The Archive

It's the Foz. Cheese it

Sorry for the delay in posting folks, but I've been having a weekend away with clan Vartan at Foz Do Iguassu or Iguassu Falls. But more on that later.

First off was the night at the samba club.

The place we chose was a joint called Casa Rosa. Apparently this used to be a brothel, although i saw no signs of that. We gathered a bunch of gringos together and set out.

Unfortunately, being gringos, we left at about 11pm, which in Rio time is about 5.30 in the afternoon. Still, we got there to find a nice outdoor area to sit and drink beer whilst we waited for the Cariocas to show up.

So by about 1am, there were a few people there. A band started playing in the dance floor, and a couple of people started to dance, including me. Couldn't really say what I was doing was much of a Samba though, and the lucky ladies who were around seemed to be of much the same opinion.

By 3am it had actually filled up to a normal level. Sadly, by this time, we realised we had to get up to catch a flight in three hours, so we left, to the bemused looks of the locals, much as you would give someone who got up and left the cinema during the trailers.

Oh, one fab thing about the place. You know those big walk-in fridges that have plastic strips hanging over the doorways to keep the cool air in? This place had fierce air conditioning and those things on the door. Which was a relief.

Anyway, the next morning we staggered to the airport to catch a plane to Foz Do Iguassu. This being Brazil though, the plane did not go direct, so we spent an hour or so at some other tiny airport, only to catch the same plane the rest of the way to our destination. (I had to do the same thing in San Paolo coming here. Apparently it's quite common).

We made it though and were soon wandering the path to the Iguassu falls.

This is a natural wonder of the world in which a wide, shallow river suddenly plunges in a series of amazing waterfalls, down to become a narrow, deep river in a canyon.

Now I'm not normally one for visiting sights for very long. Five minutes at Notre Dame and you've seen it. Get to the top of the Empire State building, done. Ditto Eiffel tower. And so on.

However, Iguassu falls turned out to be a combination national park, long hike and natural wonder. So the hours we spent on the first day, looking at the amazing falls (there are 275 linked falls apparently), were well worthwhile. Not least because there were little creatures called coati which we encountered on the path. Cute and weird, they looked like a cross between a dog and a monkey.

See...?



It was only after encouraging two year old Honor to go up to stand near them so we could take a picture that we saw a sign that told us not to feed them as they are savage beasts who like nothing more than to tear a small child to pieces with their razor sharp claws. Ok, maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but you get the idea.

I still think I'd like one as a pet though.

As for the falls, they were really impressive. Not a one-shot deal like Niagra (which is also nice, despite the Blackpool-style town that has sprung up around it) but a whole range of waterfalls in a huge span.

Oh bugger it, I'm never going to do it justice. Here's a picture or two...





Actually, we managed to do two days walking around the falls. This was particularly interesting as the falls are shared by Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina (but the Paraguay bit is apparently not worth the bother). Consequently, on Sunday we got a taxi to Argentina, which we visited for a few hours.

This was not enormously noteworthy in and of itself, except for the large graffiti we saw just on the Argentinian border which said (in Spanish, obviously) The Malvinas belong to Argentina.

If only I'd thought to take spraypaint.

Anyway, the falls were fab. In the evening, Alex and I headed off to the local town (also called Iguassu falls, although some miles from the falls themselves, nearly resulting in one particularly large taxi fare on the first day) to find it a) much more 'western' than Rio. This mostly manifested itself in the sense that you were not about to be robbed at any time, and the presence of nice mercs, BMWs and other cars as a consequence (you don't see any of these in Rio as they are regarded as something of a 'please rob me' sign).

Also, for some reason, there were lots of Paraguayan number plates about. We asked our taxi driver about this and apparently this is because 'there's nothing to do in Paraguay'.

Fair enough.

Anyway, it turns out that hiking in very hot conditions for some hours, with a hot baby strapped to your chest, results in you being so tired all you're fit for is a few beers in a roadside cafe and then back to the hotel.

Bit of a disappointment seeing as it's Brazil and all, but never mind.

The next night, after more hours of trekking in the searing heat, was quite similar. This time, however, we decided to eat at a local restaurant that also put on a show.

Not sure what a good idea that was in retrospect. Remember the New Year's entertainment in the Thai hotel? It was a bit like that, albeit about ten times as professional, but still, the performers' hearts just didn't seem to be in it.

That said, towards the end they did have a capoeiera demonstration in which the guys bounced around the stage like those bouncy balls you used to have when you were a kid. You know the ones, you dropped it once on an uneven playground and it ricoched into space, never to be seen again.

It was just like when Tanya and I did it. All you had to do was take out the jumps. And the spins. And the kicks. And the grace.

So those guys pretty much rescued the show as far as I was concerned, then we all went home to bed.

The next morning we were flying again, after a substantial amount of lying in a cool, dark room (or as dark as I could get it with my sunburn gently glowing). And now I'm back in Rio, blogging.

So there you are, you're up to date.

See you soon.

posted by Peter The Great @ 8:17 PM