Iguazu Falls (aka Jared and Dad in PY Part 2)

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls, the world's largest series of waterfalls, is ranked as #1 of the 7 wonders of the nature. Spanning 2.7 Kilometers across the border between Brazil and Argentina and reaching up to 80 meters in height, Iguazu Falls definitely live up to their name which means "Big Water" in Guarani. These immense falls are a must-see destination for anyone traveling through South America. 

Crossing into Argentina

Most visitors to the falls come from Rio or Buenos Aires, but our trip begins in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. Even though it may be quicker to take the bus through Brazil, we decided to try the scenic route, the ferry across the river to Argentina. Embarking from Tres Fronteras, the ferry offers a tranquil ride over the Rio Parana directly to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. We were able to see all three borders (Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina) from the middle of the river. 

Logistics: From outside the terminal in Ciudad del Este, you can take a bus through Presidente Franco to Tres Fronteras. Ask the driver to take you to the "balsa"(ferry). At the turn for Tres Fronteras you will see a big green sign that says "Balsa a la Argentina". After walking about a half kilometer down the hill you will find a little customs office where you can get your exit stamps. The balsa costs 10 mil Gs/ $2.5 per person and runs every half hour from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Saturday. 

Puerto Iguazu

Once off the boat, you can get your entrance stamps at the customs office. Make sure to print out a copy of your Argentina visa ($160 for U.S. travelers, technically a reciprocity fee). Remember walking down the hill in Tres Fronteras? Now it's time to hike back up to Puerto Iguazu.  After eating pizza in the centro, we walked down the cobblestone streets to the beautiful Jasy Hotel.  Despite being only 8 blocks from the center of town, the hotel has a surprising jungle atmosphere. We felt as if we were staying in tropical rain forest resort! And we definitely loved the welcome drinks, caipirinhas!

Parque Nacional Iguazu

To get to the falls from town, you can either take a bus or a taxi. Since they cost the exact same price when divided among four people, we chose the much more comfortable taxi. There is a park entry fee of AR$115, but once inside the park, all the trails, the train, and passage to the island are free. There are several "adventure" packages you can buy including a ride through the jungle, getting splashed by the falls in a boat, and a rafting safari. 

The park is huge and has many different trails that each offer spectacular views of the falls. Because of the size of the park, we never felt like it was crowded. We started out by hiking the "Paseo Superior" which takes you up above the falls. From the viewpoint at the top of the trail, the falls seem to continue on forever. Next we took the "Circuito Inferior" a loop trail that weaves through the jungle and takes you to the boat landing at the base of the falls. The forest around the trail is filled with colorful birds and other wildlife. We even got to see a pack of coatis cross our path!  From there, we took the exhilarating boat ride into the falls. The shear power of the water is terrifying! Clothes now completely soaked, we crossed over to the Island San Martin to dry off on the beach. The the hike up the island trail gives you an incredible close-up view of the falls. It's hard to describe the views of the falls without sounding like I'm exaggerating, but every time we reached a new look-out point we would say, "Now this really is the most beautiful view!" In reality, they are all spectacular! 

We took the boat back to shore and rode the train to the "Paseo Garganta del Diablo". Make sure you hike this trail! You get to stand directly over the part of the falls called "the devil's throat". The water crashes below you in an 80 meter drop, so far that you can only see mist flying back at you. It is awesome! Wow I forgot to mention the rainbows... you will see dozens of rainbows in the mist of the falls, the largest of these can be seen from quite a distance hanging ominously over devil's throat. In the case a river exploration, if you see a rainbow over the water... look out! A huge waterfall could lie downstream. 

We ended our day with the ecological raft ride. We really enjoyed the contrast between the torrential rush of the devil's throat and the slow pooling waters above the falls. As we drifted languidly through little islands of trees, we caught glimpses or parrots and toucans flying overhead. We even saw the infamous "jacare" quietly resting in a bed of reeds. As the sun began to set, we reflected on the beauty, power, and majesty of the falls. 

