Foz do Iguaçu Vacation - Part I

Last Thursday we headed off to the city of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil for a week of vacation. We were given a week at a time share in this marvelous spot from some wonderful folks at our sponsoring church. Foz do Iguaçu is a town that is located on the border of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. There are many things to see and do there, but the main attraction is the magnificent waterfalls that explode out of the Paraná river. The great part about this vacation is that we aren't taking it alone. Our good friends Dani, Alexandre and Ana Luisa came with us. They found a hotel across the street from ours and plan to see the sights with us.

This will be a 4-part post on our vacation since there is so much to do and see. I feel that one post would be a little overwhelming with stories and pictures. So, without further ramblings here is the first part...

The Trip (Days 1 and 2):

We left Porto Alegre on Thursday the 8th. We drove 8 hours on Thursday before we came to a little town in the middle of nowhere to stop and rest of the night. The drive was pretty pleasant. We really enjoyed the Brazilian countryside. We had never been this far in our car before, so we were entering new territory.

The second day of travel took 9 hours. This part of the travel was a little different. If you have ever seen off-road cross country racing on TV you might be able to picture in your heads how the roads were! The closer we got to Argentina the worse the roads got! It was quite interesting. We made it into Foz do Iguaçu around 6:30 or 7pm and found our hotel promptly. We turned in so that we would be fresh for the following day's events.

The Exotic Bird Park (Day 3):

Saturday we went to the exotic bird park near the entrance to the waterfall park. One of Elisa's favorite things in all the world (so far) is looking at birds. Let's just say that she wore herself out at this park! It was a lot of fun and really interesting for all of us. Some of the birds at this park were absolutely amazing!

And so it begins... "Look it! Look it!"

Toucan Sam!

Elisa and Sam get acquainted.

The family pets Lauro the Macaw. Elisa has gotten really good at the "one finger" approach.

We had a great time at the bird park!