Worrall Travel R Days (WTRD 47-49) - Part 3
Friday, February 26, 2016, WTRD 49
We were up early and our taxi driver took us to Itaipu which is a huge dam spanning the once Parana River, and now a mammoth lake between Brazil and Paraguay. When my brother was here in 1982 as a foreign exchange student, the dam had just opened. Prior to that, the Parana falls were the main tourist attraction. They were 4 times the size and volume of the Iguacu falls! They could have filled up Folsom Lake in two days!
Today the falls are a part of the huge lake and the hydroelectric dam that provides Paraguay 90% of its power, and Brazil 15%. It is an amazing facility and the thunderous spillways, even when partially open, are spectacular.
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| Partially Open Spillways - Same volume as Iguacu |
Russ would have liked to take the dam tour, but it required long pants and closed toed shoes. Too bad we were wearing sandals! Not really! Turbines are just not as interesting to me as falling water.
We were disappointed to learn that we could not get into Paraguay by land without a visa. If you come via plane, you get it upon entry. But to cross over the Friendship Bridge from Brazil to Paraguay, you must apply to the consulate and wait 3 days. So we didn't get our passports stamped for Paraguay, but fortunately, we had the opportunity to go to Paraguay anyway via the dam road which spans both sides of the river. So yeah! We can add Paraguay to our list of been there countries!
That brings our country count, I think, up to 77!
Our Taxi driver took us to the Three Americas Meeting Point.
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| Brazil Marker |
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| Argentina Marker |
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| Paraguay Marker |
Here is where the two waters meet. The Iguazu is to the left and chocolate brown. The Parana is not so brown.
Tomorrow, we say goodbye to Iguacu Falls and head to Salvador on the northern coast of Brazil. Archie has a friend and her family here that we will visit and see a few sights before heading to Manaus on the Amazon River.
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