Largest Dam - Largest Waterfall - incredible

For our last day in Brazil we went to Foz do Iguacu.  It's a city that borders Argentina to south and Paraguay to the west.  The city is a major tourist area because of all the beauty that surrounds it.
We flew in late Tuesday night and went straight to our hotel ($R45 ride by taxi).  Since our flight didn't offer any food we were quite hungry. Our hotel didn't have anything to offer so we took a walk a bit further down the block and found a hostel with people hanging around outside.  It was called Katharina House. The owner, Ruiz, was there and told us the kitchen was closed.... but he'd make us a couple of sandwiches. Sweet!  We enjoyed dinner with some wine and had great conversation with Ruiz (he's from Chile but has been in Foz for several years).  We said our thanks and headed to the hotel to get some sleep... tomorrow would be a busy day.

Dinner at Katherina's

We woke up bright and early, got breakfast (lots of breakfast), checked out of our room, stored our bags, and walked to the bus station. Our first destination was the Itaipu Dam.  Itaipu is a bi-national utility company providing 17% of Brazil's power and 75% of Paraguay's Power. (We're engineers, we love engineering and construction type stuff, so we were excited).  We took the bus about 40 minutes north of town.  Arriving at the visitor center we bought our tickets and headed onto the tour bus that takes you around the site (walking is no option, the area is too big). The tour guide spoke Portuguese, Spanish and English as she discussed everything about the company and the Dam.  It took us about 5 minutes of riding in the bus to finally see the Dam.... and WOW!!!  This thing is HUGE!!!! The dam is located on the Parana River.  The first thing we saw was the spill way (part of the dam that realeases some water to reduce pressure).  The water gushing down was so loud and fast.  The tour guide said that was only 10% of the flow... wow!  After that we took a longer ride around the site and saw the whole thing.  The dam is an engineering marvel and it's difficult to describe just how amazing it is.  I'll just let the pics tell the rest.

One of 3 spillways releasing water

Section of the Dam

The dam has sections that are earth, concrete and natural rock.  

View from top of Dam

After the Dam we wanted to go see the biggest waterfall in the world, Iguacu Falls (Cataratas de Iguacu), which is shared by both Brazil and Argentina. We took the bus back to the terminal and connected to the falls on the south side of town (about an hour on a bus).  At the Dam we'd met some other travelers and one of them wanted to come the falls too. So he joined us. Very Cool.  His name was Filipe, another Chilean we got to meet.  We finally make it to the visitor center and caught the tour bus.  After about 10 minutes we arrived at the access point for the trails at the falls.  We get on the trail and walk through some woods for a while, then suddenly we see... amazing-ness.  WOAH!! LOOK AT THAT!!  ARE YOU SERIOUS!!  So we take a bunch of pics and continue on the trail, expecting to get closer to what we just saw... but oh no... as we walk further... there are more waterfalls! Really? You mean that wasn't it? That was awesome enough but more?  YES, more and even more spectacular as we went along.  The waterfalls were so vast you could point your camera anywhere and find a waterfall.  (good thing it had been raining quite a bit in the days before we arrived.)  We took pics, recorded video, had our jaws dropping around every corner and  praised God for his creativity and might. Then at the end of the trail we came to the "devil's throat".  What an incredible view! See the pics is all I can say.

For those wishing to go to Iguazu on vacation, this is an incredible hotel right at the falls on the Brazil side.

First View of the Falls

More Waterfalls

We were so blessed to be able to have such a wonderful time. The weather was clear, the people we met were so nice, and we could see first hand the power and artistry our Creator has.


After we left the falls we caught the bus back to the hotel (this time one really long hour). We stressed out a bit because our flight was leaving at 7:30pm and it was 6:00pm.  We got a cab when we arrived at the hotel (A huge Thank You to Ruiz (the owner of the hostel up the block) for getting it for us since our hotel staff weren't at all helpful.... If you ever go to Foz do Iguassu and don't mind lodging in a hostel you should go to Katharina House because the service there is awesome... we didn't even stay there and he hooked us up!). Anyhow, the cab came around 6:20.  We thanked Ruiz (a blessing from the Lord) and took off.  The cab driver didn't speak any English, just Portuguese (not us so much, still), Spanish (sort of for us but not enough to have a conversation) and German (say what? where'd you learn German? I know German, better than the other options given anyway).  It was so cool.  I got to speak to this Argentinan cab driver all the way to airport in German.  (You'd be surprised what you remember in the other languages you learned/spoke as a child when you have no other choice.)  We payed him (reals and dollars since we were getting low on our local currency), caught our flight just in time (arrived at 7:00), and head back to Sao Paulo where we connected to Johannesburg, South Africa.  


So, we had a great time in Brazil.  About 3 weeks that felt like so much more.  We loved the people we met. We felt so welcomed and taken care of by everyone.  We learned what it means to be hospitable and generous. What a truly beautiful country!


See you all in South Africa!