Total Solar Eclipse - Potosi, Bolivia - Nov. 3, 1994
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On October 24th, 1994 I flew from San Diego to Miami. There was suspense
during the touch down in Miami. The flight had been delayed in Fort
Worth. The connecting flight from Miami to Asuncion, Paraguay would only
wait if my flight was at the gate by 2330. If not, I had a 24 hour wait
in Miami until the next flight to Paraguay. We made it at 2330.
The plane to Asuncion was packed with young girls from Brazil, the
first stop was Sao Paulo, Brazil, now the third largest city in the
world.
The girls were very flirtatious, eye contact and body stretching were a
constant behavior. Social distance was decreased from North American
norms. I settled in for a long flight. I got off in Asuncion, the
capitol city of Paraguay. I took a crowded local bus from the airport
into the city center passing many prosperous homes. I went to the
tourist office where I received a recommendation for Hotel Itapua. At
$6/night it was fine.
The common bath had hot water. A Peace Corps worker with a broken leg
had a room there. He was stationed in the Chaco region which is mostly
uninhabited, the location of a devastating war for Paraguay. The country
lost a large percentage of it's men leaving women, children and burros.
Asuncion was similar to cities in Mexico. A clustering of government
buildings in the central plaza. A good public transportation system. My
lack of Spanish did not handicap me in communication. The next morning
I was on a bus to Ciduad del Este (City of the East). Ciduad del Este is
on the Brazilian border. The town is stained with red mud and is a
shopping mecca for Brazilian and Argentinean tourists looking for
electronic goods. When I first crossed over the river to Brazil I shared
a bus with a large crowd of shoppers carrying enormous arm loads of
goods. The Brazilians were loud, gregarious and full of energy. I found
a hotel in Foz do Iguasu, Brazil. I took a local bus to the Brazilian
side of Iguasu Falls National park.
Iguasu falls is overwhelming. The river is 1.5 miles wide when it
reaches the red sandstone cliff. The water falls 300 feet, in a torrent,
split up by rocks, composed of hundreds of separate falls, along a
complicated-convoluted brink. The noise is like a physical wall of
white. The spray is catapulted high into the air. The water is a
chocolate brown at the top of the falls. As it descends it is churned
into a white spray. Birds build their nests behind the falls. They dart
in and out of the wall of water.
The land surrounding the falls is jungle. Butterflies: yellow, blue,
iridescent fly in clusters as dancing leaves. Walking under the forest
canopy the calls of unseen birds and insects are constant. There are
monkeys: the howler and colobus. The combination of the dynamic falls
and jungle life creates a sensory experience that is exhilarating.
Iguasu falls is extremely popular among the South Americans living in
Brazil and Argentina, at least one million visitors a year come to visit.
What do they see? Clouds of spray are thrown hundreds of feet into the
air by the force of the water falling over a 1.5 mile wide cliff 300 feet
high. Many birds build their nests behind the falls themselves. They
rapidly dart through the falling water where they have their nests
placed out of the range of predators.
The water is a chocolate brown color at the lip of the falls. As it
descends it turns white with foam. A series of catwalks have been
constructed that allow the visitor to stand at the edge of the falls and
watch the turbulence and dynamics of the rushing water. Half of the
catwalks were washed away in the flood of 1992. The repair work is not
completed. When on the catwalks I became soaked from the spray. This is
not unpleasant since the weather is hot and humid all year long. The
mist is cooling.
While walking on the trails the most common mammal is the South American
equivalent of the raccoon, the kotamundi. Kotamundis at Iguasu are very
tame since they are accustomed to being fed by visitors. However, I
witnessed one lady surrounded by 15 kotamundis, which were so aggressive
in their demands for food that the lady abandoned her munchies and ran
off in a panic. They had started to climb up her clothes with their
teeth and claws and were vocalizing in a threatening tone to one another.
The falls do not descend in a continuous line; they are broken up into
hundreds of separate falls each of which by itself would be worthy of
national park status. In addition, the land around the falls is rain
forest/jungle and is protected from development with national park status
by Brazil and Argentina.
There are two species of monkeys. The howler monkey has a large vocal
sack which it uses to generate a call of tremendous volume. The colobus
monkeys are smaller with a very human looking face. This does not
prevent the locals from eating them however. Birds are everywhere in the
jungle. I saw parrots, toucans, egrets, flamingos, and many small birds
I did not know the name of. Insects are common with butterflies
everywhere. Butterflies were dancing in the air on wings of bright
yellow and blue. The blues were a sparkling iridescent metallic glint
sparkling in the sun.
I hiked into the jungle with a Dutch anthropologist I met who was in
Brazil studying the Brazilian martial art of copiberra, which combines
dance movements with self-defense. There were many green lizards present
about the size of large iguanas. The jungle canopy kept most of the
sunlight out. It was cooler for that reason in the jungle than out in
the open. We heard animals but did not see them. We would come across
lizards which would immediately rush out of our way. The trail we were
following were narrow; we were constantly brushing the vegetation.
