Today's schedule had three main parts: Parque de Aves, Brazil's side of Iguazu, and our private adventure back to Argentina for the full moon tour later that night...
A short ride from our hotel, the bus spewed it's hydraulic gasp, and we all clamored out into the parking lot of the bird park. Everyone was proud to see the Uruguayan flag in prominent display...
Although we did glimpse a toucan in the wild jungle yesterday, today we would have a chance to see flocks of feathered friends from all over Brazil, South America and other tropical corners of the world. In addition, there would be some exotic plants, reptiles, and insects...As nature lovers but amateur ornithologists, we'll give the birds fancy sounding names to make it more realistic--because, technically, we have no idea what most of these are...
This is a just pretty plant...
"Smoky Blue Black Collared Brazilian Back Scratcher": a funny looking, camera shy bird that can really bend it's blue-grey neck, about the size of a turkey with unusually large feet...
"Prince Pecker": a medium sized bird with black plumage, named after the eccentric singer for the cute curly feathers atop its crown...
"Red Throated Bleach Blond Blue Beaked Jurassic Chicken": builds nests on top of bushes to avoid predators, has paranoia and staring problems...
"White Bellied Beady Eyed Seed Snatcher": with gorgeous blue streaks above and below its yellow eyes, bold personality often posing for unsuspecting granola toting tourists...
"Great White Egret": long spindly legs and tail feathers, long beak for fish, also feeds on frogs and insects...ok, so I knew this one...
"Oro Negro Mariposa": black and gold, one of many mysterious antennae wiggling insects around Iguazu...
"Dr. Suess Bird": brilliantly red, long beaked, legs for walking the swamps of Brazil's Pantanal--the largest wetland in the world, named for it's eerie resemblance to the drawings of the famous author of children's books...
"Raspberry Swirl-Bellied Bald Headed Duck Billed Lily Lapper": another beautiful combination of coloration and bizarre features, swan sized...
"Brown Rumped Black Backed Tuft Crested Chest Nibbler": Ok, this one is famous enough that I should know it, but I don't, so, it is what is is. Big bird though, about a meter tall...
"Puffy Chested Blue Speckled Sideways Afro-Hawked Warbler": ground pecking, red-eyed, dinosaur-chicken type thing...
"Great Owl": another well known and classic nocturnal bird of prey, recently made more famous for its ability to carry magic mail...
"Owl Butterfly": another amazing critter, famous for its unbelievable camouflage featuring the false eye, feathers and shape of the Great Owl's head. It's one of nature's most remarkable incognito achievements. But why? Is the butterfly looking for deviant bird love? No. Is it scaring other owl's away? No. Nature is much more complicated and clever than that. The owl is the predator of the creatures that eat butterflies--reptiles, frogs, lizards, snakes, bats and other birds. Brilliant if you ask me. But, maybe I'm not so smart, because scientists still argue whether the apparent decoy serves this or any actual purpose...
"Adam's Plain Jungle Hen": brown, chicken-sized...
"Brazilian Bandera Bearer": colored like the flag of Brazil--green, yellow and blue--this gorgeous duck sized bird has long plumage around its neck for displaying to potential mates...
"Leandra's Pretty Jungle Rooster": unlike the female, the male sports blue eyes and an impressive bouquet of beak hair (Honestly, I don't know if they're the same species)...
"Bud Sucking Nectar Nymph Butterfly": we got ten pictures of this one by the parrot cages. As we returned down the path, some Uruguayans asked us what was ahead, so we said "Mariposas!" Later, they returned and, with kindly chuckles, told the tour guide that we thought birds are butterflies. "Silly gringos," they thought, but we knew better...
"Blue Footed Big Nosed Cereal-less Muted Toucan": very interesting, aggressive toward tourists, saw one enjoying its freedom during our jungle tour yesterday in Argentina's Iguazu park...
"Blue Eyed Bigger Nosed Fruit Loop Promoting Talking Toucan": much like a penguin or bald eagle, this species of toucan is the one of those birds that every novice birdwatcher gets excited to see. It's vivid colors, especially it's bright tri-colored beak, lit up like neon when hit by the sunlight...and it has a famous animated cousin named Sam...An hour later it was time to change the proverbial newspaper in our cages, and head for the reputedly panoramic Brazilian views of Iguazu...
