Igassu Falls: The B Side

Two waters, a coke, a figgy biscuit and a bit of a snooze and all of a sudden we're flying over the Igassu Falls, preparing to land on the Brazilian side. Even from high in the sky you can take the magnitude of the falls, churning that wide chocolate river of into frothy mist. Ain't gravity brilliant?

The airport tourist info geezer couldn't have been more helpful and before I know it I'm on a bus bounding down red roads, past lush cow filled fields to hostel Paldimar, a pack mule in need of a shower. The hostel is more an 18-30s resort than a hostel - set in a lush oasis filled with green grass, hedges & yellow flowers - The opposite of Salvador. The place isn't short on facilities either; there's a swimming pool, pool table, table tennis, basketball court, joggin area & footie pitch. There's a TV room complete with shady pirate movies, free tinterweb access, free breaky buffet and lockers to ferret away your gadgets. In the clean 'mozzy proof' dorms are bunks and a wall mounted fan larger than you'd see on the front of most carribean planes. Plus, at night they have the largest toads I've ever seen, slapping about in the dark waiting to get stepped on. A quality place indeedy.

When the bell goes I jump on the dinner buffet, along with the rest of the hostel guests, like a pack of slavering Pavlovian canines. I have a few beers by the pool with an amusing pwopper saaavan english couple, Si & Morena, and hit the haystack early doors. Turns out the rooms ain't mozzy proof, they do like my blood here and this is the only place I'm visiting that might have malaria. Should probably have got those pills... Either that or look up the symptoms on google.

The next morning I wake on a bare mattress to find all my sheets in a ball by my feet. I shower up, grab the camera rig (now complete with charger from home) and jump on the bus to the falls. The saaavners are along for the ride too, on a tour that later includes a boat ride under the falls.

Once inside the falls the first thing I do is step on a butterfly. Nicely done. There are millions of em around the falls, and over 400 species. One of the fools flew into my mouth. You'd think evolution would have trimmed these guys years back. Apparently one species of butterfly here is poisonous. Feck knows which. Hopefully not the one in my mouth. And I can't imagine it's malicious. Ever seen the documentary: 'When butterflies attack!'? Me either. Cos they don't. I hope.

So - The falls! I could go on about them, as they are one of the most mental beautiful natural sights I've ever seen, but I'll try not to waffle on. But you should all put these falls on your places to see before you cark it list. The National Park is a bit like the log flume at Alton Towers, on drugs, and crossed with Jurassic Park (sans monsters). It's a massive jungle park, with free buses and loads of trails that offer panoramic vistas and up close views from the Brazilian side. Today was the day my wide angle zoom lens decided to play up, but even that didn't detract from the breathtaking spectacle. The falls are incredible, thundering away across the landscape, pretty much as far as you can see.

A whole day was spent a wandering under blue skies in perfect sunshine. I met a fellow shutterbug called Trey from the US when photographing a huge spider. Together with our spendy camera toys we burnt through memory snapping everything we could see while exchanging witty banter along the way. Always nice to meet a smart goatee'd Texan surfer slash professional hacker. He joined the Southeners and I on the boat trip and we ragged up the river to the 'devils throat' and got gang raped by a waterfall. After an excellent day out, Dr Trey joined us for dinner, caipirinias and table tennis.

While I'd managed to spot a distant wild tucan on a tree at the falls, the following day El Trey Guevara an I went to blitz off a few more digital rolls in the bird park outside Igassu. Crazy colourful parrots and every strain of toucans were loose amongst crocodiles, anacondas and humming birds. We passed hours using our big guns to capture all sorts of sweet close-ups of mad stuff. On the way out I got to hold a python and a massive parrot for a cheesy photo. Snakes feel cool. On the bus back I wonder if I can get a toucan for a pet back in Blighty, but suspect the bill would be too large.

Arf arf.


Barnaby 'International master traveller and ignorant linguist' Aldrick