Actually I decided to leave the waterfalls behind, it certainly can't get any better.
However, I am constantly reminded that the Brazilian side of the falls is just as exciting and above all different. Very well then.
Bus No. 120 takes you directly to the entrance of the park, a short half-hour drive. I sit down next to a fair-skinned man, certainly a tourist. Yes, it is Jakob, a teacher from Denmark, who took a sabbatical year and, after eight months in Africa, has ended up in South America.
He enthuses about Africa ('once Africa, always Africa', I've heard that many times before), Tanzania and Malawi and Zambia, destinations I've always avoided. Maybe it is time to think about it a little bit more.
Iguaçu Falls - Argentina vs. Brazil 0-1
The Brazilian organization surpasses that of the Argentinians by far (it is common knowledge that the two countries cannot stand each other, not only because of football).
Everything happens quickly, efficiently and after a short time one is right in the middle of the action. On the Argentinean side you look down from the side and from above on the waterfalls. Here you are a kind of onlooker from below, creating a fascination all of its own.
Here, too, the sight of the swirling water is overwhelming. Here, too, walkways lead out to the river, and here, too, you get really wet. It is a real wet T-shirt contest, and it is advisable to take care of your camera and Smartphone, and to dry them from time to time.
In contrast to last Sunday there is a very relaxed atmosphere, less people are fighting for the limited space. Of course, the Selfie artists are at work here as well, sometimes you can hardly move forward because of all the Selfie sticks stretched into the air.
Pygmy Coatis
The restaurant is poorly frequented, but the few tables are a particular kind of target. The park is home to numerous pygmy coati. They have got rid of any shyness towards humans and are now carelessly looking for something to eat between the tourists' legs. If there is nothing to be found there, then maybe on the tables. So there is a kind of permanent feud between the Coati and the employees; from my point of view I guess it's advantage pygmy coatis.
And a Tarantula
On the way back a rare image. On the gravel a tarantula is resting. I can stop a stressed father with his baby carriage from driving over it at the last moment. It is still a young specimen, but even in this size a sight that makes many people's blood freeze. I wish it all the best and that it survives the day ...
The hostel Poesia
Back at the Hostel Poesia in Foz do Iguaçu, which astonishingly exudes almost as much poetry as the name suggests.
The establishment is designed for the young age of its guests; loud music booms out of boxes installed throughout the house, a bar is said to be packed with people in the evening, and lots of armchairs and benches and wooden chairs in more or less dilapidated condition invite you to sit and chill.
Don't do it
On the last evening I spend a few hours planning the next stages.
Not quite so easy, as it turns out. The planned journey from Asuncion in Paraguay to Santa Cruz in Bolivia is a particular challenge. The different contributions in the Internet, but especially the travel reports in the forums do not promise anything good. As much as I try to find a halfway positive feedback, I do not succeed.
'The worst road by the worst bus', 'One trip into Hell', 'Fifty degrees, no working air-con, no working toilets, instead of 18 hours 40 hours'.
The bottom line - DON'T DO IT.
Silence at the last breakfast
It's worth taking a closer look at the breakfast room, after all, this is where the future of this planet meets.
So imagine a nice, rather large room on the second floor, five or six round wooden tables, a buffet with toast (the toaster is missing, though), coffee, fruit juices and everything else that comes with it. The guests, maybe ten this morning, help themselves wordlessly, sit down, eat, drink. In the meantime, I know most of them (although new ones are added daily) and also their nationality. Age: somewhere between 20 and 30. Origin: all continents. A pretty significant statistical group.
Now, these representatives of our glorious future, what are they doing, while chewing and sipping? Talking to each other, laughing, discussing? That might be what you expect. Those times are long gone. These young people are doing exactly the same as the whole world is doing: staring into their cell phones, the hypnotized gaze directed at text messages, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, mails or news.
Basically they communicate with more or less fictitious 'friends' all over the world (the more, the better) and seem to forget that the real friends are sitting next to them. There is a lot I don't understand in today's world, but this might actually be the tip of the iceberg.
Mileage: 2073
Matching Song: Tito y Tarantula - After Dark
And here the journey continues ... to Paraguay
