Don't Go Chasin' Waterfalls.. or Your Phone Won't Work - Iguazu Falls

I added some of my photos.

I'm writing this post with mixed feelings. All these photos are Jimmy's because.... well, I'll explain later.  But thanks so much for sharing your photos.  I made it to Foz do Iguacu late at night but was pretty happy because our hostel here was SO much better than in Rio.  I was so upset with our Rio hostel (combined with the hot, humid weather) that it put me in a pretty bad mood a lot of the time there.  I messaged most of my family members at some point, telling them I wanted to go home.

Anyway, Iguacu was not as hot as Rio, although when I got there at night, it'd just finished raining, so my short walk from the plane to inside the airport terminal felt quite balmy.  The city looks quite rural and reminds me of Mexico.  Also, because the city is very close to Argentina, most of the people in the city seem to understand Spanish, which was not the case in Rio.  

In the morning, after helping Jimmy find his way to the post office, we finally made our way to the Brazil side of the falls, taking a local bus.  It was really crowded but definitely a better value over a pricey cab ride.

 

There was a minor car accident there, which was a big deal there (but not to me, since I live in LA).  

I had to take a picture of this cool shirt - Felix the Cat head on Mickey's body.

Also, if not for the bus ride, we wouldn't have made our new friend, Lucky, (not his real name but I kept calling him that after Jimmy jokingly came up with the name, since he's from Ireland) who joined us and provided so much comic relief, making the day so fun.

Lucky, me and Jimmy - I told them to look scared.  Little did I know what was going to happen to me.

We took these colorful buses from the entrance to the first stop, when we decided to spring for the tram and boat tour to the falls.

The tram was a bit uneventful.  The guide spoke in Portuguese and English so it took about 15 minutes each time he stopped and talked.  And all he really talked about were the trees, which were labeled.  There was also a group of Chinese tourists behind us, so I was proud of myself when I understood most of what they were saying.  The boat tour started off pretty exciting, being close to the waterfalls.



  

As they brought us to the waterfalls, I was sure that tucking my phone behind my tank top and my life vest would be sufficient.  It was fine the first time we went around the waterfalls but my phone didn't fare so well the second time. 

Getting close..

Even closer..

Closest!

So in short, I'm having phone problems and couldn't take any pictures for the rest of the day.  Ironically, after this,we found so many great views of the falls that didn't require taking the boat tour.

I told them to look scared.  Little did I know how scared I should actually be.

Moving on, the wildlife was another source of amusement.  There were a ton of butterflies - when I was talking to the tour guide, a butterfly randomly landed on his chest.  I was so enamored that my goal for the rest of the day was to have a butterfly land on my hand.  I tried to put my hand out many times, waiting for a butterfly to gently rest on me.  Lucky said that I might need something to entice a butterfly to come to my palm, but I didn't have any food and my Visa card didn't render much enthusiasm from the butterflies.  Ironically, a butterfly kept flying on both boys and very briefly on me, but Jimmy didn't capture the moment (thanks, buddy).  Lucky spotted a dead butterfly on the ground and asked if I wanted him to put it in my hand.  I said no.

UNfair

Jimmy's hand, not mine.

I almost drank a bee (didn't get a picture of that delightful moment.) Also, there was this animal called the quati, that resembles a raccoon.  They had so many signs warning you not to feed them, accompanied by a bloody hand, warning you that this could be you.  This was enough to freak me out but the boys thought it was cute.  When we were eating lunch, we saw one come out and a staff kept shooing it away.  One approached our table, almost eating Jimmy's burger.  A lady nearby warned us that it'd previously jumped on someone else's table, so I freaked out and ran away.  

We also saw a big, long lizard that freaked Lucky out.  

Later, on the walking trail, we saw a baby quati.  I looked behind my shoulder and jumped when I saw more coming behind me from below the bridge.  It was gross.

There were several viewing stations and we were so close to the falls that we could feel the spray - since I had nothing to worry about anymore, it was pretty fun.  

Everyone here is either taking or being in a picture.. but I'm not sure what I'm doing.

Bus ride home, had to part with Lucky (so sad), walked to the grocery store to get a bag of rice for my phone, and pass out for an early flight to Sao Paulo.