Brazil Iguassu Falls - 2018

After leaving the Pantanal we headed to one of the worlds natural wonders, located on the borders of Brazil and Argentina by flying into Foz Do Iguacu in Brazil.  After checking into the hotel, we found the local bus terminal and headed for a late afternoon rendezvous with Iguassu Falls.

Flight from Cuiaba to For Do Iguacu, Brazil

Public bus trip from For Do Iguacu to the falls on Brazilian side

After reaching the National Park entrance and buying tickets, you then catch a double decker bus at an allocated time and it takes you to various other attractions before stopping at the start of a 1.5km multi-stair walk down to the face of the falls on the Brazilian side.

The first views of it were stunning… along with the amazing roar of the water and plumes of spray going everywhere!

First sight of the falls we saw at the beginning of the walk

These falls are huge in terms of physical size, for example a few 'falls facts'.  There are 275 individual falls along 2.7kms of the Iguazu River and they average about 64m in height but a few are 82m high.  That wasn't too bad was it.

Shows only a small number of the total falls which make Iguassu

One of the walks you can take is along a boardwalk out towards the middle of the river, just above the surging water flowing away from the falls.

Rob standing on the walkway out towards the base of the falls

We walked out separately so one of us could look after backpacks and stop them getting soaked and soaked we both got but it was exhilarating. Trying to get any photographs was tough because of water constantly falling on camera lenses.

View from the end of walkway

We continued on our walk up to an area directly opposite the falls face, so close you could almost reach the water, our eyes constantly being dragged back to the amazing scene laid out in front of us.

No matter where we walked, we were not only kept company by LOTS of other tourists but also by the cute looking Coatis running around between people or climbing up onto handrails, their mission… food.

Rob and coati 'friend'

There were warning signs everywhere to not try to pet or feed the Coatis because they can bite and do a lot of damage.

With the sun setting and the park drawing close to closing time, we caught a bus back to the park’s entrance and then caught a local bus back into town and ready ourselves for a return visit next day.

We followed the same routine to find ourselves back on exactly the same buses and walking tracks, but this time much earlier in the day, so the sun shone differently onto the falls.

With more time available we slowed ourselves down and took more time simply watching in awe the spectacle that lay in front of us… truly breathtaking!

Truly stunning

With many more photos under our belts and many hours, we reluctantly left the Brazilian side of the falls, a storm forming on the horizon.

A short walk from the Park’s entrance is a bird park, highly recommended to us, so with the storm heading towards us, we found ourselves standing in front of many very exotic birds, some of which we hope to see in the wild later in this trip.

Here are just a few photos of what we saw…

The very majestic Harpy Eagle

With rumbling sounds directly above us, we boarded yet another local bus back into town and made it back to the hotel just as the rain came pouring down and continued into the night.

Our enjoyable time in Brazil had come to an end as we prepared to cross the border into Argentina next morning.

Go well!

Brazil Pantanal – 2018

For a few years we had been keen to try and see one of the more elusive large cats on the planet, jaguars.

This desire motivated us to include a trip to a more remote area in Brazil called the Pantanal; it is the world’s largest tropical wetland, covering over 181,300 square kms— right in the centre of South America.

Blue section on map is The Pantanal

Brazil can lay claim to most of the region, but the Pantanal spills into neighbouring Paraguay and Bolivia and though the Amazon rain forest to its north is more well known, the Pantanal quietly boasts the highest concentration of wildlife on the continent.

After the wet season (Dec to early April), the Pantanal becomes a massive wetland filled with lots of wildlife and as the waters drain the bird numbers reduce through migration and the numbers of marsupials and mammals increase, including jaguars.  The Pantanal is also home to the green anaconda… the largest snake in the world.

Our original itinerary was planned in conjunction with a local company Wild Pantanal Safaris had us travelling deeper into the Pantanal along the mainly dirt Transpantaneira Highway.

Start of the Transpantaneira Highway into the Pantanal

We were meant to stay at a more rustic lodge at the end of the highway for 4 days/3 nights, specifically to search for jaguars.

Jaguars are the dominant predator weighing up to 136 kg in weight and whose prey includes caiman, which are similar to but smaller than crocodiles, captured by leaping off the bank into the water, crushing their throat or skulls and dragging them back out onto land.

Unfortunately for us, late and unseasonal heavy rains flooded the rougher and final sections of the road and areas around the lodge and leading to the jaguars moving north and away from this area.

This meant a rapid change of itinerary only a week out from our arrival.  We were naturally disappointed, but the Pantanal had plenty of other wildlife to search for.

We had to reach a city called Cuiabá and after travelling from Rio via Sao Paulo where whilst waiting for the flight to Cuiabá, Rob decided to use the airport toilet, only for its door to fall off its hinges.  She caught and handed it to the attendant as she left, much to that lady’s bemusement.

