WEATHER: Flaming hot and humid 41C
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing the amazing Toucans-how do those things fly with their massive beaks?
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Flaming HOT
WORD OF THE DAY: My WOW day
PURCHASE OF THE DAY: The helicopter flight for 110USD
We had a busy day today. We were going to knock together a flight, feathers and the falls and in that order. I have been to Iguassu Falls before, but it was over 10 years ago and we stayed at one of the falls hotels Das Cataratas last time on the Brazil side. You didn’t have views of the falls from there, but you could hear them and they were only a 5 minute walk away from one of the lookouts. Not this time.
Our first stop was a helicopter ride of the falls. The takeoff and landing site is located a short distance from the Visitors Center of the Brazilian side of the Iguassu Falls. Since I did Victoria Falls I thought it would be nice to see Iguassu Falls from the air as well. Most of the group decided to do the helicopter and there wasn’t much to the formalities before going up in the bird. We paid out money and got a ticket and a safety card telling us the obvious if not jumping, flapping or waving under the rotors etc….. We then sat on some benches to wait our turn for the next available helicopter. No weighing, no leaving your bags-it was just pay and go. They had 2 helicopters running, a 4 seater and a 6 seater. Originally Paul, Liz, Kate and myself wanted to get into the 4 seater, but after seeing them both take off, we liked the look of the 6 seater as there were more windows to look out of, especially if you go the one middle seat out of the 6 they had on board. Well our wish was granted and we got Susanne and a random lady in our group and we were loaded on to the helicopter. It looked they may have had a loose system on where people should sit and I was lucky enough to get a window, with Susanne getting the coveted front seat and Paul getting the middle seat which he didn’t look too bummed about. We were belted in by one of the staff and before we knew it we were up and away. They probably hustle people in an out all day. The flight was 15 minutes so they get 4 flights an hour first flight at 9am last flight at 6pm – that’s a lot of cash.
Up in the air and it was 10am, our day had started and what a way to get it started. There are no words to describe the experience of flying over the Iguassu Falls in a chopper. The first thing you see is the Visitors Center from above. This helicopter experience is something nobody visiting the Iguassu Falls should miss. It gives you a completely different and new perspective of the falls and its surroundings. To fly over them like a bird does is perhaps the best and only way to capture all the greatness of the Iguassu Falls in one single, brief and intense moment of your life. The pilot flies in circles over the Falls several times so you can see them and picture them from every angle. We got aerial views of the Devil’s Throat, and a view of the main Argentinean waterfalls, you could also see San Martin Island and the San Martin waterfall (the second largest). I was sitting directly behind the pilot and he had his window down the whole way, so it was awesome to have the wind coming in and ruffling the hair as we circled the falls a few times before heading back to base. It was amazing to see the falls from the air. What a great start to the day.
While we were frolicking in the air, Mark was running around getting the Bird Park tickets and the tickets for the National Park, so when we got off we were given tickets to both and then we were on our own till 3pm when Gray would come back to pick us up.
The Bird Park is across the road from the helicopter pad, so we were inside the park at 10.30am. I am not a big bird fan, but Mark said the sanctuary was pretty cool and I am glad that he told us that. We ended up spending 2 hours in there and I got some magic photos of beautifully colored birds, Flamingos and the incredible Toucans that were very inquisitive and seemed to like having their photos taken it seemed. Parque das Aves (English: Bird Park) is a privately owned zoo. Its exhibits comprise mainly birds as well as other animals and butterflies. The park was opened in 1994 and it is set within 16 hectares (40 acres) of forest. The Bird Park is a private enterprise, situated in one of the most attractive parts of the world: near the Iguaçu Falls. Rare and colorful birds fly in the huge aviaries which have been built to blend in with the humid subtropical forest. Visitors are able to enter these aviaries and view the birds at close quarters. They will also see alligators, anacondas, pythons, marmosets and butterflies. The work is based on a high regard for the animals. The park was constructed with the intention of offering ideal breeding conditions for birds, and at the same time guaranteeing the preservation of 16 hectares of native forest. Modern techniques and careful environmental planning were applied in the design of each aviary. The Bird Park is now internationally recognized as a result of the work of its experienced technical and administration teams.
At present the Bird Park is the biggest in Latin America.
There were different sections to the park and each bird was named in Portuguese, Spanish and English. The paths were well signed and my most favorite part was seeing the Flamingos standing on one leg as they slept, seeing baby ones, pairs and some really beautifully pink ones. I just stood and watched them for like 10 minutes just to see how they move their snake like necks and the way they rest them on their rears. There are mirrors on one side of the enclosure and they are there because in the wild they live in large flocks. The mirrors give the birds the sensation of large numbers, and numbers mean safety. This feeling of security encourages them to breed.
The first mirror was fixed in 2001 in the park.