Guira Oga

The next day we went to an animal refuge called, Guira Oga, which means "bird house" in Guarani. There you can hike through the reserve to see all kinds of cool jungle animals: monkeys, toucans, anteaters, eagles, otters, and more. Ben loved getting to see the toucans up close and Jared actually got to touch a monkey! That afternoon we took the direct bus to Ciudad del Este and began Part 3 of our journey.

Painting the World in Jesus

The day before Camp Itapua, we headed up Ruta 6 to visit our fellow environmental conservation volunteer, Anna, in the city of Jesus. Anna has been working with students to grow a school garden and has been helping the community develop sustainable tourism. To get to Jesus, you can take any bus heading to Ciudad del Este from Encarnacion. Make sure to ask the driver if they can drop you off at Trinidad. Buses that say "Rapido" in the window will not stop for you. Jesus is about 12 Km from the ruta once you get to Trinidad. Here you can either wait for the little bus (7 mil/person) or take the taxi (6 mil/person). We piled in the taxi with three Paraguayans and a baby in the back seat, and I sat on Ben's lap in the passenger seat. Since the first half of the ride in downhill, the taxi driver will get out and push the car until it begins to roll. Then, jump in for the ride and off you go! Our driver didn't turn on the engine until we were well underway.

In town, we met up with Anna, packed our gear, and headed to the primary school. There, Anna had arranged for us to help the students paint a map of the world on the wall of one of the classrooms.



Here's how we did it:

1.Paint the entire area of the wall light blue (the lighter the blue the less coats you will need for the countries).

2. Use a projector to display an outline of the world on the wall.

3. Trace the outline with permanent markers

4. Decide what colors you will need to paint the countries (Look online for examples)

5. Mix the paint to make the colors you need

6. Mark each country with a dot of the color it needs to be painted (This will save you a lot of trouble if you are working with kids.)

7. Delegate one color to each kid. Pour the paint into a smaller cup to minimize spills. We cut up egg cartons to make little paint trays.

8. We painted the outside of the world black to look like outer-space.

9. Once the paint drys, use a permanent marker to trace all the borders and label the countries.

10. Add details: compass rose, label the oceans, have fun!

All the paint for the project was donated by local hardware stores. It took us about 4 hours to complete steps 2-8 and it looked amazing! Painting the world map was a great opportunity to teach the students about geography. While we painted, we talked about the countries we wanted to travel to, which ones were the largest in size and population, and where major landmarks were located. We had a blast! We can wait to bring this activity to the schools in Coronel Bogado.


After a long afternoon of painting we cleaned up our supplies and walked down to see what Jesus is famous for, the Jesuit ruins. The ruins are considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Although the park was closed, Anna convinced the security guard to let us take a quick look around. We arrived just in time to see the sunset over the ruins. Beautiful shades of orange and pink softly illuminated the giant pillars and walls of the old church colony. The view was breathtaking! We will definitely be returning here with my parents in May.

Bike Ride to "the Beach"

Peace Corps volunteers in Paraguay are given an allowance to buy bicycles.  Peace Corps gives you enough money to buy your bike, helmet, and the remainder can be used for repairs and maintenance. As soon as our allowance came in, Ben and I went shopping! I bought a pink Caloi with a basket and Ben bought a red Polo. The number one rule about bikes is that you have to wear a helmet every time you ride. Since no one in Paraguay wears helmets, even when riding motos, we get plenty of stares from the community as we peddle by.

Soon after buying our bikes, we decided to go on an adventure. The Parana River passes about 15 Km south of Coronel Bogado, and somewhere in that area there is a little "beach" or "playa" where you can swim. Ben said, "Sarah, today we are going to find the beach!" We filled our water bottles and began our trek south.  It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was up and the sky was blue with not a single cloud in sight. The dirt road was long and so straight that we could see for miles. We peddled along passing mostly cattle fields with only a few houses here and there. As we rode farther south, we noticed fewer and fewer houses. We also began to notice the lack of shade, the heat of the sun, and the sweat dripping down our backs.

