Having broken the back of our ride to Iguazu in the first two days after leaving Rio de Janeiro, we had an easy run into the town that has grown up around the falls, and is the gateway to Argentina and Paraguay as well…
We set out from Campo Mourao with what for us would be just a short ride to today's destination...
Sometimes that is all you need...!!
We stopped twice for fuel, once for Roger and then a final time just outside Cascavel for me… We sat drinking coffee during both our stops, and watched the heavy traffic heading for the borders of Argentina and Paraguay…
The landscape had not changed much from the previous day… Huge swathes of sugar cane, and later fields of maize, grew on each side of us, from horizon to horizon…
By midday, and shortly before we reached our destination, it became almost unbearably hot… The temperature must have soared into the high 30’s by lunchtime, and the heat coming into my helmet felt as though it was singeing the hair in my nostrils…!!
It did not matter how fast we rode, the heat still got to us…!! At the slower speeds we were forced to ride at while passing through small towns and villages, I found myself breathing through my mouth rather than my nose to avoid the discomfort…
On the outskirts of Medianeira, this impressive church stood perched on a bluff close to the highway...
We avoided Downtown, and headed towards the falls...
We stopped just short of Fos do Iguazu to decide whether we wanted to stay in town, or out in the country closer to the falls… In Roger’s Lonely Planet Guide Book, we came across the name of a hostel that was about ten kilometres out of town, and chose to check it out rather than waste time riding around town to find a hotel…
Roadworks on one of the major roads in town had caused a huge snarl-up in the traffic, and we struggled through the heat and exhaust fumes for half an hour before we rode out towards the falls on a road that was less busy…
The last kilometre to the Natura Hostel was on a hard-packed dirt road that presented no problems for us, and we were soon parked under a large Flame Tree and began negotiations with the supervisor on duty…
The parking area at the Natura Hostel, just a five kilometre ride from the entrance to the Iguazu Falls...
Shorty after we had unpacked our gear into the room we were sharing, the power went out, and stayed that way for the remainder of the afternoon…!!
After a quick dip in the pool, we decided that there was nothing else to do but sleep…
After a sweaty few hours on the bike, the pool was a welcome sight and quickly put to good use...!!
Roger didn't bother going into our room to sleep... The patio and lounge area were comfortable enough for him...
I was annoyed that I could not use the time to update some of the posts I have been meaning to write, and by the time the power came back on late that evening, we were ready for dinner…
After a hurried meal, we opened our laptops and started checking our mail… My email that had been down for a few days was up and running again, and Allan Karl had also made a few updates to my website which he felt was in dire need of maintenance after two years…!!
He also discovered that the site stats had not been recording properly, and got that sorted out too…When the new numbers came up, I was surprised at the volume of traffic that my blog was attracting…
Gratifying to see that the long hours spent updating have not been in vain...!! I am humbled by the interest shown by people in over 170 countries and territories at the last count...!!
©GBWT 2012
Exciting times – beautiful places and really interesting people. Hope you get time to really appreciate the ride. Travel safely and thanks for the update.