Flights from Rio to Cuiabá

At 7am next morning we were heading into the Pantanal with Jon our driver and guide Flavio, an indigenous Amazon Brazilian with a lot of stories to share and things to teach us.

The new itinerary had us staying in one lodge for 2 nights and another, deeper into the Pantanal for 1 and over the next 4 days it was non stop wildlife searching, including during our drive along the ‘highway’ to and from lodges.

There was an upside to the late rains… birds, lots and lots of birds and it wasn’t long before we were seeing some familiar ones like the kingfishers but also a mass of new ones.

Kingfisher flying across a river

Spoonbills at sunrise

Snail kite eating a crab

It was both hot and humid in the Pantanal, but that didn’t deter Flavio having us out searching for wildlife within 30 mins of checking into the first lodge and soon found ourselves standing right next to a 2m caiman sunning itself on land.

First caiman we saw

So for our entire time in the Pantanal we were either doing pre-sunrise walks into the forest, day and night drives or boat drives and there was plenty to see as the photos that follow will show.

At both lodges there was also plenty of evidence of the presence of our elusive quarry in the form of very fresh tracks of jaguars, at the first lodge a mother and cubs and at the second lodge a large male.

Fresh jaguar paw prints but alas no sighting of one

Flavio constantly amazed us by both his shared stories and his ability to spot animals either during the day or night, for example during our pre-dawn walk in the jungle and just after the sunrise, he found a porcupine sleeping at the top of a tree!

Tree climbing porcupine... who would have thought

The staff in both lodges were very warm, friendly and despite our lack of Portuguese, made us feel very welcomed indeed. The food was plentiful and good, especially the piranha soup.

We really enjoyed our multiple boat rides where we experienced a few new things like…

...birds

Hyacinth Macaw

Small toucan

...monkeys

Black & gold howler monkey

Brown capuchin

...agouti

Azaria's agouti

...capybaras

Patiently waiting to enter the 'capybara cafe'

...marsh deer

Marsh deer

...caiman

Caiman in the wetlands at sunset

...snakes

...parrots

Click on this link - More photos in the Pantanal

During one boat ride we even went fishing for piranha and yes I did take one off the hook, much to Flavio’s concern, especially when you see their teeth.

Me hanging onto a piranha

The business end of a piranha

A jumping caiman called Lucy who swam up so close to our boat Rob was warned to keep her hands away from the side.  The fish she jumped for was piranha!

Lucy the caiman jumping for a piranha

Another piranha was thrown into the water for a hawk to swoop down and grab, which was another surprise for us.

Hawk making off with its piranha

During 2 night drives Flavio found pygmy owls hiding in trees, crab eating foxes, including 2 young ones following and harassing a caiman walking down the highway, something Flavio had not seen before.

Pygmy owl at night

Crab eating fox

2  young crab eating foxes pestering a caiman on the main highway

We also managed to see 2 giant anteaters that appeared out of the bushes on to the road briefly before again returning.

Giant anteater appears out of the bushes one night

In only 4 days and despite only seeing jaguar tracks, we achieved much during our time in the Pantanal, again due to the skills and attention of both Flavio and Jon.

Map of our route within the Pantanal

Sunset over the Pantanal's wetlands whilst in boat

Thank you Wild Pantanal Safaris for a fabulous time and perhaps one day we will return to the Pantanal to finally see the elusive jaguar.

Panama - 2016

We were about to leave Costa Rica and cross into Panama and according to the itinerary notes, would be met on the Panama side by a driver called David holding up a sign to make it easier; all sounded straightforward. Well we were dropped off on the Costa Rican side of the border, our driver immediately doing a runner. 

Riot police surrounding noisy migrants

So with no idea of what to do next, we were confronted with a scene of heavily armed riot police surrounding a rowdy crowd of migrants wanting to cross the border illegally.

In the distance on the Panamanian side of the border, we could see an equally large group of armed police waiting to stop anyone attempting to cross.

All the police ignored us as we walked past the commotion and thanks to an American living in Costa Rica and who crosses this border often; he gave us guidance on how to negotiate ‘the process’.  First task, get the right departure document from Costa Rica, pay some money, walk through ‘no-man land’ past their riot police to the Panama Immigration area to get passports stamped, pay some more money and we’re in.

Well David wasn’t waiting for us, so we waited and waited and waited and waited, border crossing chaos all around us… no-one!  As normal now it was very hot and steamy, when Robert worked out that with the border crossing also came a time zone change, watches having to go forward an hour.  Hmmm… had the next driver already come and gone?

Boquete nestled amongst mountains

Thankfully buried in the trip notes we found a phone number for David, so now we had to find a local who spoke English willing to try contacting David to find out where he was.  

Finally and for a price, we did find someone who told us that David was 10-15 mins away.  Well eventually he did turn up, did have a sign, did not speak English but seemed to know where we were meant to be going… Boquete.

