Isn't it typical? We woke up on the day of our excursion to
go Iguazú Falls and the Garganta del Diablo and it was pouring rain.
Not just a slight rain either, a pouring cats and dogs type of rain. Fortunately,
our tour guide said it would not be a problem if we wanted to reschedule
for the next day, so we did. The question now
was, what to do all day, especially with all the rain. We decided to head
to Paraguay to do some shopping in the Ciudad del Este, a place famous
for its cheap electronics. We walked out in
front of the hotel and found a couple of taxi drivers sitting at a taxi stop
and asked them if they would be willing to take us. Of course they were, however,
when one of my friends said he only had a temporary ID because he lost his,
our shopping trip was out of the question. Fortunately for us, the taxi driver,
who is also a pastor in the town, was kind enough to offer us his personal
tour guide services for the entire day for only 120 pesos. That's $40 US!
His
name is Pastor Marcos Velázguez. He is a very nice man that would be ecstatic
to help anyone on their trip in Iguazu. Unfortunately, he does not speak
any english. If you know spanish and would like to give him a call, his cellular
number is 15541251 and his company number is 421544. He drives taxi number
052. Remember, to dial Argentina you must first dial 011 (International code)
-54 (Argentina's Country Code) -03757 (Puerto Iguazú's code) then
the number. If you are dialing the cell phone, you need to dial a 9 after
the country
code
but before Puerto Iguazu's code... don't ask me why, that is just the way
it is, I have no idea why.
Anyway, back to my point of this entry. having contracted our personal tour
guide for the day we left it up to him to show us around. He took us to many
cool sites, one being to a small indigenous tribe of Guarani where
we were given a tour of their surroundings for 5 pesos! That's less than 2
bucks. There wasn't too much to look at, though, as these are very simple people, however
it was a great thing to see and an experience you would not soon forget. Mostly
what our guide had to show us were primarily hunting tools, most of which you
can see in the video, as well as a typical house they build themselves. They also offer a few hand-made products for sale that are definitely worth taking a look at. If you have a chance to make it into town, there are a few Guarani there that have taken to street selling. You will notice them right off the bat. Stop one and try to chat with him. They are very friendly people. Buying something always helps to break the ice too. They don't drink beer, but the one I met loved orange soda.
In
addition to taking us to see this indigenous tribe, Marcos also took us to
see the "Wanda Mines," "Güira Oga: The
house of birds," "The Port of
Iguazú," and the "Triple Frontier between Argentina, Brazil
and Paraguay," which I will have up shortly, so be sure to check back soon.
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Isn't it typical? We woke up on the day of our excursion to
go Iguazú Falls and the Garganta del Diablo and it was pouring rain.
Not just a slight rain either, a pouring cats and dogs type of rain. Fortunately,
our tour guide said it would not be a problem if we wanted to reschedule
for the next day, so we did. The question now
was, what to do all day, especially with all the rain. We decided to head
to Paraguay to do some shopping in the Ciudad del Este, a place famous
for its cheap electronics. We walked out in
front of the hotel and found a couple of taxi drivers sitting at a taxi stop
and asked them if they would be willing to take us. Of course they were, however,
when one of my friends said he only had a temporary ID because he lost his,
our shopping trip was out of the question. Fortunately for us, the taxi driver,
who is also a pastor in the town, was kind enough to offer us his personal
tour guide services for the entire day for only 120 pesos. That's $40 US! 
