CYCLING for LOVE: Iguazu Falls!

Thank you to everyone who has assisted us by making donations, offering to help in some way and spreading the word about the Love Trust! This is the final blog in the series of Cycling for Love blogs detailing our trip from Punta del Diablo in Uruguay cycling up 1500km to Iguazu Falls in Argentina culminating on Valentine's Day just before Mark made his way back to South Africa, please enjoy!


Km26 to Km0: 3 countries in 6 hours!
Today, for Mark and I the original cycling amigos, would be our last big stretch together and although it was only about 25km from Ciudad del Este, Paraguay through Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil and into Puerto Iguazú, Argentinina we still had the section back up the dirt road of the Refugio and back into Ciudad del Este to cycle which added on at least another 30km to our trip, not to mention the 2 bridges and 2 border crossing we need to pass along the way. Today was also the final part of the final leg together doing it for love in support of Love Trust!

We headed off early so that we could get into Ciuad del Este in time for our midmorning snack and do a little shopping. Ciudad del Este is known for its grey and replica cheap electronic goods so although Andy and I would be coming back through the city in a few days time Mark wanted to stop and get a few goods before heading home. Being back on the bikes that morning having now fixed all of Andy's punctures was a huge relief because there is so much less hassle involved when we are not having to try catch lifts and wait or buses all over the place, we can just get on our bikes and go wherever and whenever we want! A couple of punctures pale in comparison with waiting for bus that are long, delayed or just never pitches up. With the wind behind us we had soon passed through Hariendas and were back in Ciudad del Este in no time. The area near the border with Brazil is madness because it is one of the few border bridges you can cross by foot resulting in many Brazilians walking over, getting a good deal on electronic goods and then crossing back over the bridge. The madness on the road leading up the bridge made us all a little nervous so we quickly made our way to the immigration office forgetting about our midmorning snack. The staff at immigration were incredibly friendly and helpful and were quite happy for Andy and I to wait there in safety while Mark ran off to find himself a new Casio watch.

It wasn't long before Mark returned with a grin on his face as he had managed to find himself an old school Casio watch with calculator and all! Chuffed with our success that morning we headed off across in the chaos that was the bridge. We opted to cycle along the foot path as the hundreds of motor bikes flying back and forth weaving through the traffic seemed to pose a bit of a danger. Halfway across the bridge the ego of the army officials got the better of them and they decided to order us off the pavement, freak'n idiots I mean really we weren't bothering anyone slowly cycling along the side walk but ok fine. So we smiled and nodded politely then I stuck out my hand stopped all the traffic flowing across the bridge and proceed to slowly cycle on now side by side blocking all traffic from flowing into Brazil, but fine if that's how the idiotic officials would prefer it then that's what we were going to do. It seems that if any Paraguayan puts on an government official shirt of any sort they become an absolute fool and are unable to use their own brain, but take off that shirt and they're lovely people.

We were now in Foz do Iguauz, Brazil and we were starving so we quickly made our way to the centre of town to get some much needed lunch. Foz do Iguaçu is not as expensive as the other parts of Brazil we had experienced, surprising though as it is a very popular tourist destination. Mark also needed to source himself a bike box while we were passing through as he would be leaving from this town by bus in a couple of days time and it would be a Sunday, so he just wanted to make sure he was going to be able to get a bike box when we returned. It wasn't long before he found a place willing to keep a box for him but he would need to return early on Saturday to collect it, that was fine though because we had planned to return Saturday to spend that night in Brazil getting Mark ready for his long trip home.

After a delicious lunch and a whole lot of lemon pie we headed off for Puerto Iguazú, Argentina. As we were heading out of town we spotted two other tourers which is always great as there are so many stories to tell and it is such a rare occurrence. In 10 months this was only our 3rd lot of long distance tourers we had encountered. They were Julien and Vladana Darras from France and Eastern Europe respectively. They had started their trip down in the south of Patagonia and had now made their way all the way up Argentina and had spent the previous day in Puerto Iguazú where we were now heading. They were a very cool couple loving a challenge, carrying their bikes across rivers and muddy roads in parts of their trip achieving only 4km of 'cycling' the one day due to bad terrain! You can follow their crazy journey at www.vladaju.fr where Vladana seems to have a lot more energy and talent than I as she herself writes and translates their blog into at least 3 different languages! Having swapped a few stories concurring that the route 14 of Argentina, which we had both had the displeasure of cycling along, was one of the worlds roads to cycle on.