On the Argentina side, you felt like you were walking through a maze of pathways and viewpoints, each one peeking and peering out onto a unique part of the park. However, the Brazilian side was like seeing a hurricane--first from above, like an airplane looking down on the entire swirling entity, and finally from within the eye, the whole storm spinning around while you stood in perfect calm...
The park entrance was massive and modern, and quickly filling with queues of tourists waiting for the double decker shuttles to the entrance...
Disembarking the bus, you find yourself between the famous Das Cataratas Hotel and some pathways leading down to the breathtaking vistas...
Again, you can't add much description to a place that leaves you without words, "sin palabras"...
At the bottom right, you can see the jet boats we rode yesterday. Above the boat is one wispy waterfall coming out of the trees--and to the left and right of it are the large falls we floated under yesterday...
Although much of the area is accessible, there are still shelves between falls or ever-changing islets that provide havens for countless creatures including hundreds of scavengers that circle overhead...
Some jungle creatures become so accustomed to tourists, that they learn to depend on them. One example is the commonly seen coati--a raccoon-meets-ant-eater kind of varmint. They are brave, intelligent, and cute--and they know tourists tend to be easy targets for free food. Yesterday, we looked long and hard for them, but only found one skittering through the shady underbrush--it was too hot for coati, but just right for lounging lizards...
But the Brazilian side, with its shady disposition, smaller area and higher concentrations of enamored snack-packing pedestrians, proved to be a coati kingdom...
And like good tourists, every one of us happily took time to forget about one of nature's greatest watery wonders and ignore all the warning signs about feeding the rabies carrying critters, and snap some pictures of the fuzzy-wuzzies waddling down the tree to sniff us out...And like good tourists, every one of us happily took time to forget about one of nature's greatest watery wonders and ignore all the warning signs about feeding the rabies carrying critters, and snap some pictures of the fuzzy-wuzzies waddling down the tree to sniff us out...
They even fought to get down first...
After a good fix of furry cuddliness, we were back on the downward path, approaching deeper views and creeping closer to the eye of the thundering maelstrom of waterfalls...
Sometimes, when I'm outside--maybe after school when I helped a struggling student in Portland, or floating in my kayak in the quietude of the Clackamas River, or on a starry night at Long Beach around a bonfire, or any amazing moment with Leandra--I raise my arms to the sky, grateful for life, and celebrating, and try to conduct energy between myself and the universe. This was one of those moments...
Does this little invertebrate have any idea how lucky it is? His eyes are bugging out...
The final steps into the stormy center are just ahead...
As you walk out the catwalk, halfway above and below fifty meters of falls, completely surrounded by sounds and sights, you pass dozens of sparkling people, dripping with dew and returning from the final cul-de-sac in the frothing chocolate cauldron...
If you're not lucky enough to be a diving duck, you can see it all from the final deck...
This is Carlos, or Carlito, as our bus-mates called him, affectionately. Apparently, he recently suffered a stroke or some other malady that maligned his movement. But, thanks to the excellent handicap accessibility provided by both Brazil and Argentina--he would often appear at the lookouts before those of us fleet of foot. I just think it's cool that he could visit a place like this too. And, it looks like he may even appreciate it a little more than me...and that's a whole lot...
Before leaving, we stopped to click one more picture and say "Whiskey!"--which is what Uruguayans laughingly say instead of "Cheese!"...
The word "Iguazu" means "big water" and is derived from Guarani, the name for the indigenous language and people of this region...
Most people were saying goodbye to Iguazu, but not Leandra and I. We were coming back for thirds--this time, under a the light of a full moon...specifically, to the first lookout from yesterday, which is hiding behind the misty cloud rising out of Garganta del Diablo, above...
A red spotted butterfly rested on Leandra while we all waited for the bus back...
Leandro, intentionally wearing a hat with a big 'L', was our great guide for both parks. He speaks several languages including Guarani and Portuguese. But, even though his English was about as good as our Spanish, we got along marvelously. I taught him the word 'rump' because he loves birds, and it is a common noun used to identify species with colorful...uhhh...well, colorful butts...
We found a few hours to relax at the hotel again, before we needed to find a way back to Argentina...Miriam, our bus guide, worked hard to hire a driver for us. She asked the off-duty cook...who, as is often the case, heard we were "gringos" and offered us the bargain price of hundred dollars to take us to the Argentina park and wait while we were on the full moon tour, and then bring us back. We decided on being more adventurous and, hopefully, a lot cheaper, and headed for the public bus stop across the street. After ten minutes we waved down a taxi and haggled him down to fifteen dollars to cross the border to Puerto Iguazu. Upon arrival we found a hostel, and the kind owner easily arranged a ride for us: from here to the park and back to Brazil after the tour...for $35! Considerably cheaper than our original option...