The first mirror was fixed in 2001 in the park.
My other favorite section was walking into 2 of the main aviaries and having Toucans sweeping past you as you walked. They seem to be quite inquisitive and don’t seem too disturbed to being close to you. To actually see them in real life was a little surreal, they just didn’t look real. How do they fly with those massive beaks? They truly are a magical bird, and I have to say a highlight of the bird park, even beating the Flamingos.
Toucans range in size from the Lettered Aracari (Pteroglossus inscriptus), at 130g and 29 cm, to the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco), at 680g and 63 cm. Their bodies are short (of comparable size to a crow's) and compact. The tail is rounded and varies in length, from half the length to the whole length of the body. The neck is short and thick. The wings are small, as they are forest-dwelling birds who only need to travel short distances, and are often of about the same span as the bill-tip-to-tail-tip measurements of the bird. The colorful and large bill, which in some large species measures more than half the length of the body, is the hallmark of toucans. Despite its size, the toucan is very light, being composed of bone struts filled with spongy tissue of keratin between them. The bill has forward-facing serrations resembling teeth, which historically led naturalists to believe that toucans captured fish and were primarily carnivorous; today it is known that they eat mostly fruit. Researchers have discovered that the large bill of the toucan is a highly efficient thermoregulation system, though its size may still be advantageous in other ways. It does aid in their feeding behavior (as they sit in one spot and reach for all fruit in range, thereby reducing energy expenditure), and it has also been theorized that the bill may intimidate smaller birds, so that the toucan may plunder nests undisturbed. Also, the beak allows the bird to reach deep into tree-holes to access food unavailable to other birds, and also to ransack suspended nests built by smaller birds. They are an interesting creature that is for sure. After running the gauntlet of the gift shop on the way out we then made our way to the entrance of the National Park and the busses that would take us to the Falls and the walking track.
Iguaçu National Park is a national park in Brazil. Created by federal decree nr. 1035 of January 10, 1939, the Park comprises a total area of 185,262.5 hectares and a length of about 420km, 300km of which are natural borders by bodies of water and the Brazilian and Argentinean sides together comprise around 225 thousand hectares.
On November 17, 1986, during the UNESCO conference held in Paris, the Iguaçú National Park was listed as Natural Heritage of Humanity and is one of the largest forest preservation areas in South America.
The Iguaçú National Park owes its name to the fact it includes an important area of the Iguaçú River, approximately 50km of the length of the river and the world famous Iguaçú Falls. It is the most important park of the Prata Basin and, since it is a haven to a significant genetic asset of animal and vegetal species, it was the first park in Brazil to receive a Management Plan. The Iguaçú National Park is spectacular as well as pioneering. The first proposal for a Brazilian national park aimed at providing a pristine environment to "future generations", just as "it had been created by God" and endowed with "all possible preservation, from the beautiful to the sublime, from the picturesque to the awesome" and "an unmatched flora" located in the "magnificent Iguaçú waterfalls". These were the words used by Andre Rebouças, an engineer, in his book "Provinces of Paraná, Railways to Mato Grosso and Bolivia", which started up the campaign aimed at preserving the Iguaçú Falls way back in 1876, when Yellowstone, the first national park on the planet, was four years old.
The Park is located in the westernmost region of the state of Paraná, in the Iguaçú river basin, 17km from downtown Foz do Iguaçú. It borders Argentina, where the Iguazu National Park, which was implemented in 1934, is located. The border between the two countries and their national parks is made by the Iguaçú river, whose source is near the Serra (mountain range) do Mar near Curitiba and runs for 18 km throughout the state of Paraná. The river estuary is located 18km downriver from the Falls, where it flows into the Paraná river. This meeting of rivers forms the triple Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay border. The area of the park open for visitation and where the concession areas of Cataratas do Iguaçú S/A are located, accounts for approximately 0.3% of the total area of the park.
The most spectacular sightseeing of the park is the Iguaçú Falls, which form a 2,700m wide semicircle, while the waterfalls filled visitors with awe as they watch the water foam that plunges down from a height of 72m. The number of waterfalls ranges from 150 and 300 depending on the Iguaçú river flow. Besides the exuberant waterfalls, there are other attractions such as rich fauna, the Poço Preto (the Black Well), the Macuco Waterfall, the Visitors Center, the Santos Dumont Statue, a homage paid by VASP (an airline company) to the "Father of Aviation", who lent all his prestige and efforts in turning the falls area into a National Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Falls are a fare distance from the entrance of the National Park, so they offer free air-conditioned and open top double decker busses back and forth all day from the Visitors Centre to the Falls with a few stops along the way at adventure and ecotourism companies offering hikes, jeep and boat rides in the park.
Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of Paraná and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River originates near the city of Curitiba. It flows through Brazil for most of its course. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the boundary between Brazil and Argentina.
