Iguazu Falls

As a end of summer break trip we saved a great one. We headed down to Foz de Iguacu to visit the falls. Lucky for us Clark, Janelle and family came to join us. It was so much fun to see such a natural wonder with some of our favorite people.

We arrived much earlier in the day to the city and decided to check out the massive hydroelectric plant on the Paraguay border. We didn't realize that it was on the border so we left our passports at the airbnb, and then we were affraid we wouldn't be able to do the tour. Luckily because it was all on the company property passports weren't needed. We got to drive around the dam. We went below it then across through a tunnel and arrived on the Paraguay side. The we drove up to the top and drove over the bridge above the dam. It was massive and it was interesting to learn about the constuction and how much ice was needed to set all the cement.

Clark and their family arrived after our kids were in bed, so it was a happy reunion the next morning. Then we headed to the Brazil side of the national park. Our first stop in the national park was a boat tour under some of the waterfalls! It was so fun, Jane was giggling as we got completly drenched under the falls and rode the rapids. She is truely a adrenaline junkie. Everyone had fun, but there were many bees there and unfortunately Ben got stung (ouch!).

Then we headed to the Waterfall overlook trail. And words cannot descibe how beautiful and extensive these waterfalls. We read that the waterfall system is 2.6 km long. This trail was 1.5 kilometers and there were world class waterfalls the entire way.

I even found the location of a big puzzle I finish earlier last year (I think). You help me decide if this th same place, because the water levels are slightly different.

We found a family of aggressive food stealing coaties, but they were sure cute.

And the trail ends at the horseshoe of the falls which is such an immersive experience. The trail goes out onto a bridge walkway thaet goes out into the middle of the horseshoe. It is above some falls and above others with the horseshoe all around you. It's about as surrounded by waterfalls as is possible. We were soaked onece again with the mists of the falls.

We ended the day with a delicious churrascaria.

Our second full day we headed to the Argentina side of the falls. This side is on the top of the waterfalls looking down, so a totally different perspective. It was a lot of fun, but a lot more walking. We started out doing a top of the waterfalls loop and and we got to see some monkeys.

Then we rode the train to Devil's Thoat (the upper side of the horse shoe). It was a real testament to the power of water.

We did one last hike (we did have to bribe the kids with ice cream because they were pretty much done with waterfalls). It was super hot and humid, so we didn't mind eating the popsicles on the floor of the store so we could enjoy the airconditioning as well.

We also were absolutely blown away by the number and variety of butterflies. They were beutiful and the kids enjoyed when they had "buddies" land on them and stick with them.

We also saw some other fun wildlife like monitor lizards (we even saw a baby), birds, more monkeys, and massive spiders.

That evening we celebrated my birthday by ordering way too many brownies and pistachio pudims. It was a great way to end out out time at the falls. So glad we got to see this amazing place.