Truckin' to Foz

Foz Iguacu, Brazil

We get up early and have the truck packed by 6:00am as it’s another long drive day. It’s amazing to me how 12 or 14 hours in a truck or a bus doesn’t even faze me anymore. On my last trip we covered 24,000 kms or about 18,000 miles. Often when people sign up for these trips, they don’t realize how big South America is and complain about the long days. It never ceases to amaze me how people will book this trip having absolutely no idea what it is. On my first trip through Patagonia I had three girls who honestly thought that the farther South you go in the world, the hotter it gets. They came on a trip through Patagonia with little or no warm clothes and three or four bikinis.

On their first day one of them asked me, `How are the beaches in Ushuaia?’

`Um, cold.’ I replied.

As her face slowly turned white I explained that Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world, which meant if you looked at the world upside-down it would be the northern most city in the world.

It was time for her to do some shopping.

We reach Foz at about 7pm. Foz Iguacu is famous for being the city near the Brazilian side of Iguacu falls. Iguacu falls is in the top 3 natural wonders that I’ve ever seen. Seeing the falls is like being in a Lord of the Rings movie. A geological coincidence, the large Iguacu River curls back upon itself and then disperses over a large granite shelf in about 275 different waterfalls. It’s overwhelming. As the river makes up the border between Argentina and Brazil in that area and so each country enjoys different views.

We pull into one of my favourite campsites in S.A. It’s got a pool, a bar, a hostal, a restaurant and a well groomed football pitch (yes I know that I’m starting to sound English). Tonight’s pretty quiet, but that’ll change tomorrow when a bunch of trucks arrive.