Finally, we came across a little wooden sign pointing in the direction of the "playa." We like signs, because not only does that mean we are going in the right direction, but it means we must be getting close! We eagerly peddled down the slightly rockier road. After about a mile, we came across another "playa" sign. Good! That means we must be almost there! As we continued riding south for awhile longer, we started to get a little bit worried. We began asking the few and far between people we passed along the way, "how much farther until the playa?" Every single one of them, no matter how far we had traveled  said, "dos kilometros."

By this time we felt we were too far to turn back without seeing the river. We had to keep going. We turned off the main road onto a slightly smaller dirt road. Passing through a herd of cows, we road a little faster now because the land began to slope downward.  We passed by a few houses and a little cemetery. Still there was no river in sight. We decided to turn back and ask a family that was drinking terere in their patio. They told us that the beach wasn't far, just 1 kilometro down the road. Well that sounded good so we took the bait and continued on. We asked a woman, who walking along the path, for a second opinion. She told us that the road to the "playa" was next the cemetery that we'd passed earlier. Although we were irritated that we'd been going in the wrong direction, we were happy to finally have a landmark to guide us there.

We road back uphill and found the cemetery lying between two dirt paths. Both paths ended at gated property lines. Dead-ends. Here we were 12 Km into the middle of nowhere, exhausted from the heat and exercise, water bottles completely dry, with no chance of enjoying the cool refreshing waters of the Rio Parana. Defeated, we started the wearisome journey back home. Although we never did find the "beach" that day, I still hold on to the thought that if we'd just gone a little bit farther, we would have seen those blue waves sparkling in the sun. We would have kicked off our shoes and joyfully plunged into the cool clear water...

Christmas in Ayolas

For Christmas this year, we got to travel to a nearby town named Ayolas to visit our first host mom's brother (our host uncle) and our many host cousins. Located on the coast of the Parana River, Ayolas is famous throughout Paraguay for its beaches, its fishing, and the second largest dam in the area known as Yacreta. The first biggest is Itaipu, but you'll have to read our other post about our trip to Itaipu to learn more about that.


We arrived in Ayolas at lunchtime and were promptly offered the opportunity to sample some traditional Ayolas cuisine.  So we sat down at the table, and our "aunt" brought out heaping platters of carpincho (aka capybara) and surubi (aka South American Catfish). Capybaras are large aquatic rodents - the largest rodents in the world in fact - and are native to the vast wetlands of Paraguay. Their meat is very unique because it has the texture of beef with the flavor of fish (and tastes fantastic with a mixture of soy sauce, lime, lemon, salt and pepper. The surubi is giant freshwater catfish that is absolutely delicious! Its meat is tender with very few bones. We ate some lunch, then we sat outside and drank terere.

After our meal, we headed out for a hike along the river. The rocks were really pretty along the shoreline, and Sarah and I even found some petrified wood! Our host dad, Cesar, gave us a little geology lesson. The river was very wide and pretty, with lots of fishermen and beach-goers enjoying the sunny day. Many people don't swim in the river because there are a lot of deep pozos (holes, or springs I guess) where it gets very deep and the current is strong enough to pull you under. We hiked all the way down to a small beach where a bunch of people were gathered, then we turned around and headed home.

That night was Buena Noche (Christmas Eve). We ate a big meal of cow tongue, carpincho, carne, and "potato salad" (with lots of mayo!). There was also a lot of Clerico, which is a giant fruit salad with a little bit of white wine and cidre (sparkling cider), which is very tasty. Then there were fireworks. They had been going off here and there the whole evening, but by the time we were eating dinner, they were nonstop. Most people have the really loud fireworks without many colors or sparks. Just loud booms. And the neighbors were launching them super close to the house. Eventually we all finished dinner and hurried inside to celebrate and to escape the calamity.