Boquete is a small town located in a valley surrounded by mountains and extinct volcanoes, about 60kms as the crow flies but about 2.5hrs drive from where we crossed the Costa Rican border.  At an altitude of 1,200mtrs, it has a cooler and more temperate climate, making it a very popular destination for people wanting to get away from the heat.  Its residents also include many retired Europeans and Americans living there enjoying a cheaper lifestyle. 

It is a nice quaint little town with very good restaurants and quirky bars, plus an excellent barber who correctly interpreted my poor Spanish request for a haircut, and it was also in Boquete we started seeing stalls selling that hat of the same name as the country we were now in… the panama.

Haircut in Panama

On the Quetzal Trail

We were in Boquete for one main objective, to walk, should actually say trek, the Quetzal Trail, criss-crossing its way around the dormant volcanic Rio Caldera.  

With a guide, we trekked what is casually described as the ‘downhill’ direction from west to east covering 9-10kms on the trail proper but before we got to the actual trailhead, we had a complete a steep 2km hike.  

The trail in this direction was thankfully mainly ‘downhill’ but for the 5-6hrs we were on it, but we did a lot of clambering up steep sections and down around the side of the caldera, climbing over large rocks, steps and tree roots.

The hike started at an altitude of 1,981mtrs and reached 2,500mtrs before the descent, and it really was a stunning area, with lots of beautiful jungle to walk through, constant panoramic views across misty valleys whilst constantly being surrounded by large trees or making multiple small creek crossings.

Male Quetzal (photo by Robyn Seal)

The name of the trail also provides a clue as to why we hiked it.

 Quetzals... keep trying to find more of them and again, we were in luck, our guide finding a few more of these stunning birds, along with many others varieties, keeping the 2 real ‘twitchers’ (not us) in our group very happy indeed, mind you the rest of us think they are a REALLY beautiful bird.

At the end of the trail though, we were all pretty stuffed, which made our meal that night in a terrific little Italian restaurant, all the more rewarding.

Female Quetzal (photo by Robyn Seal)

Hummingbird at Australian callistemon in Finca Lerida plantation

After spending the next day near Boquete at the Finca Lerida coffee plantation, we enjoyed more hummingbirds zipping around us, some great scenery, coffee and food.  Next morning, David picked us up for the drive to Almirante where we boarded another small boat.  Thirty minutes later we arrived in Bocas del Toro, the capital on the main island of Isla Colon, in the province of Bocas del Toro, a 4,657km² archipelago on the Caribbean coast, which Christopher Columbus first visited in 1502.

Boat taxi port at Bocas del Toro

Walking to hotel down main street of Bocas del Toro

This place is a tourist mecca for backpackers and surfers especially, with many open-air bars and reggae music and the simple reason for being here was to relax and chill out and we soon learned it was full of a variety of restaurants; many of them located over the water and soon understood how cheap the local crayfish was!  It was nice to do what the locals do, eat your food and then throw any food scraps into the water behind us and feed the waiting fish.

With only one full day here, Rob and I took a taxi boat to visit Red Frog Beach on another island, and try finding the diminutive red frogs.  After disembarking on the island and after organising to be picked up by the same boat in a few hours, the taxi departed and the skies opened with torrential rain!

Part of the island was a private wildlife reserve within very thick jungle and we could hear the frogs, but with the steady heavy rain, the frogs croaking for joy dispersed into the lagoons.  Also on the island is a fabulous tent based environmental ‘resort’ for backpackers, so we spent a few hours with them under cover in the café enjoying good coffee whilst watching the rain falling on a deserted but beautiful beach.

deserted Red Frog beach

Stunning architectural design

It was only a short flight from Bocas to Panama City and boy what a change in environment!  

This city is home to 1.5M people and reminded us of a larger version of the Gold Coast with many very modern high-rise buildings soaring skyward along the coastline.

It also housed some of the most exciting architectural designs in buildings we have personally seen.

To get a good feel for the city, we used a 48hr pass on the hop on/hop off bus.  

One of the stops on its route was at the reason this city exists, the Panama Canal, and to commence our learning curve of this amazing 100-year-old engineering feat, we hopped off at the visitor centre at Miraflores where one of the canals two lock complexes is located.  

The VERY modern skyline of Panama City

Approaching Panama City

As we arrived we were also in luck to see a massive passenger ship departing the locks and towering over the surrounding buildings.

Approaching Centennial Bridge and Pan American Hwy on way to Miraflores Lock

During our stay in Panama City, we completed what was meant to be a ½ day partial transit of the canal, boarding on the artificial Gatun Lake before heading back to and through the locks at Miraflores, then out to sea under the massive Bridge of the Americas where a queue of ships were anchored waiting to take the full 77km transit to the Caribbean coast.  Our partial transit actually ended up taking 10hrs due to delays waiting for an appropriate ship for us to follow into the locks.

