yesterday was the argentina side of the falls but today was the brazil side. we hired a taxi to drop us off in brazil and come back to pick us up at an appointed time later in the day. as we were crossing the border, we had to do the whole check in/out at each country's border office again. once we were in brazil, we went to the bird park first, parque das aves. ever since planning the trip, i've been dead set on seeing toucans in person. this park allows that. it has many native brazilian birds that you can see up close in a sort of natural environment. there are other animals there as well, but it's mostly about the birds, hence the name of the park. i've read trip reviews that suggest spending 1 hour at the park. dude, i was in heaven and was there for like 2.5 hours. they had to drag me out of there to have enough time to see the brazilian side of iguaçu falls.

what can i say about the place? *sigh* i'm not even a bird person. i just wanted to see the pretty things in person, up close, and dare to touch a toucan. i know, it's horrible, but that was my heart's desire. and i did it.... you're not allowed to touch the toucans but they are very cheeky and get close to you and allow you to get close to them. i was taking so many pictures of them and would say thank you for not running away from me, that i could take such up close pictures. and when no one was around, very briefly and very gently, i touched its back, those soft feathers, and then i dared to touch the top of its beak. there were all sorts of birds too but i was fascinated the most by the toucans. there was one kind of bird that was very funny to look at. and another that made the weirdest cooing sound. no, it wasn't a coo, i can't even describe it. anyway, the place was amazing. anyway, i'll just let the photos do the talking.

after dragging me away from the bird park, dani went to eat at the restaurant across the street and did one of his famous "i'll join you later" lies. meanwhile, we went next door to cataratas do iguaçu.

we're short on time to see the brazilian side of the falls because we're flying out of here today. nonetheless, we managed to squeeze it in. it was a cloudy day and hard again to get the lighting right. first too sunny, now too cloudy. either i'm a complainer or you can't win. no, i won't complain. this is a great trip and i'm happy to be here. i tried to get some good shots but i didn't charge my camera's battery last night and i used up most of my juice with the birds. the battery meter is deceptive. the battery was only down one bar out of four. i figured that would be enough for the falls. it was fine for the distant view of the falls but by the time we had reached the up close portion, near the souvenir shop where it's quite misty, my battery was dead. it went from one bar down to completely out quite quickly. there was hardly an inbetween stage. i tried to capture this portion on video and get drying the camera. i'll find out later how it turned out.

there is a bus you can take to drop you off at the scenic points in the park. that's what we took in and what we took out. it was awhile before it departed when we entered the park, but the return trip was much quicker. good thing too as when we exited the park, dani was already waiting with the taxi driver. back across the border checkpoints and to puerto iguazu. we actually had a good amount of time until we need to leave to the airport. we asked to be picked up early just in case, you know. we had lunch at the bus station and it wasn't very good. then we went back to the hostel who was holding our things for us. we just hung out in the lobby, watched tv, and had some snacks. our taxi driver returned with his son-in-law's minivan so that all our stuff could fit (his taxi vehicle is much too small). off we went to the airport and it's a really small airport. there seems to only be one flight going out and everyone is in line for it. again i see familiar faces from the okinawan taikai.

we arrived in buenos aires and had previously arranged for a shuttle service through the hostel we'll be staying at, 06 central hostel. when we got our luggage and walked out, someone was waiting with a sign with all our names, how special! it wasn't the driver, however. we waited a few minutes for him to show up. once at the hostel, twiddle thumbs was christened with a new nickname. i believe we already gave the nickname earlier but from now on it's sticking for the rest of the trip. we're calling her paris hilton because her suitcase is so large and heavy. of course she can't carry it up the stairs to the hostel so guess who was the porter... yep, me!

we checked in and had to leave a key deposit. damn, we haven't done that since new zealand so we had completely forgotten about such things! we've been used to leaving the key at the front each time we step out. i got a phone card and called my contact in the city, who shall from now on be known as oshaberi, and agreed to meet the next morning. the air feels cleaner here and that's great. we had already noticed the mate consumption in puerto iguaze but now we're thinking that the national obsession also includes dulce de leche as it's in the alfajor cookies and other desserts.