Iguassu Falls, Brazil and Argentina

On the morning of May 8 we flew from Rio de Janeiro to Iguassu falls (the Brazil side). Iguassu falls are a collection of water 275 waterfalls on the border of Brazil and Argentina, and they were recently announced as one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Of the 275 waterfalls, 75% fall on the Argentinian side and 25% fall on the Brazilian side. Apparently, after visiting Iguassu Falls Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed “Poor Niagara!”, and I tend to agree with her. Iguassu Falls are absolutely incredible, and in comparison Niagara looks much less impressive!

I had heard from some people that the Brazil side was better, and then from other people that the Argentina side was better, and there seemed to be no consensus to which was the better side, so I thought I would just decide for myself after seeing both. We spent May 8th exploring the Brazilian side and May 9th exploring the Argentinian side. Below is a map of the falls, on the left is the Brazil side and on the right is Argentina.

Iguassu Falls from Brazil: We started off on the Brazil side by taking a walk along the Iguazu river to get to the famous Devil’s Throat waterfall. Along the path we could see a number of amazing waterfalls leading up to Devil’s Throat. 

As we approached Devil’s Throat we could see more and more rainbows in the waterfalls! In the background you can see the Devil’s Throat.

As we approached we could see the bridge and balcony to take us up close to Devil’s Throat:

When we finally got to the balcony we had an amazing view of the Devil’s Throat waterfall, along with a beautiful rainbow:

The waterfalls were just breathtaking! I had also never seen so many rainbows! The Brazil side gave us stunning views of the falls, and we got amazing photos. Since we saw the falls from a bit of a distance we had the chance to take in the full glory of them. After seeing this I wondered how Argentina could possibly beat this view!

Iguassu Falls from Argentina: The following day we explored Iguassu Falls from the Argentina side, and it was a whole different experience! We were able to get right up close to Devil’s Throat, close enough that we all got soaked by the mist coming from the falls. It was incredible to see the force of the falls and the volume of water so close!

We also had the opportunity to take a group photo of the whole Contiki group in front of Devil’s Throat:

From the Argentina side we walked along the paths to see the many different waterfalls, and the views were beautiful! There is so much vegetation, and we could see numerous rainbows.

One of the coolest things we did was taking a speed boat along the Iguazu river around and under the falls!

The boat went right under several of the waterfalls, and we were soaked to the core! It was a lot of fun and was well worth it because the views from the boat were awesome!

While exploring the park (on both the Brazil and Argentina side) we had a chance to see some amazing wildlife!

After seeing both sides of the falls I can completely understand why there is a debate about which side is better. Both sides were amazing, but for different reasons. The Brazil side had incredible views. You had the chance to see the falls from amazing angles and since you were a bit farther back you could take in the whole picture of the falls at once. So, in Brazil you could see the falls, but in Argentina you could feel the falls. You could feel their intensity, hear their power, and go underneath them by boat. Choosing a side that is better is very difficult, but if I had to pick just one side I would pick Brazil. Being able to see the falls from the Brazilian angles was breathtaking. The whole experience was awesome, and I’m so glad I got the full experience of Iguassu Falls!

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Street Art

Now that I’ve moved on from Rio de Janeiro I wanted to add one last post about the city. While touring Rio I noticed some pretty cool street art (otherwise known as graffiti), and since I hadn’t posted it in any of my other blog posts I thought I would dedicate a blog post to displaying some of it. In Rio graffiti is allowed on the buildings because it is considered a form of art. In my opinion the below pieces of graffiti fall into the category of street art.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Favelas

On May 7th we had the opportunity to take a tour of one of the largest Favelas in Rio. A favela is a Brazilian slum, where the poorest people of the city live. They surround Rio, and other cities in Brazil.

This was a very eye-opening experience for me. I had heard about Favelas, and read about the poor living conditions, the crime, drug cartels and the drug lords who ruled the street within the favelas, so I had very mixed feelings about walking around inside one. My tour manager assured me that it was safe.

The favela we visited was called Rocinha, and approximately 200,000 people live there. It is one of the largest favelas in Rio. Below is the view of the favela. It is really large, and spans almost as far as the eye can see:

Favelas are known for a few key features. Most of them are made by hand with bricks and have a flat roof. Each house began with a single hand-built level, but to make money families would sell their rooftop to another family, who would then build their own house right on top of the original house. Each of these houses has a few levels (each occupied by a different family), and can go up to 6 levels high.

The houses are built extremely close to one another, and there is only room for narrow walking paths in between the houses. If you look up you can see tangled electrical wires hanging. The favela we visited was on a hill, so some of the small paths had staircases.