Puerto Iguazu is Argentina's smaller cousin of Brazil's Foz de Iguazu. The main street sports some restaurants, bars and a nice outdoor market. So, we strolled down the street before sunset...
Olives, cheese, bread, salami and beer are always a popular snack in South America. Wines, pastas and oils were for sale in every stall...
A wandering vendor passed with painted seed necklaces and other touristy trinkets...
Local families enjoyed the warm evening while backpackers and budget tourists mingled among them, practicing their Spanish...
Leandra found another fun photo opportunity with the local motorcycle cop...
I enjoyed meeting Axe, the hostel Chihuahua, who would attack on his owner's command, transforming from docile lapdog to yapping, hopping security force--the funny part was he would attack his owner...who would laugh and complain to Axe and point at the intended target...Our driver arrived and whisked us up the black jungle road to the park...
Our driver arrived and whisked us up the black jungle road to the park...A fine buffet dinner was included. Then we joined others for an eerie train ride to the path that lead back to the Devil's Throat. It was wild hearing the waterfall's muffled roar, the clicking of steel wheels on rails, the notably nocturnal sounds of the jungle, and the excited silence of the passengers...
Before starting the long walk along the causeway, I stopped in the men's room--which was brilliantly bright, attracting swarms of tropical bugs of every size, flocking in the white fluorescent light. This one, the size of a small bird, was perched on my urinal--I took the picture as I peed! But, I noticed it's amazing camouflage; can you tell what it is? I thought so too--a plant or leaf right? But then I noticed the false eye...that makes it look like a snake...a snake that is disguised as a plant! That's my theory anyway....right or wrong, it's amazing...Well, now it was time to take the "Luna Llena Tour", to see Iguazu under a full moon, which--according to Miriam-- is one of the most incredible, beautiful and romantic sights a person could see...
Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to catch it on film. I searched the internet for some pictures--nada. However, my friend, Anant--two time blog contest winner--managed to get some photos when he came here a month earlier. He held his camera still for two minutes at maximum aperture to capture the scene--his picture is awesome...but also makes it look like it's almost daytime.
Besides, of all the visions around Iguazu that words just can't describe, places that are "sin palabras", this is the ultimate. So, with no pictures other than this one...
I will attempt to describe what we saw...
Walking the kilometer along the grated metal, the moon light cast a monochromatic glow on the whispering river below our feet. Other than their silvery green treetops, the jungly islets between us and Garganta del Diablo were silhouetted by the misty cloud slowly rising behind. The crashing roar of the approaching falls slowly crescendoed with every step...
Passing through the last tunnel of palms and fronds, the final scene opened like a dream, like the universe was imploding. Imagine: a peripheral boarder of complete darkness, a lunar orb of light surrounded by a few high puffy clouds to your upper left, to your right, white watery spots of river swifting around rocks and aquatic plants, in front of you, moving walls of silver disappearing with increasing speed into a void which then turn into a pearly cloud rising up out of the hole. Standing there, staring, trying to let your eyes and pupils expand to take it all in, your brain becomes confused, no longer being able to separate reality from imagination. And then, when your eyes have dilated into black holes, you saw something you thought was impossible...
A rainbow. A rainbow at midnight. A ghost rainbow, a specter of black and white, arcing across the mist between the bottomless depths of darkness and the falling white walls of water. A rainbow made by the full moon over the throat of the devil at the world's most wondrous waterfall...
If you ever plan to visit Iguazu...
do it during a full moon...
We took the train back and crawled into our car. The driver asked us, "How it was?" "Sin palabras", we said, "boca abierta". We were asleep when we crossed the border back to Brazil...
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Anant's pictures: these incredible pictures are from the Brazilian side, while we took our tour from the Argentina side, so our view was much different. Also, judging by the light's angle, the moon's position was also not the same. Notice the glow of digital cameras on the viewing platform and the stars. And, like I said, and Anant would agree, these pictures are much brighter and more colorful than it appeared to the human eye. Anant told me how hard he worked to get this picture and after taking fifty useless photos myself, I can certainly appreciate it. Plus, I just had to let you all see the midnight rainbow...
