They are so impressive I had to see them from every angle! I came down to Foz de Iguacu, Brazil, from Rio on Tuesday. I came with 3 friends (Chris, Cat and Noelle) I met in Rio. We arrived in the early afternoon, after a 24 hour bus ride (which really I am now getting used to -- and they are not too bad). First we went to the hostel and booked a room for the night -- they had a 4 bed dorm -- which was perfect -- and it had air conditioning -- yea!!!! From there we took a cab to the Park that the falls are in. Chris went to check out the helicopter cost, which got us all thinking about that possibility, but he did not go up just then. We thought it might be cheaper on the other side. (Brazil is quite expensive)
So we went into the park, took a bus to the falls, and viewed the most impressive falls I have ever seen. Words cannot describe them, so I will let the photos do the talking. I will simply say that they are so cool we viewed them, from Brazil, Argentina, a helicopter and a boat!
So we went into the park, took a bus to the falls, and viewed the most impressive falls I have ever seen. Words cannot describe them, so I will let the photos do the talking. I will simply say that they are so cool we viewed them, from Brazil, Argentina, a helicopter and a boat!
Basically the 1st day we just saw the falls then cooked ourselves dinner (home cooked food is sooooo good) at the hostel. The next day we went into Paraguay for about an hour (a border town to shop). After Paraguay we went to Itaipu the worlds greatest hydroelectric powerplant. It supplies 25% of Brazils power and 90% or Paraguay´s. It produces more power than the 3 gorges is supposed to at full capacity. The spill way was unreal -- the amount of water comming over was just insane. We also got to see the wildlife refuge that was built to help protect the lake created by the dam. They said that the entire area was flooded in only 2 weeks! After the dam we went to Argentina, and checked into possibly the world´s nicest hostel. Our dorm room (again only 4 beds and also air conditioned) is in a little cottage-like building, there is a large swimming pool, bar, free internet..... the list goes on and on. Today (Friday, February 23) we went back into Brazil (there IS NO helicopter on the Argentinian side) to fly over the falls -- that was unreal. First simply the helicopter ride was fantasitic, and the view was unbelievable. Noelle, Cat and I sat in the back seat of the helicopter and screamed whenever we turned, ´cause it felt like a rollercoaster.
From there we crossed back into Argentina and went to the falls there for the closest possible look. We spent 6 hours wandering around the park photographing the falls, and riding in a large zodiac under them -- sooo much fun. What a great time!In the Park around the falls there was tons of wildlife. The mammal is called a coatie -- it is really cute and eats fruit. They were everywhere. There were also millions of butterflies and moths, and lots of birds and lizzards. Take a look...
It was a great day. I went with some people from the hostel, and we had a blast. To get to Santa Teresa we took a tram, which was lots of fun -- it is very old. Also the tram goes over Lapa, where we partied the other night, so it was cool to see that part of town during the day. We tried some traditional Amazonian foods from a cafe in Santa Teresa, and did some browsing in the shops. Then we went up to Corcovado (where Christ is). When you get near the top there is an elevator and escalators to take you the rest of the way. It is a very cool statue, and it is always amazing to go and see such iconic things.
Also the view of the city from the top was excellent.
The hostel provided sandwiches -- I never knew how nice tuna could taste when you are amazingly tired of ham and cheese. The walk back only took about 30 minutes and then we sat at a food stall, enjoyed some coconut juice (water -- whatever) while waiting for the bus. It was a very good day. This is the town or area were we waited for the bus.
Friday was again a day of hostel organized events. These were all included in my package for Carnival. So Friday it was a booze cruise around the harbour. 
Similar to those we did out in Halifax during frosh week, but warmer, and we were able to go swimming. So we spent most of the afternoon enjoying caipirinas and beer while anchored off the coast of Rio surrounded by an amazing tropical view, jumping in the water from the boat and dancing. Great day! But it did not end there. After the boat tour we went back to the hostel for a little down time. Then at midnight we went out to a street party in Lapa (a part of Rio). It was fantastic. Ton and tons of people in the street just having a good time. Food vendors, alcohol vendors, trucks with people dancing in the backs of them, and lots of clubs to go into. We went into one local samba place and had a blast. What a great night. Got back around 4:30 am. Sorry not pics because it was not a safe place to take my camera -- I did take a disposible, so I will have some later.
