Naturalist Report 3: Flowers and Fungi

The last in this mini series of reports is on the various flowers found in the jungle and in the hotel garden. (Plus a fungus that was colourful enough to warrant a picture!) Again we don't know the names of these or if they have any special meaning to the environment but they do look nice when photographed up close:










Well I know that these reports haven't been as informative as a BBC documentary but then who ever listens to Dicky Attenborough when the pictures are colourful!

Naturalist Report 2: Other Animals

Besides the damn butterfly's there where lots of other animals, mainly birds and reptiles. The birds varied a lot from fairly normal ones to very colourful and impressive ones such as the Toucan. Here are some of the ones that we managed to take pictures of:










There where loads of lizards on the second day mostly out sunning them selves or trying to catch the butterfly's like the rest of us. These lizards ranged in size from a few inches to a few feet:







Otherwise there where various strange insects and mammals around the place including the Coaties that are around all public places and like to raid the bins:

Naturalist Report 1: Butterflys

We thought it was worth while having a small deviation from the normal daily posts and show a summary of some of the wildlife we have encountered in the Iguazu National Park.

Our first report is on the butterfly's that are here. they are everywhere and in huge Numbers and varieties. Neither of us has a clue what the names of any of them are or why there are so many but they do make good pictures when the little buggers stop flying!

So here are some of the ones we managed to keep still (without the use of pins!) over the last few days:

Day 10 - A very hot day in the jungle

Today we decided to do the various trails around the falls which we were unable to do yesterday. The morning started off reasonably cool but as the day went on the wind stopped completely, the heat rose and the humidity hit!







We completed three different trails today which covered the upper and lower views of one set of falls, and San Martin island. The trails were via board walks with lots of viewing points to stop at. Our animal of the day were lizards. We saw loads of them, they were everywhere and came in all shapes and sizes. Some of which were up to two foot in length.





We took a boat over to San Martins island later in the afternoon by which point it had become very hot indeed, and humid. There was no air on the island at all, and whilst climbing a large set of steps up to the viewing point on the island we both really felt it (especially me Bev that is!!!) ;) Ive never been so hot in my entire life, i went bright red in the face and could not cool down. Unfortunately there are no pictures available, although Adrian tried his hardest to get some snaps of me, but failed luckily for me! On the way up the steps we passed a lady who had practically passed out due to the heat. ( or at least that's what Bev says!!(A)) lol ! Anyway...

Once we had reached the top of the steps we proceeded down another board walk. We were lucky to see another toucan close up although this one was quite camera shy, and was a female toucan as its beak was not the vivid orange colour of the males. So was not that photogenic.

We are now sat on the veranda having a drink in the not so hot but still about 25 degrees, and we have a perfect view of the falls. Next stop Lima, and we are both feeling a tad worried about doing the Inca Trail !! We are not as fit as we thought we should be, oh well watch this space.....

Just to let you all know that there may not be many posts on the blog during the next week due to Internet restrictions and also being on the Inca Trail. Will keep you all posted.

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Day 9 - Seeing the falls

Today we got up nice and early, went and had breakfast and then arranged a set of tours for the day. We opted for the full package which consisted of; a boat trip around the falls in a speedboat, a train ride through the jungle and a four by four trip. Firstly we took a train ride to a walkway that led across the river to a viewing point of the largest section of the falls called the 'Devils Throat'. This was an amazing set of waterfalls to see, and was surprised to see the amount of water going over and the noise and mist that's created by this. We both got drenched by the mist whilst viewing the falls. Good job Adrian invested in a water proof camera!

On the walk back we encountered several species of butterfly, there seemed to be butterfly's everywhere. We also saw lots of brightly coloured birds and an alligator in the water. Once we had completed the walkway we decided to go for a change of scenery and got the boat back instead of the train. During the boat trip we encountered more alligator's and were lucky to see a toucan close up. Toucans look very strange up close, they look plastic and spray painted, and just don't look real, but are beautiful birds nonetheless.


After a spot of lunch we headed off to the speedboat tour of the falls. This began with a four by four trip through the jungle were we saw one animal of which we cannot remember the name! We then got geared up in our life jackets ready for the speed boat.

Before we set off we were given a large plastic bag to put our belongings in to keep dry. We then realised we were about to get very wet. The boat ride was excellent fun, going very close to some of the falls, and going over the rapids at high speeds. We had some great photo opportunities, before the boat was driven completely under one of he falls!! this was a bit of a shock to everyone and very cold but we enjoyed it so much we are going back to do it again tomorrow. This time though we will take a change of clothes with us to put in the plastic bag.

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