210m
What a day; breakfast at Copacabana Beach and sunset in the jungle right next to Iguazu Falls!
We both woke up early and walked across Atlantic Avenue to go for a swim at Copacabana Beach. Apart from the few intrepid joggers and staff setting up volleyball nets and deck chairs, it was pretty deserted. The water wasn’t too cold, but it was extremely shallow for a good way out. The waves also matched the nature of the beach and were predominately flat. After a while of swimming it was back to the hotel for breakfast as we were being transferred to the airport for another flight, this one being just over 2 hours, to Foz do Iguacu, the town next to Iguazu Falls. Rio airport is quite long, probably due to the Olympics being held here and we walked up and down while waiting for our flight. We were at the international airport despite flying to another spot in Brazil. The flight was manageable and on checking out we were met and transferred to our hotel; the Belmond, being the only hotel within the national park. We dropped our bags, and after the hotel took a 2000 Real ($600) swipe out of my debit card, we went for a walk to see the falls from the Brazilian side.
Iguazu is difficult to easily describe as it is so spectacular. It stretches for over 120 individual falls (normally!) and although not as high as Victoria or Niagara it is truly a sight!
Normally 9 million litres every second passes over the falls, but due to heavy rain it now has over 16 million litres going over. EVERY. SECOND! However, due to the rain the river is a caramel colour, not clear, and a number of the falls have merged due to the volume. We walked to ‘The Devil’s Throat’ which is a platform built out onto the river. You do pick up an amazing amount of spray, and were quite wet when we returned to the path. There is a lookout tower right next to ‘the throat’ and you can stand extremely close to the falls and get drenched. Of course, we had to try it. Sidney, our guide, declined both aqueous adventures and was airing for us at the top of the tower. The sight is amazing and we get to do the Argentinian side tomorrow.
We said goodbye to Sidney and walked back to our hotel, handing wet clothes up to dry and changing into bathers to try the pool. As it is the only hotel in the national park the prices for meals are on the expensive side and we knew this was going to be the most expensive for the trip.