The conditions are so poor, it was really sad to see.

It was interesting to see that many of the houses are built to accommodate the existing trees:

While walking around I realized that I did not feel unsafe at all. Our tour manager explained that there have been a lot of improvements to the favelas. Instead of being run by the drug lords, they are now run by the police, and you can see police carrying runs walking around the street. There is now less crime, and any crime that happens is less violent than before. There is still a lot of drug dealing, but it is also less violent. You can see in the photo below the police men patrolling the streets.

In addition to the lowered crime rates, now a lot more children are enrolled in school. Previously when the drug lords controlled the favelas, they would recruit children to do their drug dealings (because children have shorter jail sentences), but with the improvements and the policing, many more children are enrolled in school. We saw many children in the favela, and they were wearing white shirts with a blue stripe on it. When a child is wearing that shirt it indicates that they are enrolled in school and they ride for free on public transit.

I felt really sad walking around and looking at such poverty. And I also wondered how the locals felt about us tourists walking around their neighbourhood taking photos. I wanted to help out in any way I could. Our tour manager told us not to hand out money to the people in the favelas unless we were purchasing something from them or paying for a service. During the tour we stopped at a number of different places to meet some of the locals and help them out by purchasing items from them. We visited an art studio where some local artists were selling their paintings. I bought a small painting by a 15 year old child named Jean who lives in the favela. He was taught to paint by his older brother. Many children are being taught crafts so they can sell them to make money. We also stopped at a very small bakery where I also bought some of the goods. We then met some local women who had made bracelets and I purchased a beaded bracelet from them. And finally we had a chance to meet some of the local children and they performed a dance for us and collected donations. The kids were really sweet, I took a video of their dance:

Walking around the favela was a really eye-opening experience for me. It was so sad to see the poverty that so much of the population lives in. It broke my heart, especially after spending 2 days in Buzios and looking at the beach houses that cost millions of dollars. Even on the drive up to the favela we passed some big houses with high security walls and armed guards where the rich live.

Although I have visited many poor countries before, I think that Brazil is the most unequal country I have visited, where the income distribution gap is the widest. It was so sad to see such a huge gap between the living conditions of the super rich and the super poor all within a 5 minute drive from each other.

I am very happy I visited the favela. Seeing these conditions really puts things into perspective, and makes you realize how lucky we are and how good we have it at home. Our problems are so miniscule in comparison to theirs, and I hope this is something we never forget.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Countryside, Beaches and Sugarloaf Mountain

On May 6th we left Buzios (Brazil) and drove back to Rio de Janeiro. The drive from Buzios to Rio was a great way to see the countryside of Brazil. There is a lot of rich vegetation and mountains/hills. It was beautiful.

Back in Rio we headed to the beach. First we went to the Ipanema Beach:

We then headed to Copacabana Beach. This beautiful beach is world famous, and stretches 4km long. It brings in tons of tourists, and the area is full of restaurants and bars. We went during the late afternoon, and it was quiet and beautiful.

That evening we had the opportunity to try a traditional Brazilian BBQ. We went to a really nice restaurant with a full buffet, and then at your table as you sit and eat your meal the waiters walk by with skewers of meat, and they will cut off pieces for you right onto your plate. There were so many varieties of meats, all BBQ’d on skewers. It was delicious!

The following day we went to Sugarloaf Mountain (Pao de Acucar in Portuguese), one of the major attractions in Rio. It is 396m high and offers amazing views of the city. In order to get up to Sugarloaf we had to take two cable cars, one to get to Morro da Urca (the mountain on the left in the photo below) and then another to get to Sugarloaf (the mountain on the right in the photo).

Once we got to Morro da Urca (before taking the 2nd cable car to the Sugarloaf) we stopped to see the amazing view. You can see Christ the Redeemer in the background of my photo below (the statue at the top of the mountain in the middle of the photo).

While on Morro da Urca we ran into a couple little monkeys! They were so friendly and cute!

We also saw a pretty large lizard!

After having some lunch and spending some time with the monkeys we took the 2nd cable car over from Morro da Urca to Sugarloaf Mountain.

From Sugarloaf looking back at Morro da Urca :

From Sugarloaf we had an amazing view of Copacabana Beach:

We also had a view of the Christ Redeemer statue (it’s hard to see, but he’s on top of the mountain in the background):

I’m really glad I went up to Sugarloaf to see the views. I found the views  of Rio de Janeiro to be better on Sugarloaf than from Christ the Redeemer’s mountain. I’m loving Rio. The city has so much life and culture!