Brazil 2005

Sunday, November 13, 2005

After breakfast we took the bus to Argentina.

We drove over a bridge and it was quite a feeling. We were still in Brazil and could see both Paraguay and Argentina.

The border isn't far away from the hotel at all. It was quite a procedure to pass the border! Unbelievable! We were of course asked to show the passports and then we had to leave the bus and go over some kind of ugly sponge. Thanks God that we were allowed to keep the shoes on... We still don't know why we had to pass this sponge, but we've heard that the reason is to avoid some diseases (under the feet???) to be spread in Argenina. Even the bus had to drive through some kind of desinfection bath.

We went to the Iguazú National Park in Argentina and had a hike excursion along the impressive and beautiful waterfalls, which are even more spectacular on the Argentinian side. We came very close to the waterfalls, saw them from many different places, sometimes from the top, somtimes from the bottom. The little path went up and down, sometimes over stairs and small bridges. The hiking tour took some hours and it was quite some work due to the high temperature (more than 30 degrees) and the high level of humidity (approx. 97 %). But the views were so beautiful so it was really worth it. We could both hear and see the waterfalls from everywhere and we saw a lot of nice rainbows, which had been shaped by the water. We even saw a lot of lizards, coatis, butterflies and birds as well as beautiful orchids and other flowers.

The sound from the djungle is very exotic, sometimes even spooky, especially in the evenings.

When we came back to Brazil, we had a late lunch at a restaurant which is quite close to the waterfalls. The food was good, but it was very crowded in the restaurant. Well, it was Sunday and many Brazilian families were having lunch.

The sun was shining and it was very hot, but we found a nice place in the shadow on the terrace.

When we came back to the hotel we had some time to relax and bath in the pool. We saw a lot of nice black birds with a very red back on the palm trees around the pool. The garden of the hotel was very beautiful with all the trees and flowers.

Then it was time for fun! We went to a Macuco-safari quite close to the hotel. It is a tour with rubber boats on the river and to the waterfalls!!!

We went with jeeps on a small and steep path down to the river. It was a nice tour through the jungle. Then we had to walk a little bit and finally we reached the place, where the rubber boats were waiting for us. We had to put on life jackets and then it was just to go on board. Those rubber boats are really great and they have two outboard motors with 225 hp each. We went with high speed on the river, jumping over waves and we had a lot of fun.

Finally we saw the waterfalls in front of us. We came closer and closer and it was a fantastic view. It was a great feeling to be so close to the waterfalls. But it should become even “worse”! We even went under and through the waterfalls! It was so much fun! We became all wet, but who cared? The cameras (except one) were put down in plastic bags. The camera, which wasn’t put down in a plastic bag was actually working for some more time… Well, later on it didn’t work any more. But who cares? We had brought three cameras. As a matter of fact, the “wet camera” was working again some days later!

So we went through the water several time and could hardly get enough because it was so much fun! Finally, when everybody and everything was completely wet, we returned. It was really a fantastic and unforgettable adventure!

It was nice that somebody from the team was filming us all the time. Later on we could buy this DVD and most of us bought it. It’s a nice memory of this adventure.

When we came back to the hotel we had some time to relax and bath in the pool.

In the evening we went to a very nice restaurant, called Recanto Gaúcho. Just some hundred of meters before we should reach the restaurant, a man on a white horse welcomed us and went on horseback in front of our bus in order to show us the way. When we finally reached the restaurant, we were welcomed by the staff, who was dancing and playing music.

The welcome drink was of course Caipirinha and some good sausages. The musicians played nice music and the staff was dancing and even encouraged us to dance. It was very nice and everybody was having fun.

The food was very good, presented on a nice buffet, which is typical for Brazil. They had some nice metal plates for the dessert and I asked the boss if it was possible to buy three of those. The answer was no. I could not buy those plates. I got them!!! That was really nice of him, wasn’t it?

After this very nice evening we came back to the hotel quite late. So it was just to try to get some sleep since we had to get up at 4 o’clock next morning. And we also had to pack some things in a backpack because we couldn’t bring the whole packing to the place we should go to tomorrow.

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