A single hotel: the only way to do… Iguazu!

Still at the Iguazu Falls in Brazil, as per tradition for a stay somewhere in the world that’s unusual/unique, it’s time for a post regarding lodgings – but with a twist: this time, it’s lodging – in the singular…

Here, alas, the choice is stark: you go for either (i) very nice and convenient but expensive, or (ii) not too nice or convenient but cheap – with the “not convenient” bit meaning you don’t get to see sunrises or sunsets from the very best spots to enjoy them. The former option is the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas, whose guests can walk around by the falls any time; the latter option – any other lodgings, whose guests get brought in later and taken away earlier, since the national park closes to visitors. Hardly fair, but I don’t make up the rules…

The great thing about the “Iguazu Falls hotel” is that it’s right by the waterfalls! Here ->

…And here ->

And the sunsets from manicured lawns – lovely! ->

Though we may look glum, we were actually enjoying the sunset-show ) ->

It’s basically the place to be for the falls and the sunsets around here…

Low water – also a beautiful sight to behold:

High water. Yes: impressive, but when the flow of falling water is too strong you get clouds of spray that kind of impinge the contemplative-meditative aspect ->

So, what else can I tell you?…

Ah yes…

It was right here where I disappeared for a few days. What from? From a jubilee anniversary that I’d rather not name; well – would you, when it has a six and a zero in its title 😊? (Just kidding; why fight the inevitable?) It’s just that I prefer to pass on all the fuss, formal dinners, speeches, toasts, and presents I don’t really need (I think I’ve got just about everything I could possibly ever need!). All the same, my trusty travel companions couldn’t resist a little pressie (since it’s impossible for a Russian in the company of someone whose birthday it is not to give them a b-day present) – albeit an unusual one…

In the hotel’s bars they put a cocktail stirrer in the drinks – cocktail stirrers with a small, brightly colored wooden toucan on the top end of it:

So my dear travel companions decided to put together… a bouquet made out of… 60 toucan-stirrers for me! ->

Thanks, guys. But weren’t there meant to be 60 stirrers? I, of course, kept them all – they’re now all lined up neatly in my office – and there sure ain’t 60 of them. Not that I’m one to quibble 😊…

But back to the hotel’s bars. Turns out they attract all sorts of clientele! ->

He/she wished my Happy Birthday, and was off…

PS-oddities…

What, why, how?! ->

The 88-butterfly – just delightful! ->

And various other stuff I’m not quite used to. I hadn’t seen cans like this before ->

Waterfall rainbow! ->

PPSs ->

PS birds:

The waterfalls are just magical…

This was my fourth trip here – and I’d gladly return.

And this is what the Iguazu River looks like right before the waterfalls. It looks like nothing at all’s about to happen… well, except for that little bit of mist over there in the very center: