per second. Pretty impressive place albeit the water flow was low due to recent drought conditions.  There is also a 20 km spawning channel so that the original fish/eels can get back up to their spawning grounds at the top lake. Fabulous work between Brazil and Paraguay engineers and both countries benefit from the electricity. We briefly went over to the Paraguay side (passport not stamped)  but not even opportunity to have a beer there.  Only down side to this renewable clean energy was the community that it wiped out whose homes are now under the huge lake.