Bridge of the Americas

When we boarded in Gatun Lake we were able to obtain a great vantage point at the front of the boat on the upper deck, and as the boat filled with more tourists, our challenge was to retain our spots over many hours.  We had people try to push in, we even had one old Japanese lady do the, ‘I’m short and very old and need sympathy’ thing without a single word being spoken… she was successful!  We did get a great view as we went through the locks but under the relenting heat we looked like slow baked meals when the day had ended.

Ship entering lock we were also in

There is such a massive amount of history and facts about the Panama Canal BUT I’m not going to inflict it on you… except for a few fascinating learnings.  

The canal is not a canal for the full 77kms, instead there are short canals at both ends, each with 3 locks, and a huge manmade lake in the middle at a higher level than the oceans, the lake being used to supply the water to operate the locks to raise/lower the ships into the lake.

If they had dug a massive canal for the full 77kms from coast to coast, as originally commenced by the French in 1881, the ships would not have been able to control their passage through it.  On one coast there is a ~1mtr tidal movement whilst on the other coast it’s over 20mtrs which simply would have meant, a massive rushing of water through the canal and out of control ships.

Ship in lock as tourist boat waits

Everything is charged to go through the canal, the cheapest transit being 36 cents paid by Richard Halliburton in 1928 when he swam the full length of the canal, and the most expensive toll paid so far by the ‘Norwegian Pear’l at $375,600, all tolls being based primarily on weight.  With the opening soon of the larger/wider 2^nd set of locks at both ends, to handle the super ships, the tolls are going to increase significantly.

Ship in lock and canal tourist boat waiting to enter

Finally, 13,000 to 14,000 vessels pass through the canal a year at the rate of about 35-40 per day, with traffic going in one direction for half the day and then reversing for the other half.  The ships waiting to transit in front of Panama City are all allocated a slot in the queue, and if the Captain of each ship doesn’t exactly follow the instructions of the pilot required for each transit, the pilot will disembark the ship and the boat goes to the end of the queue.

Container ship in 2nd lock next to our boat during transit

It is an amazing construction and very worthy of a visit and admiration!

Biomuseo

There is also an old town in Panama City, which we visited a few times and enjoyed walking along its many narrow streets lined with old Spanish colonial buildings. 

Another favourite destination for tourists is the Biomuseo, a historical environmental museum of Panama, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, which opened in October 2014.  It was fantastic and we spent a few hours enjoying it.

The old & new of Panama City

Old town in Panama City

On our last night in Panama City, Rob and I hiked 8kms along the waterfront from our hotel back to the fish market near the old town to take night photos.  This was an unplanned hike because we could walk faster than taking a taxi in the peak hour traffic. It did let us see hundreds of Panamanian locals keeping fit as they jogged and rode past us.

View back to city during 8km hike

The location we had spotted during our hop on/off bus rides we hope enabled us to capture some photos of the energy and modern style of Panama City, but combined with its reliance on the movement of boats past it.

Panama City at night and boats moving with in the waves

46kms from Panama City is the town of Gamboa, originally created to support the canal and it was here we stayed in the huge Gamboa Rainforest Resort for 3 nights, a delightful way to finish our time in Panama. 

View from Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Aracari Toucan - Gamboa

Surrounding Gamboa is Soberania National Park which we visited twice, once by boat watching baby crocodiles, numerous birds and monkeys combined with walking part of the famous Pipeline Road, a world famous destination for twitchers.  

Our final visit into the park was to the Rainforest Discovery Centre with its 32m high observation tower enabling great views over the canopy of the rainforest.

Broad billed Motmot

Tamarin monkey

Baby crocodile

Hummingbird

Tanager... I think

This large resort not only provided excellent scenery around it, especially at sunset, but also the opportunity to see plenty of wildlife.  Every morning just after sunrise we could be found standing on the upper balconies outside the rows of rooms, watching an abundance of colourful birds in the surrounding trees and even another sloth came down for a close look at us.

Hunting hawk

In the resort, at long last we saw those elusive and very colourful little frogs.  They were about the size of a thumbnail and their colours a warning to everything, because they are very poisonous and capable of killing a person if touched.

Red Poison Dart frog

Juvenile Golden Frog

The resort also runs a rehab centre for injured wildlife and whilst looking at frogs, we had a quick look at the holding pens where they were caring for an injured jaguar, one of the most elusive species anywhere in Central America.  We managed to see only a small part of this big cat but it was still a very exciting opportunity.

Our rewarding time here had come to an end as we headed back to the international airport in Panama City for the flight to our final destination on this trip and stories for the next post.

great photo by Robyn Seal

sunset on our time in Panama

For more photos of Panama, please click on the link below:

CLICK HERE for more Photos of Panama 2016

Go well!