Day trip to Iguassu Waterfalls
When: November 2019 Weather: Hot 30C
Leica M10P 35 summilux and 15mm Voigtlander. Nikon P900
Back in Sao Paulo after our Pantanal and Amazonia adventure, we did a day trip to Iguassu waterfalls…early morning 730 am flight to Iguassu and back by evening flight about 630pm. It’s plenty of time to see everything in Iguassu and have lunch and tea as well! Our rough itinerary was : on arrival, taxi ride to Iguassu National Park…hmmm…more birding maybe? Then taking a couple of buses/trams to get to the boarding point for the boat ride to the falls. You can choose a dry or a wet option….being interested in photography and keeping our cameras dry, we chose the former…..and just as well!
This is the main entrance to the Iguassu National park….
Descending by a cable like car to the boats by the river, this swallow posed….? black collared swallow
Capybaras lounged in the sun on the banks
As we neared the falls, the sound of plunging water got louder and louder….
It started off pleasantly enough under the bright blue sky
It got more frenetic as we neared the falls…those were the boats that chose the wet option….
Having got pretty wet even with the dry option, we returned to shore and took the shuttle to the next stop where we went on a 1.5km hike along and above the river Iguassu…here we could look down on where we had been earlier in the boat…
The black vultures soar over the falls
black vulture
Iguanas are everywhere
and the coatis are so accustomed to visitors that they come right up to you
a silver beaked tanager skulking
the expanse of Iguassu or Iguacu falls
at one point there is a walkway that extends over the falls….everywhere you look there is a waterfall…
stunning vistas
I heard a rustle overhead….
and this beautiful red throated piping guan which I’d shot in Pantanal and Amazonia emerged not 10 feet from me…
Close encounter with red throated piping guan
from the walkway the falls surrounded you with sounds and water ….
you even get a rainbow!
At the end of the walking trail, you get a side view of the falls whilst you wait to take an elevator up to the restaurant for lunch….
From the restaurant deck which is on top of the falls, you get this view of the falls with cormorants in the foreground
After a buffet lunch we headed back to the entrance to head to the third part of our day trip….
Just across the road from the Iguazzu entrance is the Bird Park or Parque des Aves which was reputed to have some of the more exotic birds that I hadn’t seen yet….
Now as a rule I don’t really approve of or go to bird parks where the birds are confined; but I made an exception to see some of the rarities I might not otherwise ever see…. top of the list was the Harpy Eagle, one of the largest eagles on earth; we’d tried in Amazonia but failed…..
There were however a pair of stunning Harpy Eagles here…
With its typically owl like face..the magnificent Harpy Eagle…
the red fan parrot opens its red and blue fan to spectacular effect and I had also not managed to see it in the wild so it was a thrill to see it here even though it didn’t display…
Many of the toucans and parrots, curassows and guans we had seen in the wild were also present and for those who do not want to traipse through the jungles to bird watch, you’ll get a pretty good idea of the wonderful Brazilian bird diversity here.
Just as we exited the park and I was about to board a taxi for the airport,. I saw this beauty in the trees outside the park….a spectacular Plush headed Jay.
The Plush headed Jay was the last bird I shot in Brazil on this trip and what a wonderful way to end a wonderful week in Brazil!
Iguassu waterfalls is spectacular enough to warrant a visit anytime you are in Argentina or Brazil..we did this day trip easily from the Brazil side… taxis are everywhere and you don’t really need a guide…. we took a 630pm flight back to Sao Paulo in time for dinner……highly recommended.
The Natural Traveller 