Two Falls, two countries, two days

I admit it, I lied in the title. A tad. Because there are more than two falls.

I took my 40 $ flight from Sao Paulo to Foz do Iguaçu, on Webjet, a good and cheaper decision.

What is the best way to know we're flying with a low cost company?

When the boarding pass is nothing more than a simple paper bill.

When you walk from the boarding gate to the plane door, on the tarmac, with minimum control.

When the stairs to board the plane are moved by the airport employees pushing them with their own arms.

At least, the flight looked secure. Flying over the border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay offered a great view : forest, river and the famous Iguazu Falls.

The city itself is pretty calm. Nothing to do if not in the national park where the falls are. So it was my first stop.

It was my first encounter with coatis, some sorts of south-american raccoons. They are everywhere, and they won't hesitate to go through your backpack if you put it on the ground. But you gotta be careful for bites and claws. 

The falls themselves offer a 2,5 km panorama of water falling from a cliff. On the Brazilian side, it is possible to get into the Devil's Throat, a walkway at the bottom of the falls which guarantees you're gonna get wet... Unless you bought one of those ridiculous and expansive ponchos. Which I didn't do. But the sun, in the brazilian winter, will dry it all very fast.

Outside of the national park, I went to the Bird Reserve. Hundreds of birds are kept in cages for the visitors to enjoy. Since I don't really like zoos, I can't say I liked it. In there, we can meet people with no common sense of respect.

Only thing I liked : the possibility to see a toucan from up close.

On the second day, I decided to follow the other guests from the hostel to get on the argentinian side of the falls and to come back on the same evening.

For that, we needed to catch a first bus which would leave us at the border with a transfer ticket in hand. There, we got a stamp on our passport. From there, we had to wait for 30 minutes for the next bus from the same company. And stop at the argentinian border. We needed to change some reais in argentinian pesos to pay for the entrance fees at the falls.

After, we get in another bus, or the same one if we're lucky, or we take a taxi. And you do that all over again to come back.

I prefered the argentinian side, even if the entrance fees (130 pesos, or 40 $) are higher. We can get closer to the top of the falls and board a boat which gets us totally wet.

Paraguay

From Foz de Iguaçu, it is possible to spend one day in Paraguay, in Cidade del Este. I was told it is not necessary to show a passport to cross the border. Paraguay is supposed to be the China of South America : a place to get cheap electronics.

A traveler in my hostel spent half a day there and got intercepted trying to come back to Brazil. Since she didn't get a stamp while leaving Brazil, she couldn't come back in. She got out of Paraguay after a few hours with the authorities. 

To avoid problems, I gave up on the idea of crossing the border there. I will have to go back to Paraguay in a more official way. I also gave up on the idea of visiting Itaipu Dam... not enough time.