Just let us cross the border.

Cuidad del este to Puerto Iguazu Feb10th

The border crossing was an experience in and of itself, the ferry is really a barge pushed along with a small boat, the Immigration and Aduana for Paraguay is on the bank of the river and consists of two sheds. The officers are very friendly and laid back as there is not much traffic at this crossing, most people us the large Friendship Bridge and cross into Brazil then cross the smaller bridge into Argentina. But again without visa’s for Brazil we have only one option.

Once across the river we are greeted by the Argentina border officials, they are in small trailers and after standing in a short line we are asked for our tickets. 

What “tickets”? The little lady behind the glass says we need to have reciprocity tickets before we can proceed with immigration. She is very insistent that we return to Paraguay and get our tickets, there is a Paraguay shed across the road so she takes us over there and asks him something in Spanish that I can’t catch. He just kind of shrugs and looks back at her with a universal expression of “What am I supposed to about it, not my problem.” 

She then takes us back across the street to tell us we have to go back to Paraguay and log into the internet and pay the fee at the website. I explain to her a few times that we can’t go back into Paraguay as our visa was only good for one entry and it has been used, she keeps insisting that we go back. I ask if there is internet here and she says “No”, I explain to her again about the visa and that there is nothing across the river to help get me on the internet. This goes on for a few more minutes then I lose my cool and yell at her in English, “What the hell difference does it make where I am standing if I have to log into a website to pay the fee, Jesus F*#g Christ?” (sorry for the swearing). Surprisingly she seemed to understand this and her English got better, then she took us back across the street to the Paraguay shed and we repeated the process one more time. I got tired of this game and just sat on a bench in front of the shed and waited, I explained the goings on to Brenda who had joined me on the bench in disbelief. Finally, the supervisor came out of the trailer and asked if I had a credit card... well of course I do...then he waived me into the trailer and pointed to a computer with the mysterious website pulled up. 

Really, this could have all been avoided had we been allowed to do this 45 minutes ago. So within 5minutes I had logged onto the site, paid the entry fee, and printed the receipts, promptly being asked to get out of the trailer. Meanwhile outside Brenda is getting hasled by the guards to move the bikes, a passerby translates to Brenda what the guards want and Brenda directs her to me in the office. I am also baffled as there are no other cars or traffic on the road and we are parked off to one side, screw it they can wait. I scoop up my papers and walk around the wall to the window, the same lady then asks me for my “ticket” and stamps our passports. What a gong show! In the end we realize it is our fault for not doing enough homework about the entry requirements but as a weak defense we figured that if a fee is required for entry it should get paid at the border, or at least have the ability to pay it at the border. Welcome to Argentina, after 4hrs of travel time we have gone 40km from our hotel in Cuidad del Este across the border to our hotel in Iguazu Falls.

It is still early in the day so we take a walking tour of the city in search of a bank or money changer, we find both so that task is taken care of. Then it is on with the tour, the town is very quaint and filled with tourists. Iguazu Falls is a major attraction and we look forward to seeing it the next day. We initially thought we could pack up and ride to the falls, take a few pictures then carry on down the road. It is very hot here so we figured it best to just stay an extra night and take our time at the falls, we were very glad we did, the National Park is huge and took most of the day walking to see the place. There are actually a series of falls and thus a few different viewpoints to get to. There is also an extensive boardwalk system through the park that allows for birdwatching and Botany enthusiasts as there are over 400 bird species recorded in the area and numerous plants are labeled along the walkways. The combination of heat and waterfalls is also a prime recipe for skin. There are numerous people walking the park in bathing suits, both men and women. All kinds of sightseeing available.