Published: 07.06.2022
The area where our hotel is located is very rural and above all quiet! There are scattered haciendas around us. The center of Iguazu is 17 km away!
Today we went to the bird park, among other things. Since the park is only about 400 meters away from our hotel, we walked there on foot! We were there around 9:30 a.m. and the park was still surprisingly empty. We had the opportunity to calmly observe all the animals. In short, the park mainly houses over 1300 birds. Many animals have come to the park due to deforestation of the rainforest, mistreatment, but also as gifts or loans from zoos. Attempts are also being made to breed and reintroduce endangered species into the wild.
The park is beautifully designed and the sound is incredible. You walk along a marked trail and repeatedly pass through huge aviaries. The animals flew over us or ran in front of us. It was nice to see. The flora in the park was also impressive. There were beautiful flowers and plants to see every few meters. We also observed many hummingbirds. It looks amazing when they flutter in one place and drink nectar from flowers with their long beaks.
As we walked through another huge aviary, an employee asked us if we would like to feed the parrots. Of course! So we bought two skewers of grains and were informed about the feeding process. Daniela was the first and didn't have much luck as a parrot took a big bite of the entire grain. Now it was my turn, the employee told me to be careful as the parrots sometimes peck at fingers or hands. Three parrots sat on my arm and eagerly ate from the skewer. Another bird flew over and landed on my arm. It nibbled and pecked at my fingers and hand. Daniela laughed and I just said, HELP, get rid of the parrot. But Daniela kept laughing and taking photos. Great....! With a sudden hand movement, it flew off me. It reminded me of the budgerigars that my sister had, they also used to peck at me!
Then our personal highlight came. Many different macaws flew over us and some even landed in front of us. We were able to take super cool photos. Many macaws were sitting together as couples and swinging on a large tree trunk swing, it looked ridiculously cute. We were so impressed by our visit to the bird park that we walked to the Brazilian national park opposite.
From here, you have a panoramic view of the waterfalls on the Argentine side.
Yesterday, we couldn't visit the Devil's Throat waterfall due to too much water. The path was impassable. However, we were able to admire this gigantic waterfall today. All I can say is that it is absolutely INSANE. So much water rushing down and it's deafening and unimaginable. Before the visit, I wondered what else could happen here today, but it was indescribable. Both sides have so much extraordinary to offer. What was funny: a large group of monks positioned themselves on the bottom viewing platform in front of the Devil's Throat and sang a song. They were completely soaked.
At some point, I wondered why the water is always so dark, almost brown. This is probably due to deforestation of the rainforest and, with increased water levels, it carries sediment loads. These cause the brown coloration. The water used to be clear. It's really sad what is happening here due to the deforestation of the rainforest.
Now we are back at the hotel and have to pack. Tomorrow we are flying to the Pantanal. This time the plane leaves at 8 a.m. in the morning! In that sense, good night and greetings from us :-)
