A chance meeting with Iguaçu falls
So I was looking to book my flights to Perú and got an option to fly with TAM, which was São Paulo to Cusco with layovers in Iguaçu and Lima. Since the layovers were only a few hours and I love airport hopping, I booked this connection.
My flight from São Paulo was at 1 in the afternoon, and I got to the airport after a crazy Caipiriñha-filled night in Rua Augusta. I reached the Guarulhos airport well in advance and checked in comfortably for my flight. I was already very excited with Perú in my mind and didn’t really think about the layovers that awaited me.
On short flights, I normally book an aisle seat, hoping to get off the plane early. As the flight was preparing to land at Iguaçu, fellow passengers on the left side of the plane started taking hordes of pictures and I heard the term Iguaçu falls and immediately regretted not getting a window seat. Did I miss out on a natural marvel hoping to save a few minutes? I tried to look through the window, but could only see a whole lot of green on my side.
We landed at the tiny tiny airport of Iguaçu, and I straightaway ran to the taxi counter to ask them whether they could take me to the falls what with me having only a couple of hours at hand, before I had to be back at the airport, clear immigration, and make it for the flight to Perú(!). I approached a couple of taxi counters and they all asked for a big amount of money promising me an individual taxi with my own driver who would take care of my tour end to end. Having travelled a bit, I had the presence of mind to ask a couple of locals if this was a good deal, and they didn’t really warm up to this idea. Instead, they directed me to the airport help desk, where a friendly chap told me that the national park was literally a 5-minute taxi away. I took a taxi from right outside the airport, and the old gentleman who drove me assured me that I will have a good evening and there was no need to rush. In all, I had spent literally nothing (about $3) to get to the falls, compared to the more than $100 that the taxi operator asked for (which was not including the park entrance ticket). Once I got to the park, I could buy the tickets to see the majestic falls, for about $17. This ticket also included the bus ride from the park entrance to the falls, and back. After waiting for a few minutes in the queue to board the double-decker bus, I was able to get the front seat on the upper deck, and the ride from the entrance to the falls was just spectacular! So green and beautiful, this ride was an indication of the natural wonder that awaited me in a few minutes. Once we got off the bus, there was a short 15-minute hike to the falls, and this hike was bordering the valley in which the water from the falls flowed. With every turn, up and down, there was new scenery, giving a glimpse of the falls. Finally, there was a turn which presented the falls in all their glory, accentuated with a rainbow. And what a rainbow it was! I took a few minutes soaking in this view, and even as there were quite a few people on this hike, I was able to find a good spot where I was not bothered as much. Such a view demanded the full attention of all my senses!
I returned to the hike and reached a viewpoint where there was a line of people waiting to get a good picture, because of the picture-perfect background. I joined the queue and saw a familiar face board the queue. Turns out, on such a random trip, I happened to bump into an Instagram celebrity, of ‘Mom, I’m fine’ fame!
After a short interaction with Jonathan and his girlfriend (who was sweet enough to take this pic of us), I headed to the final destination: the viewing deck of the falls.
As I reached the deck, I realised that I was surrounded by the waterfalls on literally all my sides, and the spray from the falls was good enough to get me drenched if I spent more than a few minutes there. I took my time to reach the end of the deck and admired the falls from a close distance of a few feet. So what if I got a bit wet, this view would not present itself again in the near future! No matter how the pictures look, one has to experience these natural wonders in real life to understand how small we really are, and how our problems don’t really matter in the larger picture. Then again, such things are better experienced than reading on a blog.
After admiring nature and its power, I walked back to the deck and made my way to the souvenir store. I got myself an official shirt and a raincoat (yes, after getting wet already!), and headed to the bus stand, to make my way back to the entrance and then the airport. On the way back, I took the last seat on the upper deck, so no one would judge me when I stuck my head out of the window to enjoy the wind in my hair. Moments like these are what make these journeys so memorable. Yes, the falls had been an incredible experience to see, but then I was truly happy experiencing that wind in my hair on a bus ride through a national park and having no other worries at all at that point in time. Today, as I write this sitting at a local cafe in Bengaluru on a rainy evening, I can feel that joy that still emanates from memories of such a happy moment. A happy moment which I shall call #backpackerbliss.
After I reached the entrance, I took a bus to the airport (for like $1), and reached the airport well in time to clear immigration (took the uninterested lady at the immigration desk a minute to stamp my passport and let me through), and still catch the second half of the Euro Cup final that Portugal won.
I missed out on going to this beautiful marvel of a place the first time I came to Brasil in 2014, but this time, luck favoured me and I was able to visit without spending anything! Ideally, I’m not the biggest fan of TAM, but I can’t thank them enough for forcing me to spend a few hours in this small city, and letting me see one of the natural wonders of this small world of ours!
