Around the World in 70 Days

Brazil

Written by

Phil Matthews

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Puerto Iguazú, where we have been staying, sits at the “triple frontier” of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The actual borders are the Iguazú and Paraná rivers, the latter being the second longest river in South America (after the Amazon).

We visited the park at the confluence of the two rivers, from which you can see all three countries at once.
Obelisks like this are positioned on each of the three banks. Notice the shortness of my shadow, at midday, 2 degrees from the Tropic of Capricorn and 1 month from the solstice!
We enjoyed some Paraguayan fritters at the hotel, as well as catfish and pacu (related to piranha) from the Paraná river.

Yesterday, we crossed into Brazil to see the waterfalls from the other side of the Iguazú river. 80% of the 3km length of the falls is in Argentina, so while we could get up close and personal with them on that side, the Brazilian side afforded the most spectacular views of all.

The falls are made up of 275 individual cascades and our first view was of those that drenched us on the boat trip!
The view from about halfway along the trail
Soon we neared this walkway overlooking the horseshoe at the top of the system. The devil’s throat viewpoint we visited the day before is at the top of the furthest cascade.
The view from the end of the walkway was breathtaking!
Although we had to endure another soaking to get there!
The torrent of water heading over the falls on the Brazilian side was a sight to behold
Here you can see the swifts disappearing into the water to reach their nests
And here are the turkey vultures, which, alongside greater white egrets, filled the skies
Having ascended the hill, we were treated to this final view of an extraordinary place

The tours we had both days at the falls were exceptional, although we found the Brazilian side a bit more relaxing. The Argentinian side was almost like a natural Disneyland, with large crowds, the boat ride and the tourist train that took us between viewpoints.

Our next port of call though was basically my bird-loving Mum’s Disneyland: the Parque das Aves (“bird park” in Portuguese).

The park sits at the very edge of Iguazú National Park (the Brazilian one) and is a remarkable place of abundant life: of jungle flora, and of the fauna that inhabit its aviaries and open spaces. Its mission is to be a shelter and sanctuary for the avian life of the Atlantic Rainforest, in which the National Park is located but of which only 8% remains, due to aggressive deforestation.

“Our Atlantic Rainforest”

The Atlantic Rainforest was once connected to the Amazon, but no longer. It is home to many of South America’s big hitters, but also to several species found nowhere else.

Here is the highlights reel from the magical few hours we spent in the park:

The dazzling Scarlet Ibis
It is thought that only five of these Alagoas Currassows were left in the wild until the park intervened to save them from extinction
The Toucan is the iconic bird of the region
No need for binoculars today!
Outside the aviaries, there was also a reptile enclosure
I was very excited to see Caimans, as well as Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo!
Iguana (my favourite animal as a child)!
The Potoo always wins at musical statues and hide-and-seek, as it stays motionless and camouflaged for most of the day.
The Crested Cariama seemed to prefer the game “stare”
Parrots & Parakeets
“Shall we ask them if they know our cousins in London?”
Macaws
I saw lots of Hummingbirds in Peru, but this is the first one I managed to photograph. These are not in an aviary, so we were thrilled when a few appeared right at the end of the trail.

We absolutely loved our day in Brazil, as you can probably tell from the length of this post! The vibrancy of the colours on a hot, sunny, Spring day. The overwhelming richness of nature, from the scale and power of the falls to the abundance of plant and animal life. The generous spirit of the people we met, both towards us and the fragile natural environment.

I must also mention the food! We had a delicious and incredibly reasonable lunch of steak and rainforest fare in the bird park (the açai was on point…).

And we bade farewell to this little corner of paradise today with Brazil’s favourite cocktail:

Toasting the triple frontier area with a caipirinha!

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