Today’s post is 1500 words, 54 photos, 2 videos, a 7 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

This week I’ll take you to the border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay where we’ll experience a celebration of the three cultures and visit a bird bark before seeing the unbelievable Iguazu Falls in Part 2.

If you missed the first four posts in this series from Brazil, click here, here, here, and here.

The Trail to Iguazu Falls

We were up early to finish packing and eat breakfast before Marcia and Celso arrived to take us to the airport. During that early morning flurry, I snapped a photo of the sunrise over Rio. It’s one of my favorites. Sugarloaf Mountain that I showcased last week appears on the upper far left in the photo.

As we were about to check out of our room, I took one last look off the balcony overlooking Copacabana Beach. Traffic on one side of the divided street below us was filled with runners, many wearing yellow jerseys. We wondered if that would affect our transport to the airport. It did a little.

At the airport, Marcia helped us get checked in to our flight. For some unknown reason, it was a slow process on a Sunday morning at Latam, one of the largest airlines in Latin America. We bid our farewells to Marcia and Celso and we were off to the city nearest Iguazu Fall, Foz do Iguaçu. 

The two hour flight was packed, not an empty seat. We were met at the airport by our guide and driver, Eduardo. He was a friendly and engaging fellow, I enjoyed our short time with him.

Eduardo dropped us off at the Hotel Continental Inn in Foz do Iguaçu. We settled into our room and had a bite to eat in the hotel dining room. Since I left my power plug adapter in Rio, I needed to purchase one. Across the street was a pharmacy so I went there to see if they had adapters. They did. When I was checking out, I had a nice conversation with the fella at the register. He spoke very good English, he was curious about the US and I asked him lots of questions about Brazil. Another fun, unexpected meet up.

Foz do Iguaçu (commonly referred to as Foz) is a city of about 250,000 residents many of them working in tourism or at the nearby large hydroelectric power plant. The city is diverse with over 80 identified nationalities living in the area. It’s interesting to note that since 1940 Lebanese and others from Middle Eastern countries have settled in the Foz area. Since our time in Foz was limited, we didn’t spend much time in the city itself.

Marco das Três Fronteiras

At 5:00 PM Eduardo picked us up at the hotel and we made the short drive to Marco das Tres Fronteiras, translated to English as “landmark of the three borders” or “triple frontier.” This attraction is located at the juncture of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina where the Iguazu and Parana Rivers converge.

While the attraction is located in Brazil, it’s easy to see Paraguay and Argentina from Brazil. The top photo looks across the river to Paraguay, the second to Argentina, and the third, a photo of the bridge that crosses from Brazil into Argentina. As you can see the sun was setting behind the bridge. The video shows all three countries with Brazil in the foreground.

 

We were there to take in the evening performance of the three cultures. There were also food and drinks available as well as a huge gift shop. Guest sat in chairs in a circle surrounding a large fountain with a marker with green and yellow colors. Both Paraguay and Argentina have similar markers on their territory.

The pageant was very colorful and energetic. The announcing was exclusively in Portuguese so it was a little hard to follow along but it was interesting and enjoyable nonetheless. The short video gives you a flavor of the music, dance, and pride of country and culture that was on display. I’ll sum it up like this; costumes were beautiful, the men were dorky, the women elegant.

 

On Tour with Eduardo

The next morning (it was Memorial Day in the US) after breakfast, Eduardo picked us up at the hotel. We were out for the whole day, saw and did a lot. Our first stop was at a high end chocolate shop and gift store, Artesanato Chocolate Caseiro Tres Fronteiras. It was huge. Just about any souvenir that you can imagine could be bought here. Some of the items were very high end and locally made by artisans. I gravitated toward the chocolate shop at the back of the store and purchased a small bag of very tasty pieces that looked like malted milk balls only more flavorful. My Traveling Partner purchased a very nice doily handmade in Paraguay. It was flat and fit into our suitcase. We both looked around at the other merch and mentally measured it against the size of our small suitcases. We left those things behind.

Parque das Aves

Our next stop was colorful and fascinating, Parque das Aves or in English, Bird Park is situated on 40 acres. This park is a sanctuary, shelter, and rehab facility for injured birds. This park receives over 900,000 visitors each year, the second most visited site in the Foz area and one of the largest bird parks in Latin America.

The trail through the park is one-way. There’s a good reason for that, most of the birds are in enclosures so double doors prevent them from escaping, kind of like the toucan tried in the second photo.

As I mentioned above, many of the birds come to the Bird Park due to injury or mistreatment. Another mission of this aviary is to conserve and protect the 120 species of Atlantic Coast rainforest birds that are under pressure from deforestation and climate change. Thanks to them for doing this work.

One of the first enclosures we entered was that of the scarlet or red ibis. It’s the only wading bird with this bright color. The color comes primarily from the carotene found in the crabs, shrimp and other shellfish. They also eat a lot of mud beetles and bugs but without consuming crustaceans their color fades to a pinkish color.

Every enclosure brought new species of birds. Some identified by information signs while with others we were left to our own imagination.

You might wonder why the back of flamingo enclosure was filled with mirrors. I sure did. Flamingos are a highly social creature, the mirrors make the flock look bigger thus safer and more comfortable.  

White egrets are very common and widely distributed throughout Brazil as they are through the rest of the world.

I had a good time photographing all the birds in this park. I especially enjoyed the parakeets and parrots. They are colorful, not too shy, and speak loudly!

I could have skipped the anaconda, one of the largest snakes in the world. They can reach up to 20 (6 meters) long and can weigh up to 440 pounds (200 kg). TMI!

But I found the iguana more interesting even though that tail could put a hurt on me.

Turtles were found throughout the bird park.

The wily toucan has a big colorful bill. They are social animals and generally live in large groups. They eat primarily fruit but also insects, small birds and lizards.

This critter gave me the stink eye thinking I might be after its food!

We also saw some interesting plants and flowers in the park. Here’s a sampling.

There were lots of butterflies fluttering around and one enclosure

hosted several kinds of butterflies.

Meet Amanda and Mauricio, a young married couple. They were from northwest Brazil and were there with the owner of a company that was celebrating their 30th year. The owner brought all their employees to Iquazu Falls. Mauricio spoke excellent English, is studying IT, and has plans to move to Canada. Amanda is working on her English. We had a great conversation about photography and writing. It was a pleasure to meet them.

We were at the bird park for about an hour and a half. There is more to come. Continue the adventure next week when I’ll take you to Iguazu Falls and the Itaipu Dam.

I’ll end this blog with the five senses plus one.

See – cultural dance, lots of people, a full airplane, colorful birds, butterflies, reptiles and insects

Hear – birds and people talking many in Portuguese, jet engines, loud music

Smell – bird poop, jet fuel, food cooking

Touch – I was touched by a man that wanted to get by me at the Tres Fronteiras, touched the doors of the enclosures and the railings

Tasted – chocolates of different flavors, coffee, french fries

Learned – Brazil is a big country with a diverse population, people of Brazil are kind and friendly

Until next week, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM