Back In Action

  An update is long overdue. The unusually long hiatus from writing is due to 1) the fact that I no longer have internet in my house and 2) the fact that up until this past weekend, not too much new or exciting has been going on. My host family is as nice as ever but they are all very sedentary whereas I am much more adventurous and like to get out of the house more. Instead of embracing my inner-hippie, as I had expected before I arrived, I have been embracing my “inner fashion-diva;” however, that doesn’t seem to actually exist within me, so embracing it has been a struggle. As much as I want to keep up with Rafaela’s love triangle (a telenovela that my host family loves), I have found it in me to venture out. I have had the traveling itch and am finally starting to tend to that.
      

José, the motorcyclist/tattooist, has become my official Paraguayan tour/adventure guide. (There is nothing romantic between us, for those of you with curious minds.) He has been taking me on motorcycle explorations through the suburbs all around Asunción. One such outing involved a rodeo-like event where they had horses doing synchronized dances.

 

     

 

This past weekend José took me to Ciudad del Este (aptly called for it’s eastern location in Paraguay). He works there on occasion and I was lucky enough to tag along. It is about a 4-hour drive from Asunción and sits right on the borders of Brazil and Argentina. It is an extremely commercial town with a market selling literally everything imaginable (both knock-off and real). Because I was with José, I got to see the real city, not just as a tourist. It is a very dangerous town if you don’t know the ropes because there is a ton of contraband and shady business going on. [We were pulled over for “running a red light” (which we did not actually do) but just paid the cop $30 and got to drive away freely. Paraguayan police/government are known for their corruption. You can get away with anything if you have money to pay it off.] We shopped in the hectic marketplace, ate at local dives, and slept in the dirtiest hotel I’ve ever experienced.

   
 

Saturday we spent exploring Itaipu, the world’s most productive hydroelectric plant. It is one of the “7 Modern Wonders of the World” and is quite a feat to see in terms of the electricity it produces as well as the work it took to construct it. But it comes at the price of the environment, something the tour failed to mention. The Guaíra Falls, similar to Iguazu Falls, were drowned by the newly formed Itaipu reservoir when the dam was built. (Parguayans don’t seem to have any regard for the environment. They throw trash in the street, don’t recycle, and don’t make efforts to conserve energy – e.g. 2 empty refrigerators per household and tv on all through the night.) The Itaipu dam was pretty gorgeous though, I have to admit. Plus it supplies almost all the electricity to Paraguay and also a Paraguay-sized portion of Brazil (it straddles the border between the 2 countries and is owned 50-50 by both).

    

After the dam, we went to the Itaipu Binacional Zoo. They only have animals that are native to the area and it was exciting to see pumas and jaguars as well as many colorful birds. I followed my nose to Toucan Sam.

    

We ventured on to Tati Yupi, the nature preserve of Itaipu Binacional. It sits on the reservoir created by the dam and we got to bike through the wilderness and check out the interesting foliage. We ate the weird fruits straight from the trees and had several iguana sightings. I liked these horny trees. (You can see how the lake has taken over what was once forest.)

     

Onward to Salta del Monday (say: Moan-da-oo), a waterfall that is considered the son of Iguazu Falls, where we were awed by its beauty. It’s off the beaten track and mostly just locals who just want to relax in its tranquility. I probably said “impressionante” at least 30 times.

 

I couldn’t resist leaving my Bay Area mark on a rock by the side of the falls.

       

We finished up the day by going back to Itaipu dam for the “Illumination” at night. They light up the dam and make a whole production of it. But for what they build it up to be, it was actually a huge disappointment. It was 2 minutes of them slowly turning on lights and that’s it

       

Sunday we got up early to go to the main event, Iguazu Falls (aka The Devil’s Throat). The adventure got interesting when I became a fugitive. There are 2 sides to the falls, one in Argentina and one in Brazil. We originally wanted to go to the Argentina side, however, in order to get there, you have to drive from Paraguay, cross the river over to Brazil, and then cross back over the river again to get into Argentina. You are literally only in Brazil for 15 minutes and there is no border control between Brazil and PY. But when I tried to cross into Argentina, they got mad at me for illegally being in the country since all US citizens need Brazilian visas, if even just passing through. I was told that if you take the tour bus, you can get by without a Brazilian visa, so I assumed it would be the same in a car. But you know what they say about when you assume… So I had to wait for the police to review all the laws and they ended up not allowing me to enter Argentina, charging me a fine, and saying I had to get out of Brazil within 3 days or I’d be deported back to the US. But since I was already in Brazil… and had 3 days to spare… we decided to go to the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls.

 

The falls were absolutely breathtaking. As my friend described it, it is like being in a real live version of a scene from Avatar (another description I like is “Niagra on Viagra”). The waterfalls go on and on and the magnitude of water is incredible. It’s not just one waterfall, but a whole land of waterfall after waterfall with beautiful butterflies flying all around you while you look. If you have a life bucket list, seeing this should be on it.

       

We finished off the day going back to Salta del Monday (back in Paraguay where I am legally allowed). When we were there the first time we had noticed some people on the other side of the falls repelling down. Obviously I was intrigued, so we asked around and finally found the 72-year-old local man who organizes the excursion. He took us across the river in his rickety, water-filled rowboat just 100 meters upriver of the deathly waterfalls (why not?). We then hiked through dense forest (full of Tarzan-swingable vines) to get to the repelling point. They harnessed us in, gave us a tutorial, and soon I found myself paralleling an incredible waterfall for about a 40 meter descent. We trekked alongside the river for a few miles before cutting back up to where the old man returned us safely to our side of the river.

     

We drove back to Asuncion, passing many farms and sunflower fields along the way. A great end to a great trip. This was exactly the type of adventure that I needed back in my life. Sorry Rafaela.