Sharon and Andy's World Tour 2006

Sunday 6 - Monday 7 August

Another day, another country. Hmm, sounds familiar. A short taxi ride from Puerto Iguazu in Argentina took us over the border to Foz de Iguacu (note the spelling change between Spanish and Portuguese) in Brazil. Some confusion this morning - the taxi driver assumed we were on a day-trip into Brazil and so breezed past Immigration Control; we put him right, he turned around and we duly had our passports stamped.

Unusually for us, we arrived in Brazil completely unprepared and with no travel guide to assist us. We had a vague idea that we wanted to visit Ipanema, but beyond that we were clueless. Some people would argue that this is the best way to travel...

Fortune smiled on us; when we arrived at the Hostel Bambu a 'Rough Guide to Brazil' stared down at us from the bookshelf. Five quid (British Pounds) later and it was in our sticky paws. A quick peruse led us to the conclusion that the next place we'd like to visit was the Pantanal: a vast wetland area roughly the size of France.

Time limits and finances had ruled out our initial idea of an Amazon cruise, but by many accounts the Pantanal offers better opportunities for spotting a huge diversity of wildlife including anacondas, anteaters, the ocasional jaguar, macaws, caiman, otters and so on and on.

How convenient then, that our host at Hostel Bambu once worked as a guide in the Pantanal and could sort out a decent four-day excursion for us!
The deal done, and with little else to do on a quiet Sunday afternoon, we relaxed at the hostel and encountered our first ferocious Brazilian animal:

Monday 7 August

It's possible to visit the Iguazu/Iguacu Falls from the Brazilian side of the border, but having been twice we declined our host's suggestion that we go again today, opting instead for a visit to Foz's Parque de Aves (bird park); home to around 900 birds from 150 different species, some of which are severley endangered.

We'd seen from afar wild toucans in the Iguazu Falls Park, but here the toucans are positively tame and extremely inquisitive...

Maintaining the South American tradition, we were due on an overnight bus to Campo Grande tonight, so returning from the bird park we thought it best to eat a big lunch. The Rough Guide recommended a 'churrascaria' - a restaurant at which the waiter repeatedly fills your plate with large chunks of different barbecued meats on skewers until you beg for mercy. Absolutely fantastic.

We'd expected Argentina to be a hard (if not impossible) act to follow, but on the basis of the first couple of days in Brazil things were shaping up nicely.