My entry into Brazil was at Foz do Iguacu, the Brazilian border town that is just 4 hours from Asuncion and borders both Paraguay and Argentina. It is also home to the amaaaazing, Iguazu Falls.
The falls are one of the natural wonders of the world and reside on both sides of the border between Argentina and Brazil. With so many tourists flocking here, crossing between borders is very easy so we were able to explore the falls in both Brazil and Argentina.
I had read online about a great strategy for the Brazilian Falls so my first morning I woke up early and put that plan into action. It worked for myself and one other person, who had the same plan. At the main viewpoints, the ones where all the iconic photos of the falls are taken, we were alone. Nobody was around us for 10 minutes. Less than a handful of people showed up even after 30. I had complete peace and serenity at one of the seven natural wonders of the world (second time recently because I also achieved this in the Grand Canyon this past summer).
The falls literally are breathtaking and being able to move around and view them without crowds made them even more special. Add Iguazu to the list of highlights of the trip. After standing in awe and taking 14 thousand pictures I decided to leave, but after taking a few steps I realized I couldn’t leave just yet and turned around to appreciate the falls some more. That actually happened three or four more times until finally I was able to peel myself away and headed back on a boardwalk trail about 1 km long, passing the steady stream of tourists that would soon be crowding into the area I was leaving.
That night over dinner and drinks, me and some friends from the hostel negotiated on how early our departure would be the next morning as we planned to visit the Argentinian side. The group included Albane from France, Manuel from Switzerland, and Matilda from Italy. Negotiations were actually pretty easy because as the night went on and the drinks kept coming, we were all in agreement every time we pushed back the alarm time. Eventually we were out the door by 8:30 to catch buses to the border and to the falls.
The Argentinian side doesn’t have the jaw dropping views like the Brazilian side but it does have more boardwalk trails that bring you in and around some of the falls. We walked over some falls just before they shot over the edge and around the calm waters before they became the raging white water. Unfortunately due to flooding in ‘23, the best trail is currently closed for repair so we missed that highlight. There is a lot of debate between which side of the falls is better, just in our group we were split 2-2. Albane and I both thought the Argentina side was nice but lacked the incredible shock and awe you get from the Brazilian viewpoints.
After Iguazu, it was time for some Brazilian beach so I jumped on a bus with Albane and we made our way to Florianopolis (Floripa). The night bus ended up being 17 hours and several people that also did it were swearing off long bus rides after (I certainly did but ended up writing much of this post on another 12 hour bus ride to Sao Paulo just 3 days later). Upon arrival in Floripa I planned to have a nice quiet evening and a good night sleep, however as things do, that didn’t happen. That night I hung out with Albane, her friend Thelka from the Netherland’s, and Rory from Scotland and I’ll just say Caprianhas in Brazil are very, very good, and very, very strong. One funny side note, Thelka and Albane met in a hostel in Sao Paulo and before Thelka and I were introduced, she walked up to me and asked if I was Albane’s friend. I asked her how she knew and she said Albane mentioned she met a cool older guy that was traveling solo. FYI, all I heard was cool guy traveling solo.
The next day was the perfect day to recover on the beach and work on my tan that had been fading for several weeks. Mission accomplished. That day along with Clement from France, another friend from Foz do Iguacu we hung out at one of the local beaches. The following day Clement, Albane and I did a difficult 2 hour hike along the coast through the jungle and rocky trails to a beach that is only accessible by difficult hikes or a boat ride. We did the hike and then took the boat back in the afternoon.
Back in town that night we headed to the Floripa pre-carnival party in the city center where Clement and I ended up hanging out with some Brazilians that spoke English (something rare so far). After the block party we continued to hang out with them and they brought us to a large area cordoned off that was packed with bars and people in the streets that must have been 10 blocks long and wide. It’s carnival season people. Oh boy.
I did sneak out early this time because I felt drained all day and had an early morning bus to Sao Paulo. Unfortunately I didn’t partake in any more pre-carnival celebrations as I continued to feel unwell and spent my first full day in Sao Paulo, in bed. However, on my second day in Sao Paulo I did venture out to…the hospital. After a couple blood tests I got diagnosed with the dreaded Dengue Fever.
However, the road to Rio waits for no man so having nothing else to do the next day I jumped on another bus, this time to Paraty, a small historical fishing town about halfway between Sao Paulo and Rio where I again met up with Albane. Unfortunately, similar to Sao Paulo, most of my two days in Paraty was spent in bed, but that also reinforced to me how great backpacking is. Multiple times, random people, seeing I was unwell, continually offered to bring me food or drink. Finally on day 7 the fever broke and I started to feel alive again, enough to jump on my final bus with Albane to Rio, for Carnival. When we arrived. Albane and I parted ways, her to meet with her friends from France and me to meet up with mine, Dick and Shannon, from Colorado.
Hello Rio, it’s Carnival time.
A few notes about my trip to Brazil so far. I felt very safe in Iguazu and Floripa but in both places locals kept going out of their way to mention this is different from the rest of Brazil and elsewhere I needed to be very careful with my phone, wallet, and watch.
Pay by the weight buffets are very common in Brazil. The bus I am on currently (to Sao Paulo) just stopped at one for dinner and it actually looked very good. I couldn’t resist putting tenderly cooked salmon, paella, and mussels on my plate. We’ll find out tomorrow if eating that from a Brazilian truck stop buffet was a bad idea (follow up, Dengue fever not the buffet was a problem).