Iguazzu Falls

This place - this incredible, unbelievable, other-worldly force of nature and gift of God - was on my bucket list of places to experience, and I am beyond grateful that we had the opportunity to do so.

We owe a heartfelt thank you to Craig and Terri Duehring for inviting us to tag along as they visited their friends in Paraguay. And we were blessed to have such gracious and generous hosts, and now, new friends.

The traveling troupe.

The Devil's Throat

I believe it's a Navajo saying, but here goes -
"Beauty before me; beauty behind me. Everywhere I walk, I walk in beauty."
That is La Cataratas de Iguacu' - Iguazzu Falls.

Day 4 - Heading to Brazil

A reprieve from the busyness that is Villaricca - the pool and beautiful surroundings of  Granja Mariposa.

Beautiful flowering trees on the way to Cuidad del Este

On Oct. 30, we traveled east to Brazil to visit Iguazzu (or Iguacu) Falls - one of the most spectacular waterfalls on the planet. On the way, we visited Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam just out side Cuidad del Este on the eastern edge of Paraguay. It is the 2nd largest hydroelectric dam in the world, but the largest operating one in the world. China has a bigger dam, but it's not fully operational yet. 

Yep - this was the tour bus we rode on to see the Itaipu Dam.

The spillways

It's difficult to imagine the enormous size of this place. Looking at the catwalks in the center of the upper half of the image will shed some light on the size.

We stayed at the Rafain Palace Hotel and Convention Center in Foz de Iguaccu. A lovely courtyard was full of orchids.

A panoramic capture with my iPhone

Paraguay - Villaricca

On Tuesday, October 29, we travelled with our wonderful hosts to Villaricca. There, we visited a small museum and walked through an open-air market, and bought groceries at a store where Don was asked to wait outside because he was carrying my camera backpack.

Trucks loaded with sugar cane are what we would consider oversized loads. It's especially fun meeting them on narrow, muddy dirt roads where there's only room for one - and whoever is biggest wins. We had one such encounter. 

A beautiful, old church in Villaricca.

This is an old dugout canoe in a tiny museum we visited.

Not sure what this represented, but it was in the museum.

Ornate, old chairs.

The museum paid homage to Manuel Ortiz Guerrero, who must have been a famous musician.

Oh...the stories these old horns could tell.

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This roof was being re-thatched.

Another church in Villaricca.

Don wishes he had the sole contract for plastic chairs for Paraguay. He'd be rich beyond his wildest dreams as they're everywhere.

This bus barreled on through this crowded street, and all those little "motos" on the left remained standing.

I think that, for many, the open air market was also home. 

I'd have to say the main mode of transportation was motorcycles - small ones, but many people had horse or ox-drawn wagons.

Beans, flour, rice, seasonings - all available in the open air market.

A rather well-laid out fruit stand. Note the cobblestone streat.

We heard this cart long before we saw it; it was playing cheesy electronic Christmas songs while the driver peddled whatever he was selling.