The name "Iguazu" comes from the Guarani or Tupi words meaning "water", and wa su, meaning "big". Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541.
The Iguazu Falls are located where the Iguazu River tumbles over the edge of the Paraná Plateau, 23 kilometers upriver from the Iguazu's confluence with the Paraná River. Numerous islands along the 2.7-kilometre long edge divide the falls into numerous separate waterfalls and cataracts, varying between 60 meters and 82 meters high. The number of these smaller waterfalls fluctuates from 150 to 300, depending on the water level. About half of the river's flow falls into a long and narrow chasm called the Devil's Throat. The Devil's Throat is U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide, and 700-meter-long.
About 900 meters of the 2.7-kilometer length does not have water flowing over it. The edge of the basalt cap recedes by 3 mm (0.1 in) per year. The water of the lower Iguazu collects in a canyon that drains in the Paraná River, a short distance downstream from the Itaipu Dam.
Iguazu Falls are arranged in a way that seems a reverse J. The border between Brazil and Argentina runs through the Devil's Throat. On the right bank is the Brazilian territory, which has just over 20% of the jumps of these falls, and the left side jumps are Argentines, which make up almost 80% of the falls. To completely and fully appreciate the falls, the recommendation is to visit both the Argentine and Brazilian side, as one side is a panorama of the other, and vice versa. Those who know have said, more or less, that "from Brazil are the falls, and from Argentina is living". However, one moves between the jumps on the Argentine side, not only for gateways that allow almost touch the water, but also boat tours that allow you to jump up next to the stunning waterfalls, and even, it can delve to the very Devil's Throat, if one starts by boat from Argentina.
Walkways allow close views of the falls from both Argentina and Brazil. The falls are shared by the Iguazú National Park (Argentina) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil). The two parks were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984 and 1987, respectively. The Brazilian Iguaçu National Park is spectacular as well as pioneering. The first proposal for a Brazilian national park aimed at providing a pristine environment to "future generations", just as "it had been created by God" and endowed with "all possible preservation, from the beautiful to the sublime, from the picturesque to the awesome" and "an unmatched flora" located in the "magnificent Iguaçú waterfalls". These were the words used by Andre Rebouças, an engineer, in his book "Provinces of Paraná, Railways to Mato Grosso and Bolivia", which started up the campaign aimed at preserving the Iguaçu Falls in 1876, when Yellowstone, the first national park on the planet, was four years old.
The Argentinian side has wider views of the falls. On the Brazilian side there is a walkway along the canyon with an extension to the lower base of the Devil's Throat and helicopter rides offering aerial views of the falls are available. Argentina has prohibited such helicopter tours because of the environmental impact on the flora and fauna of the falls.
The Argentine access across the forest is by a Rainforest Ecological Train very similar to the one in Disney's Animal Kingdom. The train brings visitors to the entrance of Devil's Throat as well as the upper and lower trails where one can admire nature at its best, abundant vegetation, colorful flowers mixing with the deep green and the roar of the falls in the distance. The Paseo Garganta del Diablo is a one-kilometer-long trail with magnificent views that brings the visitor directly over the falls of the Devil's Throat, the highest and deepest of the falls. Other walkways allow access to the elongated stretch of falls across the forest on the Argentine side and to the boats that connect to San Martin island. Also on the Argentinian side there are inflatable boats service that takes visitors right under the falls, providing an extra and intense experience to the vacationer.
The Brazilian transportation system aims at allowing the increase in the number of visitors while reducing the environmental impact through the increase in the average number of passengers per vehicle inside de Park. The new transportation system boasts new 72 passenger panoramic view double deck buses. The upper deck is open, which enables visitors to enjoy added interactivity with the environment and a broad view of the flora and fauna during the trip to the Falls. The buses combustion system is in compliance with the CONAMA (phase IV) and EURO (phase II) emissions and noise requirements. The reduction in the number of vehicles, of noise levels and of speed is enabling tourists to observe increasing numbers of wild animals along the route. Each bus has an exclusive paint scheme, representing some of the most common wild animals found in the Iguaçú National Park. Some of those are: the spotted jaguars, butterflies, raccoons, prego monkeys, coral snakes, toucans, parrots and yellow breasted caimans.
Upon seeing Iguazu, the United States' First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" Iguazu is also often compared with Southern Africa's Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe. Iguazu is wider, but because it is split into about 275 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria is the largest curtain of water in the world, at over 1,600m wide and over 100 m in height (in low flow Victoria is split into five by islands; in high flow it can be uninterrupted). With the flooding of the Guaíra Falls in 1982, Iguazu currently has the second greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world, after Niagara, with an average rate of 1,746 m3/s (61,660 cu ft). Its maximum recorded flow was 12,800 m3/s. By comparison, the average flow of Niagara Falls is 2,400 m3/s, with a maximum recorded flow of 8,300 m3/s. The average flow at Victoria Falls is 1,088 m3/s, with a maximum recorded flow of 7,100 m3/s.
