Iguassu/Iguacu Falls of Brazil & Argentina; and next door
Paraguay
Sachi G. Dastidar
If one lands at Manaus, the center of Amazon and the capital of
Amazonas State, as we did, one may not realize that one is landing in the
middle of a forest, as Manaus is a huge metropolis of 2.3 million people with
freeways, skyscrapers, theaters, hotels and restaurants.
These days we hear a lot about fires in Amazon. There was none
in the Metropolis. But we witnessed small fires set by residents during our
road trip to our jungle lodge, as well as when we flew over the forest going to
Brasilia. Most of the fires are at the edges of the forest as people were
land/forest grabbing at the edges going towards the center. Manaus is at the
center of the forest area, hundreds of miles from the border forest
fire/cleansing.
An added pleasure for this travel was that many Brazilians
looked like us, thus many locals took us for “locals” until we said something.
Then there were some who were confused learning that we Indians were not
traveling from India, but from the United States.
Brazil Iguassu Falls, also called Iguacu in Argentina is
possibly the largest falls of the world by many measures. Most of the falls is
in the Argentinian side while a section is in the Brazilian side. Not far from
the falls is the border of Paraguay, across Parana River, thus the area is also
known as tri-state or tri-nation area. We stayed at the Brazilian side in Iguassu City which is a large urban center, visiting both Brazilian and Argentinian
falls. In both sides it is their National Park, now declared as a World Heritage Site.
Iguacu Falls in Argentina: Up and down walk on the Argentinian side is several kilometers long, in
addition there were train rides to various sections, and a boat ride to inside one
of the water falls giving us a total drench. We also had to climb down and then
up of hundreds of steps to and from the boat station. A van ride took us from
train station to the boat steps through the reserve forest.
Walk on the
Argentinian side is several kilometers long, in a nicely planned and designed
steel walkway. Building of the infrastructure began in 1930.
Brazil Iguassu Falls: The Brazilian side has a shorter walk, still over one-kilometer-long where one has to climb down several hundreds of meters to the end of the walk where there are shops, rest rooms, rest area and transport pick up.
Bird's Eye View: A helicopter ride gave us better idea of the enormous size of the falls areas that are preserved as national forest on both sides of the border.
Brazil Iguassu Falls: The Brazilian side has a shorter walk, still over one-kilometer-long where one has to climb down several hundreds of meters to the end of the walk where there are shops, rest rooms, rest area and transport pick up.
Bird's Eye View: A helicopter ride gave us better idea of the enormous size of the falls areas that are preserved as national forest on both sides of the border.
Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: We
also took a short, side trip to the city of Ciudad del Este across the bridge
connecting with Argentina. In Brazil it is known as a city good for shopping. The
city looked very vibrant-yet-congested like many cities in developing
countries. Right after the bridge crossing stands one of the finest stores,
Monalisa, a multi-storied structure. Its café’s menu is in US dollar, not in local
Guarani. Seeing us one of the waitresses offered us Hindu Tea, most likely
hibiscus tea. This border crossing is among the very few places in the world,
beyond European Union, where the border is completely open with no checks of
immigration and customs on either side. (White crossing to Argentina and
returning to Brazil, there were border checks in Argentina, but not in Brazil,
taking only a few minutes.)
Argentinian Falls
The Brazilian Falls
Bird's Eye View from the Helicopter
Ciudad del Este, Paraguay
Monalisa Departmental Store
Its Menu in US Dollar
No comments:
Post a Comment