Everyone got comfortable. We readied the guitars. At 11:59 and 50 seconds, the countdown started to ring in Christmas day. It was exactly like New Year's. 5!-4!-3!-2!-1! Woooo! Feliz Navidad! Then we all sang happy birthday to Jesus. We all played some songs. Sarah and I made everyone sing and dance to Mami Loro. (For a demonstration, please watch this video of Mami Loro).

The next day was Christmas. We all got ready and headed out to the beach. We found a great little secluded area next to a hotel that caters to fishermen. We hung out and ate leftovers from the night before and basically did nothing. Fede and Guille, our host brothers, were teasing me pretty much the whole time, which made for a lot of fun. They also taught me some bad words in Guarani, but only so I would know them when kids in the colegios used them.

Our host uncle snagged a big fish, a golden dorado, and let me reel it in. I guess I kind of caught it. I'll go ahead and take credit for it for now, until I have a chance to get back out there and catch one of my own. Another interesting thing is that you see many other races in Paraguay. In CB, we have a lot of Russian and Ukrainian people. In Ayolas, we saw a bunch of Japonese people who were out at the beach enjoying a great cookout. There is a big mix of cultures here which almost always has the same story; they hated the world wars, and they got the hell outta there; fled to a neutral country in the heart of South America to escape all the nonsense that was going on with the kids who just couldn't play nice. We didn't take pictures of them though, cause that would have been a little awkward.

After the beach, we tried to skype with a bunch of the family, which was great! We ate some more fish for dinner, mainly a caldo of the fish head, which was surprisingly tasty, and we learned that the cheek meat is the best. We relaxed for the night, and everyone prepared us for the trip to visit the dam in the morning.

The next morning, we got up and headed out early to see the Yacreta dam. Our host cousin Maria-Eugenia (Which is the spanish equivalent of Mary Eugene).. or better known as Uki, a 23 year old college grad who works at a nonprofit in Encarnacion, volunteered to be our tour guide. We saw the museum at the dam welcome center and saw a bunch of fish in jars and a bunch of stuffed animals. We took a bus to the dam and got out at several places to take pictures. We also ventured inside and saw the main generators and got a full explanation of the inner workings.

 All-in-all, our Christmas experience was filled with all of our favorite things. We were welcomed by a very warm family and got to share some good times for the holidays. We got to experience more culture and learn about how Paraguayans celebrate Christmas. We also got to hang out at the beach and see some pretty famous landmarks in a really cool town. Not too shabby. We hope next year is just as great!

A trip to the east

During our second week in site, we were presented us with an offer we simply could not refuse: A free trip to Ciudad del Este, Itaipu Dam, and Monday Falls! Our host mother, Nohelia invited us to join her class's end of the year trip. (Here in Paraguay, school ends in the first week of December for summer break).

That Sunday night, we boarded an overnight bus with around 40 high schoolers and 10 chaperons. We put in our earplugs, took some tylonel pm, and tried to get as much sleep as possible. The next thing we knew we were jarred awake by the boys singing pop songs at the top of their lungs around 5 AM. They also like to play a game where you read road signs in a funny voice and laugh really hard. You know how teenagers are.

We arrived early at our first stop, the Itaipu Dam. While we waited for the visitors center to open, we checked out the street vendors' blankets filled with handmade jewelry. I bought a colorful strap for my camera, and Ben got a bracelet woven with the colors of the Paraguayan flag (red, white, and blue) to use as a keychain. In the meantime, the students had grouped in circle around a huge insect that they were poking with a stick. When the center opened, we shuffled into a small theater and watched an informational film (in Spanish) about the dam. To learn about it in English check out the wiki article: Itaipu Dam.

After the little video, everyone piled into a bus and they took us on the dam tour. They stopped at a place before the dam to get a great dam picture. Then we got on the dam bus and drove down the dam until we reached the dam control center. We got to get out and walk beneath some dam corridors and get a dam lecture before we left and got on the dam bus again. The whole dam tour was actually pretty short - Maybe about 20 dam minutes, which are actually the same as regular minutes. We thought it was a great feat of engineering at first, and we were impressed, but even though it's really big and pretty, it's still terrible for the environment, right? Later we did some research and found tons of articles that talk about how all the dams in Paraguay have really devastated the surrounding ecosystems. So, dams are cool, but not our favorite thing since we've been here.

