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It is past midnight already here!! What an exciting day!
Waking up at midnight because my mom is getting attacked by mosquitoes since she left the window open, and then waking up at 7am (3am US time) so that we can get ready and have some breakfast before we head to the waterfalls.
The first breakfast in Brazil was amazing!! All hostels serve breakfast and today ours consisted of watermelon, pineapple, mango, oranges, toast and a Brazilian jam, and some meat and cheese. Everything was delicious!!
Our tour began at 9am where we took a van with 8 other people (2 German couples, a Canadian couple, a man from San Jose, and our tour guide Marcio) We drove over to the Argentina side of the waterfalls and the just the drive alone was beautiful. Since it rains so much here everything is green, like driving through a rainforest! We arrive and quickly walk to the first sightseeing location where you are almost in the waterfall. On the walk there are HUGE spiders just dangling above you and on the sides of the walkway…. I basically had to run until it was safe. At the waterfall everything was getting soaked just from the mist of the falls and it was hard to hear anything from the sound of the water rushing over the edge! 20 minutes into watching this fall it began to rain… or shall I say pour?!?? It was maybe 75 degrees out, nice and warm, and just buckets poured down for maybe another 20 minutes and suddenly stopped. It was very refreshing however it made the walk back to the other walkways more difficult because the walkway was made out of bridges of steel grating which are very slippery when wet! We made it without falling on our butts!! We then went to the upper level walkway where we got to see the waterfalls from a top view, sometimes walking on a bridge directly above it. The views were picturesque as you can see from my pictures! The amount of waterfalls and the beauty of every single one of them was breathtaking. I wanted to take a picture of every single one… and almost did (I ended up taking 282 pictures in just one day!!!) At the rivers maximum, there is a possibility to see over 275 waterfalls!! Marcio said at this time maybe it was around 185-200. So this isn't even the best of it! The walking wasn't yet too bad, mostly flat bridges and walkways, but nothing too steep. Then it was time for lunch… our first meal in Brazil… and it was horrible!!! The tour ended up going to a restaurant where we ordered a hamburger that was the worst I have ever had in my life! It truly is the best in America!
We then hiked to the lower viewing section which required a lot of stairs and they were all slippery since it had rained earlier, so a lot of time was put into trying not to fall and break my neck on the first day. But here we got to see more of a panoramic view of the entire waterfall, both Brazil and Argentina side.The last thing to do now was to go on the boat tour! This was absolutely amazing!! We got to go into the waterfall!! We were seated in the very front, and after a couple picture taking opportunities, the boat just drives you straight under the waterfall. At first you think, wow, I am actually under a waterfall…. And then you realize you were only in the mist when the buckets actually start dumping. I was actually afraid that our boat was going to sink!!! I looked down from just moments under the waterfall our legs up to almost our knees are completely covered in water!!! What an experience!!!
Then the hike back up began…. I thought my mom was going to just die right then and there from a heart attack, but she made it!! We got to do a little more shopping and headed to the "triangle". This is just the point where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay meet together at one point when two rivers converge! Then we were back at our lodging where we got ready for dinner.
Yesterday when first arriving we met a couple from Australia, Chris and Ange. They are amazing!! J We all ended up going to a seafood restaurant tonight (recommended by the hostel we are at) and paid way too much for the food (Some shrimp for me, and a mixture of shrimp, fish, octopus, squid, muscles, and some other weird things for mom), but had great conversations with two great people, so I guess it was worth it! I can't wait to go to Australia for my next vacation! Well after a frustrating cab ride home and a night chat I am now off to bed!! We are going to the Brazil side of the falls tomorrow, which shouldn't be an all day event, so maybe I will sleep in!
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