Then after picking up my laundry I headed over to Sugar Loaf. It is a mountain with a great view of the city, and a cable car that runs up it.The morning had been prefectly clear, but the afternoon was a little cloudy, which made the view very cool, as the clouds keep drifting past. I kept trying to get a good picture of the Christ statue, but it was only visible for a few seconds at a time. Very cool to look at -- but hard to photograph.
The view of the city was often quite clear. 
This is Copacabana Beah (at least a little of it).
Sugar Loaf was more interesting then I expected, because in addition to the views there was also a great walking path at the top with a pretty bamboo forest and nice flowers -- which I liked.
Also in the gift shop at the top they sold amazing animals carved out of semi precious stones -- very cool.
Not sure what I will be up to tonight, or tomorrow, but I know it will be good fun.
They are also busy getting ready for Carnival here (which many people say is better than Rio´s - so if I am ever back here at this time of year again...) the atmosphere is amazing. 
In the afternoon, the drum school beside my hostel put on a very cool performace/parade type thing, that was very cool to watch and then in the evening I hung out with some other people from the hostel.
It has been a great 2 nights here, I would like to be staying longer -- but need to head to Rio for Carnival -- yea!
That evening a bunch of us met up to go for some drinks. It was a good relaxing time. We ended up in some crazy part of town at a really nice place, and I felt very underdressed, but it was fun.
The next day I hopped on the bus for Fortaleza, 25 hours later after touring half of Brazil (I´m sure), the bus arrived.
Next stop (after another 24 hour bus ride leaving tomorrow evening) is Salvador.
It was a very interesting ride though. First things first. We paid for a 1st class hammok space, but there were so many people that the hammoks were litterally strung one on top of the other -- it was crazy! Very tight sleeping conditions.
I also slept with my money belt, passport and camera on me at all times, just in case. I was lucky not to lose anything, I didn´t sleep with my ipod -- but I also never took it out of my bag, so no one knew I had it. There were a number of foreigners on the boat and 2 or 3 lost cameras and mp3 players.
So was watching the rain.
We got to see Amazonian Dolphins, which are only found in the Amazon river (sorry no picture, they were hard to catch on camera ´cause the water is so sandy you could not see them until they were up, then they dissapeared too fast). A group of small bats flew beside us for a while -- they were fun to watch. We started the trip on the Rio Negro (black river -- the water is black) and only a few hours later joined the Amazon. Where this happens you can actually see the sandy mud coloured Amazon running beside the black water of the Rio Negro in the same waterway, since the don´t instantly mix. That was quite cool.
Also near the end of the ride some indigenous people used canoes to get out to the boat (we were moving) caught us, and tied their canoes up so they could sell fruit and a strange grassy/woody kind of drink. (Sorry it didn´t get turned -- I couldn´t get it to work on this computer)
In addition people on the boat had brought donations for them and some of the indigenous would not try to catch the boat, so the people on the boat would throw bags of used clothes and snack foods to them. 
It was really cool to see, but after many groups the people on the boat ran out of stuff, so then those later people didn´t get anything -- that was a bit sad. However there are many ships that go up and down there, so I imagin that everone do gets stuff sometimes.
You cannot see the forest from the middle of the city (the city is too big for that), but the heat and humidity tell you how close you are. The city is accessible by roads only to the north. That means that you cannot go into any really big Brazilian cities from here unless you fly or take a boat. So I am taking a boat, today. I will be going with Zaru and Leo the Dutch couple I met in Venezuela, Morten will be staying here a little longer. The boat ride will take us up the Amazon river for 4 days to the city of Belem.
The next day was a bit of a slow day. We spent most of the day wandering around the city. We walked up to the Teatro Amazonas -- the big, old theatre in the town. It was originally built in the early 1900s and is a very pretty building.
The ground around the theatre was all done in a great wave pattern -- I loved it.
After that we wandered some more. It was a good day.