Brazil - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 349

CROSSING THE BORDER TO PARAGUAY AND ARGENTINA
International buses leave every 15min from the rodoviária via the local bus terminal, bound for
Ciudad del Este in Paraguay (25min; R$4), which is 7km northwest of Foz do Iguaçu. You need
to disembark at the Brazilian customs for your exit stamps - the bus will not wait but your
ticket is valid for the next one. You will then cross the Friendship Bridge to the Paraguayan
customs, where you will again be asked to disembark. Buses for Puerto Iguazu (40min; R$4)
leave every 20min from the rodoviária ; you will have to get your passport stamped to enter
Argentina - the bus will stop at customs on the way and wait for you. Taxis will charge
R$60-70 to Puerto Iguazu, a bit less for Ciudad del Este. Two things to note: it's unlikely that
your Brazilian reais will be accepted across either border, so change money as soon as you can;
and that crossing the border on the bus can take up to an hour if it's busy.

Consulates Argentina, Eduardo Bianchi 26 T 45 3574
2969; Paraguay, Rua Marechal Deodoro 901 T 45 3523
2898.
Hospital Ministro Costa Cavalcanti, Av Gramado 580,
T 45 3576 8000, is a good private hospital.
Police Tourist police T 45 3523 3036.
Post o ce Praça Getúlio Vargas near Rua Barão do Rio
Branco (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm).
Taxi Coopertaxi Cataratas T 45 3524 6464.

spectacular following a heavy rainstorm.
Weekends and Easter are best avoided if
you don't want to share your experience
with hordes of Brazilian and Argentine
holidaymakers.

3

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
At its best in the early morning,
a 1.5km cliffside trail runs alongside
the falls, offering breathtaking photo
opportunities. A stairway leads down
from the bus stop to the start of the
trail. The path ends by coming
perilously close to the ferocious
“ Garganta do Diabo ” (Devil's Throat),
the most impressive of the individual
falls. Depending on the force of the
river, you could be in for a real soaking,
so if you have a camera with you be sure
to carry it in a plastic bag. From here,
you can either walk back up the path or
take the lift to the top of the cliff and
the road leading to the Tropical das
Cataratas Eco Resort hotel. You'll
undoubtedly come across coatis on the
trails (though raccoon-like, they are not
raccoons, whatever the local guides may
say) - don't be fooled by their cute and
comical appearance; these little creatures
are accomplished food thieves with long
claws and sharp teeth.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
It costs foreigners R$41.10 to enter the park (concessions
available for MERCOSUR and Brazilian residents), after
which a shuttle bus (included) will deliver you to the
trails.
By bus Bus #120 (“Aeroporto Parque Nacional”; $2.65)
from Foz do Iguaçu terminates at the entrance to the falls
(daily 9am-5pm).
By taxi Taxis charge at least R$50 from town.

IGUAÇU FALLS
he IGUAÇU FALLS are, unquestionably,
one of the world's great natural
phenomena. They form the centrepiece of
the vast bi-national Iguaçu National Park ,
which was first designated in 1936 and
declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site
fifty years later, a long time coming given
that the falls were discovered as early as
1542 by the Spanish explorer Alvar
Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca. To describe their
beauty and power is a tall order, but for
starters cast out any ideas that Iguaçu is
some kind of Niagara Falls transplanted
south of the equator - compared with
Iguaçu, Niagara is a ripple. About 15km
before joining the Rio Paraná, the Rio
Iguaçu broadens out, then plunges
precipitously over an 80m-high cliff in
275 separate falls that extend nearly 3km
across the river. To properly experience
the falls it is essential to visit both sides.
The Brazilian side gives the best overall
view and allows you to fully appreciate
the scale of it; the Argentine side (see
p.88), which makes up most of the falls,
allows you to get up close to the major
individual falls.
The falls are mind-blowing whatever
the season, but they are always more