Iguaçu Falls

Yesterday was a busy day. We were up and at 'em early, leaving our hotel just before 8 a.m. to get to Iguaçu Falls. We went in a minibus with a small group of others, including Jasmine and Isabel, two Scottish women who came to South America on the same flight we did. The first half of their trip paralleled ours, though today they're off to Patagonia, while we go in the opposite direction tomorrow.

Iguaçu Falls almost seems like a cartoon version of a jungle habitat, with brightly colored birds and butterflies everywhere, lush vegetation and -- of course -- the waterfalls themselves. Many of the plants are varieties that we think of as houseplants at home, but here they're wild and giant-sized. As Dave said, "Everything is so beautiful!" We walked a series of trails through the sub-tropical forest to see the falls from multiple angles, and along the way saw lots of wildlife.

The birds above are campo flickers, a variety of woodpecker. Those two were very focused on pulling bugs out of that palm tree.

This is a plush-crested jay. They are constantly moving and it's hard to get a clear photo, but I was pretty happy with that one. (Points for bringing the big camera!)

And here's a Capuchin monkey, sleeping on a tree branch. We saw lots of them roaming through the trees. There are big signs up saying not to feed the monkeys or coatis, which can both cause injury and be something of a nuisance.

But what you really want to see are the waterfalls, right? So here you go:

That's a montage of videos I took along the way. As you can see, Iguaçu isn't just one waterfall -- it's an entire system of waterfalls, basically a broad inland river delta all going over the side of a long cliff.  In the first shots you'll see some small boats cruising around the base of the falls. Dave and I actually rode in one of those boats, and you'll see video of that adventure at the very end. We got soaking wet, which is part of the fun. (We were told to bring a change of clothes and they handed out dry-bags to keep our stuff in, like my camera and our shoes and phones.)

You'll also see a marauding band of fearless coatis having a feeding frenzy over a bag of potato chips (or something). Dave watched one of them jump on a kid's backpack, open it up and steal a bag of sandwiches. They're like the raccoons of the South American jungle, too smart for their own good.

And you'll also see some brightly colored butterflies, including one that landed on my t-shirt. I think it's a variety known as an ochenta y ocho, or eighty-eight, for the pattern on its wings.

We were exhausted by the time we got back to our room in late afternoon, but we desperately needed cash, and the Scottish women needed some supplies. So we all jumped in a cab together and went into the neighboring town of Puerto Iguazu. I found a cash machine (hallelujah!) and we all had dinner -- a cheese pizza for me, with about 40 pounds of cheese on it. I could only eat half. Dave was smarter and got a steak.

Today, back to the falls, to see them from the Brazilian side.