Iguacu Falls

Next leg was Buenos Aires to Iguacu Falls, Brazil. Because we were now leaving Argentina, we had to clear outbound customs. This involved first re-positioning the aircraft to the terminal building of this small airport, then submitting our baggage for inspection, and completing different types of paperwork. When we were finished and refueled, we learned that we had been assigned departure slots about an hour later. We tried to get permission to depart on a "ready" basis, but it appeared that the times were hard, possibly because of coordination with the airspace authorities in the countries we were passing over (Uruguay and Paraguay) and Brazil. In any case, the departure and flight were fine. We did encounter some weather for the first time on the trip, by way of some towering cumulous, with thunderstorms in the area, but no show-stoppers. Arrival at Foz de Iguacu airport in Brazil included a view of the spume rising from the famous falls. Stepping out of the aircraft felt like entering a steam bath, with temperature 30ish and about 95% humidity. We then had the arrival customs, immigration, police procedure, which is different in each country and often appears to be a brand-new and surprising business to the folks responsible. After an hour and a half, we were in the taxi on the way to the national park and our new digs.

The drive took about 30 minutes, to the Hotel Cataratis, which is operated by Orient Express (same as our Monastery hotel in Cusco) and is right across the street from the falls, on the Brazilian side. One of the first things we saw was a couple of toucans in the trees in front of the hotel. No magpies.

View out the hotel window

Once the other aircraft's passengers showed up, we headed off for a boat tour of the falls. It involved a trip through the jungle in towed wagons, then a 500 m. boardwalk and down a couple of hundred steps to the boat launch. The boats are Zodiac style, about 22 ft. long, powered by a couple of 125 hp. outboards. Most of the passengers are lined up on benches amidships, but we ended up right at the pointy end. The trip started in a fairly civilized fashion, smooth water, and nothing out of the ordinary other than a few tight turns for excitement. We approached a couple of the smaller falls, and the boat was edged up close enough to experience some moderate spray. Next, after the crew put the hoods up on their rubber suits, we spent about 15 minutes of what I'd call gratuitous soaking, nosing and backing directly into the minor falls, and doing tight turns then nosing into the swells thus created so that they broke over the nose of the boat, to the great amusement of the peanut gallery sitting in the benches. Then back to the launch, and opportunities to purchase videos and stills of the whole experience. We had expected more by way of an actual tour of the falls, but there are impassible rapids on the Brazilian side, and probable restrictions on passage to the Argentine side.

By this time it was early evening and over the souvenir shop we saw a number of quetis, or coati mundis coming down from the trees. These are a tropical raccoon, similar in appearance to the North American version but with a longer, flexible snout.

Home and dry out (at least we were sufficiently forewarned to have been lightly dressed). It was a tiring day, partly due to the heat and tropical humidity, so off to bed after dinner.

We had planned a 1300 depature from the hotel, so headed out after breakfast for a walk along the falls viewing trail. These falls are spectacular in their extent. The river is about 1200 m. in width above the falls, and 65 m. downstream. The total extent of the falls is about 2700 m. long, and max drop about 85 m. There are 19 major cataracts and a larger number of lesser falls. Most are on the Argentine side, and we viewed them from the Brazilian side.

A couple of views of the falls

On the walk back we came across another crew of quetis coming out of the trees, and watched them as , realtively untroubled by our presence, they came to ground and nosed around in the leaves, then wandered off.

A couple of the critters. Cute, but they have sharp little teeth.

The park is also a sanctuary for jaguars. We didn't see any, but did see lots of butterflies, and saw and heard a number of bird species, including kites that circle constantly high over the falls.

Back to the hotel for lunch.

Front view of the Hotel Cataratis

The skies had been darkening, and examining the weather reports and forecasts at our pre-lunch pilot briefing, we found thunderstorms in our area and enroute forecast with tops up to 46,000 feet. The other aircraft had a non-functioning weather radar, and with our limitation to 30,000 feet likely putting us right into the stuff, we elected to postpone departure to Rio de Janeiro until the next morning. Convective thunderstorms tend to be worse in the afternoon, after daytime heating has a chance to lift the moist air.
Although fairly extensive, the weather as forecast would be flyable in radar equipped aircraft, more so with altitude capability up to 35,000 or above, and in an air traffic control system where deviations from planned routing could be easily accomplished. In our circumstances, as strangers in the land, and with the language issues, the decision was easy, and was confirmed by the couple of inches of rain that fell over lunch.

In the morning we headed for the airport and an hour or so of bureaucracy, then into the air for the two hour flight to Rio