Aldino and the foz do iguaçu

well guys, foz do iguaçu was a blast... the cataratas were amazing and we were very fortunate to have an amazing tour guide from the moment we arrived to the moment we left.

we came into foz do iguaçu at 1:00 am on the 30th of may without knowing if we had a hotel or if we were going to be bumming around the streets for a night. this, however, completely changed when we were picked up by a very nice taxi driver named Aldino. He asked us where we wanted to go and also asked if we had reservations there or not. I said that we kinda did since i had emailed a hotel telling them that we would be coming in, but he offered to take us to a hotel that he said was better and would be cheaper as well. We took him up on his offer and as we were driving, he also offered to take us around the falls for the day. He would pick us up at 8:40 in the morning, take us to the brazil side, the argentine side and then drive us back to the hotel in the evening for a mere R$150. Since it was 1 in the morning and this seemed like a much better deal than waking up, having breakfast and a late start that would have turned into a day of confusion, we took him up on his offer.

Aldino turned out to be priceless. Not only did he drive us around, but he told us what he knew of the falls, walked us around the parks, got us across the border without waiting in lines, set up a boat trip to the `garganta do diablo´ for us, and was full of helpful information to make the day better.

And what a day we had! The falls were marvelous! I can´t express in words how amazingly powerful they are but yet completely calming and awe-inspring. You have to come here and hear and see and feel for yourself, because the falls are larger and more magnificent than you can imagine.

The boat ride was crazy. Although we didn´t actually make it to the garganta do diablo, we did have a wild ride that included our "baptism into the falls". We were DRENCHED! but it was totally worth every minute of this up close and personal experience with such a gigantic natural wonder.

we even had some fun climbing past a "no passar" sign to follow the advice of a girl who said that there were falls we could swim in and a rusty boat that was torn up just out of view that was really easy to get to. we ran into a group of new yorkers and aussies that were adventuresome and interesting. It was fun listening to them reminice about their experiences as we reminiced of ours.

I have to say that anyone who comes down with me or alone in the future has to come to the falls, and has to have Aldino as your guide. He even has a notebook where every person he took to the falls wrote a thank you to him. I´ve never seen so many nationalities being grateful to one person... german, argentinian, brazilian, american, english, japonese, arabic, korean and more... all in this notebook filled with memories of good times and gratitude. I felt honored to have ridden in his cab, and the friendship we made over the day and a half really makes me want to make a special trip just to see him.

(he also took us to the itaipu dam... the largest dam in the world... the next day as well as the border of agentina, paraguay and brazil the next day... as well as a fantastic fish restaurant for lunch before he dropped us off at the airport...he was literally with us every step of the way, and I don´t think we could have done it as flawlessly without him)