Nature´s Majesty

After a 16h bus ride from Sao Paulo to Foz go Iguazu, I finally arrived near the Iguazu Waterfalls. The first day I visited the Brazilian side of the falls.
Colorful butterflies swirling around in the middle of the jungle next to one of the most amazing natural wonders I´ve ever seen. At least three times as big as the Niagara Falls in the USA, the Iguazu falls show enormous amounts of water thundering down lava stones and building a picture which cannot be described by words and hardly be shown in pictures (even though I tried of course)....absolutely stupendous!
The next day I visited the Argentinian side and it was even more spectacular! Fantastic walkways very close to the falls, a little exploring on your own (even though it's quite touristic and all the paths are clearly marked...) and some great views on the biggest falls (there are 275 of them...).

In the evenings in Foz do Iguazu I experienced a somehow stranger time. I was sitting with some people from the Netherlands, Spain and Chile outside in our yard when the owner of the hostel told us some stories about robbings, kidnappings, rapings and murderings in this region. He also explained us that the drug traffic from Paraguay (which is just beyond the nearby river) caused these incidents and that there were shootings every night. Even though we took his explanations seriously, we thought this would all happen somehow far away. And then...shots...just nearby, a couple of hundred meters...at least 20...a strange feeling! The following night I even heard a machine gun very clearly and very close just between the hostel and the river in the slums...

Even though I had a fantastic time with the falls and the people here in Foz do Iguacu, I'm kind of relieved to leave this place today...heading for some safer regions :)