Saturday, September 17, 2016
This morning we rode a public bus to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, the second largest city in the country. It is located on the other side of the Friendship Bridge from Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.
Despite border control booths near the bridge, there were no patrols or officials monitoring vehicles entering or leaving Brazil and Paraguay.
The bus crawled along in heavy traffic and stopped at one point to admit a young man with a guitar. He smiled and shook hands with the driver then turned to the passengers and sang a medley of lively songs in Spanish. Fun entertainment!
Cuidad del Este is known for its shops and malls so all vendors accept local Guarani or any foreign money. The shopkeepers quickly perform currency exchanges, so “buyer beware!”
The main street was lined with malls, shopping centers, and outdoor stalls. There were corridors of little shops and alleyways filled with open-air booths selling anything and everything.
I noticed every vendor had a thermos filled with “yerba mate cimarron,” which they poured into smaller vessels and drank through a metal straw. In one booth, a woman chopped green plants while another woman ground dried plants with a mortar and pestle. They put all the plants in a thermos, then added water while the purchaser waited for his fresh ‘mate.‘
There were pedestrian bridges to cross the very crowded boulevard:
Heavy traffic returning to Brazil:
After we explored the market, we found a bus stop and returned to the bus terminal in Foz do Iguacu. Public transportation is free for all seniors over 60 years of age throughout Brazil, so we took advantage of this service and hopped on another bus from the terminal to Iguazu National Park.
The famous waterfalls, “cataratas” are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and designated as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
There are more than 275 individual cascades on the Iguazu River which created a natural border between Brazil and Argentina. On both sides of the magnificent river, the views were fabulous!
Iguazu Falls is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world! The semicircular cascade is 263 feet high and almost two miles long. The falls were truly magnificent!!