Next, we all piled into our original bus and headed to Salto Monday (which is pronounced Mon-Dah-U). The waterfalls here were really beautiful, and it was good to see that it was well maintained. A few of the kids picked up bottles and threw them into the waterfall, which shows that PC environmental conservation volunteers still serve a purpose here. We hung out for a while and enjoyed the view. They also had a little "eco-tourism" canopy walk, but it wasn't anything special. It was just a little set of walkways suspended about 20 feet in the air, just out in the open. One of the kids in our group paid to go, so we were content just watching him do it.

After the falls, we went to Ciudad Del Este. They let all the kids loose for a few hours. Sarah and I wandered around with Nohelia and our new friend Cesar, a profe that we met on the bus. We wandered through the malls checking out the prices on different electronics like electric shavers and cameras. There are several different malls in C. Del Este. The streets are packed with street vendors and little booths. Then there are hundreds of other people walking around selling everything from socks to pen drives. It was quite an experience. Little kids would walk even walk up to you trying to sell you stuff. Sarah bought a backpack from a little vendor, then we headed to a grocery store for some lunch. It was a buffet style restaurant where you pay per kilo of food, and it was crowded and noisy just like similar style restaurants in the states. I've included some pics of the city, but it's really hard to capture the calamity of the city in a picture. But it's a great place to go if you want a cheap knock-off of anything. 

 

It started raining just as we had to load back on the bus and take the long trip home. Sarah and I had a great time on this trip, and best of all, it was completely free! We were pretty lucky. We met some cool kids and teachers, and got to see some great parts of Paraguay. 

ETs go home

Peace Corps service is not for everyone. Early Termination (ET) is defined in the volunteer handbook as any event that results in the termination of a PCV's service prior to the completion of service (COS) date. Peace Corps categorizes ETs into four different types: resignation, medical separation, administrative separation, and interrupted service. Once the decision is made to go home, you complete a final medical evaluation and you are on a plane to the U.S. the next day. It's that fast!

When we first arrived in country, our trainers told us that usually about 10% of every training class will not complete their service. Our training class of both agriculture and environmental volunteers started with 54 and by swear-in six of us had returned home. The first trainee left during our third week of training right after we went on the PCV visits. She said to her friends that it just wasn't the right time in her life to do Peace Corps. The next trainee to leave was a pretty big surprise to everyone. He was the veteran of the group having served as a PCV in Panama a few years back. He had come to Paraguay as part of the Master's International program. We all thought he would be the super volunteer with answers to every question. Before our second month of training he returned home to take care of some legal matters.

A few days before our site assignments were given out, our trainers spoke to us as a group about our commitment to Peace Corps service. They told us that now is the time to think seriously about whether or not Peace Corps is right for us. It is best to make the decision before future site visit out of respect for your community. Each community goes through a long process when asking for Peace Corps volunteers. During future site visit the whole community is excited to meet the volunteer who will be living and working with them for the next two years. How do you think they feel, when after site visit their volunteer decides to ET? They begin think... What is wrong with us that makes the volunteer not want to work with us? It can be heart breaking for a community to lose their volunteer.

In the end, we had 5 from environment and 1 from agriculture leave during training. A month after swear in, we had 2 more go home leaving us 46 strong. I think one of the biggest reasons for leaving is that their expectations of Peace Corps service did not match up with reality. While this did not happen in our experience, we have heard that some recruiters and placement officers have been stretching the truth or giving misguided information to applicants. Every volunteer's service is different and the most valuable asset you can have is flexibility. Let go of your preconceived notions of "the perfect" Peace Corps experience. Let your Peace Corps service take you on an adventure. Let it open the doors of your life to new and exciting places. No matter what your service is like Peace Corps will transform you for the better. All you have to do is let it.