Mist rises between 30m and 150m from Iguazu's Devil's Throat, and over 300m above Victoria. However, Iguazu affords better views and walkways and its shape allows for spectacular vistas. At one point a person can stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfalls. The Devil's Throat, in Argentina, has water pouring into it from three sides. Likewise, because Iguazu is split into many relatively small falls, one can view these a portion at a time. Victoria does not allow this, as it is essentially one waterfall that falls into a canyon and is too immense to appreciate at once (except from the air). On November 11 of 2011, Iguazu Falls was announced as one of the seven winners of theNew7Wonders of Nature by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation.
During the summer of 2006 a severe drought caused the Iguazu River to become diminished, reducing the amount of water flowing over the falls to 300 cubic meters per second until early December. This was unusual, as dry periods normally last only a few weeks.
After the 20 minute bus into the park we were dropped off at the Das Cataratas Hotel where there was a view point of some of the smaller falls as you climbed a walkway that then stated the 1.2KM trail to the main U shaped falls. It was a scorcher and the time was just past midday, the hottest part of the day as we walked. It was shaded most of the way the humidity was a KILLER. There were men walking around without their shirts on and a lot of woman wearing bikini tops and short shorts and even they were still sweating. I guess we are in Brazil now and clothes I am sure are optional at some places. As you walked the paved trail you could always see when there was a vantage point coming up as there would be a mass of people all trying to vie to get the ‘shot’. It was to a point that people just had no respect for others taking pictures and that drives me nuts. That was probably the only downside to the whole day; it was super busy, sweaty people banging on you and the total disregard when you wanted to take a photo when you had done the right thing by them by waiting for shots.
The 1.2KM trail gets you to the grated walkways that get you over the top of the water fall to the edge where the water then crashes into the Iguassu River. This was a great place to be as the spray from the falls was keeping us all cool; you just had to keep cleaning the lens of your camera from the spray that was blowing off the falls. But what a beautiful sight we are at Iguassu Falls. Amazing. After spending time down here there is a lift that takes you back to the main road and about 500m from the food court, a restaurant and of course souvenir shops. As we waited for the glass lift to arrive the platform is directly next to the largest waterfall and you are literally 10m from the powerful force of the water as it cascades down. It was an unbelievable sight and gives you an insight into the power if Iguassu.
Once at the top, exiting the lift you walk in the grated walkway and the last viewing platform that looks over the top of the waterfall and a view of the walkway over the falls where we had just come from. There were a lot of people in the viewing platform, like super crowded and I thought for a fleeting second what that platform was tested to weight wise? It would be scary if it broke, what would happen to all those people? I am glad I had that thought ‘after’ I had been on the very same platform 30 minutes ago.
Kate and I got lunch at the food court, as it was now 2pm and we had to be back at the National Park entrance for our collection at 3pm. Leaving enough time for the 20 minute ride back we ate a burger, chips and drink for 8 bucks which I didn’t think was too bad for a National Park feed. We got back to the Interpretation center with 10 minutes to spare and ran into Mark who had just got back. As we left the park we saw the guys walking to the bus stop, so we knew they weren’t far behind us and walked back to the meeting point.
We had a free afternoon back at the campsite. I checked my emails and there was another one from Zeme saying that the tour voucher was not going to be accepted by the Brazil Consulate and they wanted a letter of invitation for him and an electronic signature to be on it. They have had his passport now for 3 weeks and they are asking for all this now? Bloody hell. So Mark and I got onto it straight away, less the electronic signature, the camp site is good but doesn’t have scanner, so we emailed that to Zeme for him to take in tomorrow being Thursday. I am now getting worried that this isn’t going to happen, but if the letter passes then we should be in the clear and it could still be a possibility. It also doesn’t help that we are 7 hours behind Ethiopia time wise, so it is just precious time lost between emails. We are just lucky we have such a great internet connection where we are, imagine if I didn’t check my emails for days….. I don’t even want to go there.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the manky pool reading my book in the water, which was a far better proposition than sweating my arse off trying to read my book anywhere else. Team Bandito were on cooking tonight and banged together a vegetarian meal including garlic bread before the guys sat and played Texas Hold Em again while I read my book. I just can’t stop thinking about Zeme and him getting his visa and I have a gut feeling that it just may not get approved in time and the I would have no idea on what to do. Let’s not think about that for now, we have turned everything around in a timely fashion and got everything to them that they have asked for so fingers crossed there is a message from Zeme in the morning.
Besides that worry what a great day we had today.
Flight, feathers and falls = My WOW day
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