Coati | Traveling Nancy

Before I tell you about our wonderful day today, I need to tell you our two funny stories.

The first one is about Ann and a coati. Ann went on a hike today with John and sat down on a stone wall that did not have a back rest. She was wearing her backpack. One of those cute (remember I said they were aggressive ) coati came up behind her on the wall. It then proceeded to open up the flap on the back of her backpack and steal her sandwich. The coati walked a little bit further away to unwrap the sandwich and eat it. I wasn’t with her so we don’t have a photo of this happening.

These little creatures walked along the railing.

The other story is about when we got back to the room. We were soaked from the great adventure boat trip we took in the afternoon. I came into the room and put my pants on this electric heater. They were only on there for about five or six minutes. Then I took them to hang them up in the bathroom. Well, they had melted in the back. Here is the photo of them. The woman at the desk in the hotel told me that some time ago a woman left her things on the heater and went to dinner. The result was the start of a fire that burned 3 rooms of the hotel. I guess I should feel lucky.

Right before dinner I walked into town in order to purchase a pair of pants. All I could find were white cotton pants which won’t be the best pants to have on the ship going to Antarctica. But at least I will have more than one pair of pants with me. Perhaps I can find something else to buy on the ship.

Now for our absolutely fabulous day. Andy and I decided we didn’t want to go with the regularly scheduled walk through the jungle on the Macuco Nature Trail (7 km). We really just wanted to go back to see those incredible waterfalls we had seen yesterday. Carl, Kris and Robin decided to join us. I am sure we made the right decision. It was absolutely fabulous to see the falls again.

Carl, Andy and I were so glad to be there.

Robin and Kris were also so happy they had decided also decided to join us.

Today we saw some more wildlife as we hiked.

We saw this big lizard when we looked over the fence.

I loved this beautiful butterfly.

We were so surprised to see how many of these had landed on one man. He was an absolute butterfly magnet but this photo only shows a couple of the 8 that were on him.

When also we walked back to Devil’s Throat today it was very crowded but we got to see more wildlife.

Here is a Plush Crested Jay.

This turtle shell is beautiful.

What an incredible morning. This afternoon we went on what was called the “Great Adventure.” Ann and I were both excited.

Actually, the whole group was very excited.

The speed boat took us very close to San Martin Waterfall from below. I had to protect my camera from getting wet so I could only zoom in on the falls.

This video may give you another perspective.

They told us to put our cameras away and drove us right up to the falls where, of course, we were totally sprayed and soaked. It was hard to believe the force of the spray.

From these photos of other boats so you can see how close they brought us to the falls.

I think this boat got even closer.

We were all laughing so hard as the kept circling around under the spray. Now you know how my pants got soaked.

Then we had the opportunity to walk back up the hill for more views of the falls. Ann and I just loved the moss growing under the water.

I loved seeing other views of the falls from the top.

It is so hard to believe how privileged I am to be on this trip. These memories will definitely be with me forever.

It is really hard to find words to describe the magnificent magnitude of Iguazú Falls. The name “Iguazu” comes from the Guarani or Tupi words, meaning “water”, and “ûasú “(wa’su), meaning “big”. Legend has it that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to record the existence of the falls was the Spanish conauistador, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, in 1541.

We did several hikes today. We could see the falls all the way to the Brazil side which is about 1.5 miles away. The volume of the water today it is much higher than normal although it has been even higher in the past.

The photographs I took can barely depict the enormity of these falls. I could have stood there for hours and hours and hours just watching them.

I think the videoI took was from top of the San Martin Falls.

I was sad when I read the following words which we found on an information board.

“Barely four decades ago the waters of the river ran clear. Since then with forest clearance in most of the watershed, each time that it rains the water washes away the unprotected soil which turns the river red. Turbidity affects wildlife; fish cannot find each other to court and spawn; and birds and mammals, which feed on fish, cannot see their prey. Today the dams upriver act as sedimentation tanks and may lessen the problem.”

Of course I had to have a photos of Ann and myself at the falls.

On the trails around the park we saw many Coati which are very, very aggressive because people sometimes break the rules and feed them. I am sure I have seen these same animals in the rain forest in Ecuador. They kind of look like a cross between a raccoon and a possum.

The babies are pretty cute.

But I actually watched one of them jump up and knock a woman’s bag out of her hand. Since they can really do damage if they bite, she was pretty flustered.

The monkeys spiders spin very strong webs. We were able to reach down and feel the web of this monkey spider. The webs are very tough.