Brazil, part I, getting there/Iguazu Falls

So, I just got back from 2 weeks in Brazil with my spouse yesterday, and we had a GREAT time. First, huge props to my parents for coming up to our house for those 2 weeks to take care of the twins. For those of you out there, do NOT piss off your parents if you EVER want a chance of having this happen.

The trip was to attend the wedding of an old roommate of mine from the early 90's. We had 2 rooms in a 4 bedroom house for about 5 years. While the trip ended up being a blast, it started off most fitfully.

We were supposed to leave Monday night Boston/Chicago/Sao Paolo. The weather in Boston was great, I had confirmed the flights that morning, but lo and behold, when we get to the airport, we find out that our Chicago flight had been cancelled about an hour prior due to horrible weather in Chicago. After scrambling with the ticket agent (we unfortunately forgot to invoke the 'it's out honeymoon' routine), it was immediately clear that there was shitty weather up and down the east coast. Continental through Newark was having huge problems, a flight through JFK was bad, and we finally finessed tickets on United through Dulles to Sao Paolo.

We get to the gate, and sit there listening as the flight is continually delayed. Finally, they announce boarding Georgia and I look at each other, but we really don't have any alternatives. Finally, they board us and we wait some more. Meanwhile, I'm on my cell phone with United trying to track the progress of the IAD/GRU flight and I find out it is delayed coming into Dulles (good). But our captain is telling us that there is a 2PM and 3PM flight to Dulles still on the runway(!). Also, if we don't take off in the next hour, his 12 hour flying window will expire and we will have to go back to the gate.

Finally, the flight takes off and we fly to Dulles. Once we land at midnight, I'm on the cell phone with United trying to find the status of the Brazil flight. Naturally, it took off at 10:50PM. And there are no more flights to anywhere that night. The IAD/GRU flight for tomorrow night is overbooked, so instead they book us BACK to Chicago to pick up the original flight that we had been booked on this night.

Meanwhile, Dulles is complete chaos. There are huge thunderstorms, tons of flights have been cancelled, and they are completely unequipped. Huge line to rebook flights, they are handing out pillows and blankets haphazardly. They also announce that all hotels in the vicinity are full because of the flight problems. I get in touch with my AmEx corporate travel and find out that yes, everything is booked for the first 20 hotels they check. We finally crash out on some seats (fortunatly they didn't have armrests, so you could get a suite of 3 in a row) next to each other. Naturally, my wife falls asleep while I sit there with my eyes closed until 5:30AM. At 6, I promptly call the AmEx agent and get a rental car (the flight isn't until 4PM), and we drive into DC. At 7AM, we call some great friends of ours who had just moved to DC a few months ago from Boston and I ask them "So, where are we having breakfast?" We end up eating at their place, and then hitting the brand-new American Indian Museum, the Air and Space Museum next door, and then a nice lunch at Cafe Atlantico on 7th Ave, and then off to the airport.

Oh yeah, and my nice expensive SLR with 3 lenses decides to shit the bed after the first roll in DC. Fortunately, I had brought a digital backup from my parents, and promptly ran to a Radio Shack on the way to the airport and bought a 500MB card because this was now going to be the primary camera. We make the 4PM flight, I lose my wife's cool red Red Sox hat in Chicago because I am exhausted, we catch the 10PM flight to Brazil, and 11 hours later, and 1 ambien apiece (resulting in at least 6 hours of sleep on a plane where I am normally UNABLE to get any sleep), we are in Sao Paolo the next morning.

However, the story does not end here. When we landed in DC, we were given the option of picking up our bags, which would have taken about 2 hours, or booking them through to Sao Paolo with our new flight plan. Naturally, we wanted to get at least some sleep (who knew), so we booked them through. When we have them look in Sao Paolo, naturally they find them still in Dulles. So we fill out all the paperwork, and they will be shipped to the parents of the groom on the following morning's flight. Meanwhile, my wife and I have to catch another plane in about an hour to Iguazu Falls. We do. It takes off and lands reasonably close to on time, miracle.

After talking to the tourist office, we realize we don't have time to visit the Argentine side of the falls, so we have to settle for the Brazilean side that afternoon, with the Argentinean side the following day prior to getting our 5PM flight back to Sao Paolo. That night we stay in the Rafain Palace hotel in Iguazu (www.rafainpalace.com.br/) which is really cheap, including like a $20 room service full meal with a bottle of wine for the two of us. Finally, things are looking up. Meanwhile, the Falls are GORGEOUS. We have been to Niagara, Gulfoss (Iceland), Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and all the Yellowstone and Yosemite Falls. These falls BLOW THEM AWAY! They are bigger, wider, longer, etc (not necessarily higher overall), and are just mind-boggling. If you ever get to Argentina or Brazil, you have to make them a stop.

Items of interest in Iguazu:
* Coati, and more coati
* Crossing the border (and bridge) into Argentina, much easier with a tour guide
* Taking the tiny train to the top of the falls and 1/2 mile walk across the water above the falls on the Argentine side on a steel catwalk, and wondering how hard it must have been to make it, given the countries infrastructure. We figured they barged the unmixed concrete down in barges and poured onsite, but pain in the butt.
* Getting soaked on both Brazil and Argentine sides
* Watching the boats come up the river and stick their noses under the falls and get soaked.
* Watching the falls from the veranda of the Hilton (?) on the property of the Argentine side of the falls while drinking coca light.
* Um, low-quality roads (to say the least).



So, because of the lost day, things that we missed: Bird Park in Brazil, crossing the border into Paraguay and ciudad del este (and checking another country off the list...), visiting the Itaipu damn, the biggest active (3 rivers not yet) dam in the world. Doing everything a little more leisurely. However, the one benefit was being able to visit our friends in DC, who we otherwise NEVER may have seen there, since scheduling a visit with the kids to DC is rather impractical.

Next: Brazil, part II, Sao Paolo