By the time we reached immigration we had spent less than 5 hours in Brazil making me wonder if they weren't soon going to tell us we had crossed the border too many times, fortunately a long as you have space in your passport that is not possible. We had not booked accommodation in Puerto Iguazú so as we arrived there we went in search of the local camp site. The local camp site turned out to be almost as pricey as a cheap hostel as you not only have to pay per person but also per tent and with us each having our own tent it did not work out very cheap so we went on to the Hostel International to see if we could perhaps camp there for cheaper. When we arrived at the Hostel International's Hotel-Inn we immediately felt a little out of place as it was heaving with gringos all freshly spruced up and lying round the pool trying desperately to rid themselves of the give away gringo pale skin. Smelling somewhat like a boar I strolled over to reception where I very quickly discovered we could not camp but we could get a dorm room with air con for a reasonable price so after some umming and ahhing we decided to stay.

The room was great and once we were clean it was good to interact with some gringos again. The hostel had an awesome huge swimming pool serviced by a 24hr bar so it was now time to relax. The next morning we would be cycling over to the Parque Nacional Iguazú where we would finally get to see the Iguazú Falls so we were all very excited. Just lazing there in the pool I thought back on the day and couldn't believe it was that very same day we had started all the way back at the Itaupú Refugio and that we still had the whole evening ahead of us to enjoy. It is amazing how times flies, we had been travelling for almost 10 months and when we think back we have done so much, we'd cross 7 countries and covered over 10,150km of road by bicycle yet it seemed like it was only yesterday that we were making our way across to Montañita, Ecuador. And now, our adventure was nearly over.

Km10164 to Km10174: Iguazu Falls!
The hostel provided a good breakfast so all we needed to do was pack ourselves some lunch and head off on our bicycles towards the falls. We discovered that the route 12 leading to the falls from both the south and the north is no safer than the route 14 so we were quite relieved we had decided to take the slightly longer route through Paraguay and up their far friendly route 6 thus avoiding a long section of route 12 up to the falls. The Parque Nacional Iguazú runs all along the sides of the road towards the park entrance providing breathtaking and beautiful scenery as we risked our lives cycling along it. Finally, about 15km down the road we were at the entrance to the Parque Ncional Iguazú! Preoccupied about whether or not we would be able to store our bikes safely for the day, we made our way in but soon our minds were put to rest by the very friendly staff who provided us with a nice safe place to lock them up just inside the gates assuring us that they would be safe. The park is brilliant with fantastic well maintained pathways, good signage and even a train to ferry us around which was all included in the entrance fee. I had been a little bit sceptical about how it could take a reported whole day to see the falls but with all these paths and trains there's plenty to do there which could even take a slower walker 2 days to enjoy!

After taking a make believe helicopter tour over the model of the Iguazu Falls at the visitors centre we decided to take the train to the furtherest point the Garganta del Diablo or Devil's Throat, then make our way slowly back. The train ride to the aptly named Garganta del Diablo was beautiful and entertaining in itself with butterflies and birds decorating the trees and bush all round you. From the Garganta del Diablo station we needed to walk all along a long walk way over the water flowing towards the falls in order to get us to where the water flows over the falls on the western side of the falls. Along the way met Sharon and Jerry, an energetic and friendly retired couple from Oregon, USA who we had earlier helped translate some Spanish instructions for. It was so refreshing meeting the couple who also aren't into the typical tourist packages consequently after sharing our contact details and a bit of info about South Africa we've hopefully convinced them to come visit us in Africa on their next great adventure where they can then see Africa's greatest falls, Victoria Falls.

