Foz do Iguacu

Although there isn’t a lot to do apart from the waterfall excursion (and maybe a trip to the dam), Foz do Iguacu is a nice enough city. There’s a lot of greenery and at a modest 350,000 people it felt pretty relaxed compared to the other cities we’d been to. 

We staggered into town and grabbed a taxi to an arbitrarily chosen pousada called Sonho Meu. It ended up being the nicest place we stayed in Brazil and also one of the cheapest. There was a pool, air-conditioning, great showers, and a solid breakfast buffet – absolutely fantastic after our epic bus trip. It also happens to be near one of the best restaurants we ate at the whole time we were traveling. It's an all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue place with waiters who come to your table and slice freshly grilled meat for you until the button pops off your pants. After a few kilos of every animal and a bottle of wine, we stumbled back to our room, ready for a day at the waterfalls.

Lonely Planet says: 

“A total of 275 individual falls occupy an area more than 3km wide and 80m high, which makes them wider than Victoria, higher than Niagara and more beautiful than either.”

As someone who has been to both (though I was too young to remember Victoria Falls very well), I’ll happily support that statement. Foz do Iguacu is an incredible place. The jungle backdrop is gorgeous and the walk to the falls is half the fun of the trip. There are tons of little creatures that cross your path, everything from birds and butterflies: 

to furry things called coatis:

They're perfectly harmless as long as you don't feed them hamburgers.

Along with the pitter-patter of little feet, you can hear the falls long before you arrive. You get a few tantalizing glimpses and then suddenly: breathtaking view

...after view...

 ...after view...

 You can also walk underneath on a platform right above the torrent of water. Yeah, we got a bit wet.

 (No, that naked guy isn’t me.)

After a couple of hours hanging out at the falls, we decided to take a romantic walk through a bird sanctuary that was just next door. 

 Barf - Ok, it wasn’t that romantic I guess. Actually a few of the birds seemed a bit crazy: 

 Check out this guy trying to eat a German tourist’s toes:

 (He’s not stuffed; don’t put your toes in there!)

 There was also this creepy lizard watching us.

We talked to some of the tried to talk to one of the residents but he just laughed at us:

We took a hint and set off back to town. Next stop Uruguay!

(Hamburgers!)