Where the trail came close to the river, upstream from the falls, we
encountered the largest lizard we had seen up to now. From tip-to-tail
it was almost 3.5 feet long. This lizard was blocking the trail. It
behaved differently than the others. It did not budge as we approached
it; in fact, it puffed itself up with air, raised itself on it's legs and
opened it's mouth in a threatening manner. The Dutchman became concerned
that it would attack us. These lizards live on rotting food and a bite
would likely cause infection. We stood still for minutes but the lizard
maintained it's threatening posture. We grew worried that a closer
approach would trigger an attack. The Dutchman left the trail and went
into the bush to walk around the lizard while I stayed where I was.
The lizard initially focused his attention on the Dutchman, who was
moving, while I remained still. He was able to circle to the other side
of the trail so that now we were on both sides of the lizard. I followed
the same path. We were marginally protected by long pants and shirts
from insects and irritating plants. The lizard never moved but as we
headed back to the trail head the lizard still remained ready to attack.
I had a great time visiting the area around Iguasu falls which is shared
by Brazil and Argentina. I stayed in the town of Foz de Iguasu(in
Brazil) and took a local bus to get the falls each day. On my third day
in the area I went to the airport where I expected to meet my friends
Bill and Frank who were flying in from Buenos Aires, Argentina. As I
stood on the second deck of the airport in Brazil I saw my two friends
leave the plane with a yell of success on a safe arrival in Brazil. I
had to wait for them to clear customs and get their luggage. Then we
left the airport with the intention of going to the falls first then to
the motel room.
We started to walk towards the main road to catch the bus when a taxi
stopped. He agreed to take us all to the falls for a reasonable price so
we got in. The road to the falls cuts a swath through the rain forest.
Butterflies are numerous and quickly fall victim to the windshield.
There is an entrance fee. The falls are 22 kilometers from Foz de
Iguasu. I did not describe the falls to Bill and Frank since it is a
sight beyond words. We left the taxi near the luxury hotel next to the
helicopter port. The view there takes in just a portion of the falls
but, it is exciting. The green jungle and brown sediment-laden water are
obscured by the spray of the falls. The sound of the crashing water is
a wall of noise. We walked on the side of a canyon cut by the river
until we arrived at the first catwalk extending into the clouds of spray.
Walking out on the catwalk we were drenched in seconds from the falls.
It was a baptism. Late in the afternoon a rainbow was visible from the
mist.
We took the bus back to Foz de Iguasu. Our triple room had the
screens missing from the windows. This turned out to be a problem since
the building of a new dam had created a large expanse of stagnant water
that has increased the mosquito population tremendously. The anopheline
mosquito, only the females, suck blood, the males live off plant sap.
It is this species that carries malaria, dengue fever, and encephalitis.
After lying down I heard the persistent whine of mosquitoes; however
having started taking my malaria pills, I felt marginally better. In the
morning I noticed a few bites on my arms. Bill and Frank had none. We
had the whole day to spend at the falls.
Waiting at the bus stop we talked to a group of Germans who had been
living in Paraguay. They said it was cheap. Towards the end of and
after World War II, Germans came to South America: Paraguay, Uruguay,
Brazil and Argentina. Some with resources or war loot, others without.
Today we visited both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides of the falls.
We used local buses. Argentina was the most expensive of all the countries
we visited. There are more trails on the Argentina side of the falls.
I crossed the borders between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay with no
visas but I had my passport. We left Brazil returning to Paraguay.
We traveled by bus to Asuncion. It was a luxury bus with a toilet aboard.
The terrain was green farmland with no large towns until we reached
Asuncion.
We had a few hours before our flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We hung
out at the central square where there was a large monument to El Supremo,
the former dictator of Paraguay. In the past it was forbidden to gaze
on his palace. There were orders to shoot anyone who was found looking.
Fortunately this order was no longer in effect with the passing of his
regime. The monument was patrolled by an honor guard with guns. They
let us take pictures of them. Inside the building a sunken pit contained
the coffin of 'El Supremo'. He had led his country into a disastrous war,
'The Chaco War', which killed off most of the adult population leaving only
women, children, and burros.
At the central square we talked to a group of ladies to find out about a
good place to eat. We were directed to the Lido cafe which was packed
with locals. We had 'Pescado Sopa', fish soup with bread. It was
delicious. The cafe looked like a classic American diner. Everyone sat
at a long curved counter. From the square we took a city bus to the
airport which is 10 km from the city. We had been told to arrive 2 hours
before the flight since it was going to Bolivia. We were flying on Lloyd
Aereo Bolivianos to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The flight left Paraguay in the
evening.
Santa Cruz is a new city with a population of 1 million. It is
prosperous mainly from the cocaine trade, in fact 50% of the GNP of
Bolivia comes from the export of the coca leaf. The Indians use coca as
Americans use coffee.
Santa Cruz has the appearance of a western city without high rises. |
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