As the walkway wound its way through the bushes jutting out of the water here and there we finally began to see the mist created by the mighty flow of the Iguazú Falls. Getting to the viewing platform we were all just awestruck by the pure magnificence of this beautiful falls created by the power of nature, watching it flow over the edge of the cliff which we were standing on plummeting 70 metres down into the Gargant del Diablo spraying back up 70 metres into the air, covering us in a fine spray! We stood there enjoying the power and fine spray cooling us down under the hot sun before taking a few photos to celebrate our arrival at the Falls after over 10150km of cycling, now signifying the end to our journey. Then a day before Valentine's Day we hoped that we had helped spread the message of love and brought some attention to the Love Trust too!

The Circuits
There were 2 other circuits that we still needed to explore, the lower and higher. Essentially the Gargant del Diablo is the more narrow and most powerful western part of the falls so we then still needed to explore and view the rest of the falls from the other 2 circuits.

The Circuito Inferior or Lower Circuit provided a beautiful holistic view of the whole falls including the Garganta del Diablo where at one of many viewing platforms we helped a blind man and his friend take some pictures with the falls behind them. When the blind man first asked us to take the picture we thought well why does he want a picture when he's not going to be able to look at it then we thought hang on a minute but actually why would he come to the falls is he can't see it in the first place? This only helped to highlight the power of the falls and what a privileged it was to be there. We always need to keep reminding ourselves while travelling that we can always see these places on-line in pictures so the real experience is being there to feel, hear and smell the place. Perhaps the blind man is only missing out on what everyone else gets to see on-line but was still getting the very same new experience, and perhaps even more heightened, that all visitors come from all around the world to get when they come to experience the power, the energy and the resulting beauty of the Iguazu Falls.

The Circuito Superior or Higher Circuit provided a great view back down on the eastern part of the falls with walkways suspended over magnificent cliff edges and smaller tributary water falls cascading down into the same valley. All in all the Parque Ncional Iguazú was magnificent and I couldn't have asked for more. It was the perfect place to end the perfect adventure, and given all the build up it did very well not to disappoint!



Returning to Luxury

We had planned to spend another night at the hostel on the outskirts of Puerto Iguazú but while we were at the falls our good friend from Chile, Tamara, had managed to arrange us a free nights stay at the luxurious 4 star St. George Hotel in the centre of the Puerto Iguazú village. She could only get room for 2 so Andy would be spending a night alone at the hostel but given all the young lasses running around I don't think he was complaining. The hotel was awesome allowing us to have a double bed each to ourselves without having to be woken by late night dormitory movements and blaring music. Although we would be heading back to Brazil the next day and Mark would then be making his way home, Andy and I would still be on the road for another 6 weeks so staying there too gave me a great opportunity to soak some of the red mud out of me and then my clothes in the first bath I had seen in ages!

Km10174 to Km10184: Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

Mark had to head back to Brazil early the next day in order to get his bike box form the shop before it closed so after a great hotel buffet breakfast he was on his way. I waited for Andy who had been staying at the hostel and had overslept missing breakfast so was now starving but that was not a problem because we would soon be meeting up with Mark back at our favourite Foz do Iguaçu restaurant. Mark had had a bit of fun getting the bike box from the bike shop to the restaurant along with his bike and all his bags but by the time we got there he had managed it.

After yet another great meal it it was time to find a hostel for the night, Mark's last night with us in South America. Cycling around for a bit we found this cool hostel called Bambu with a swimming pool but what was even cooler was that the touring couple, Julien and Vladana, had also stumbled upon Bambu after we had bumped into each other a few days prior and were now staying there. They recommended we stayed there too even though they were moving on, although it was probably the most expensive hostel we had stayed in in South America it had a great swimming pool we could enjoy and it had plenty of place to get organised before Mark left so it was all worth it. The Rio de Janeiro Carnival was being celebrated in Rio that weekend too so in good spirit the hostel was holding its own little carnival and had some great drink specials on, which of course we joined in on marking the end for Mark of what has been a super fantastic adventure!

All pics can be seen here.