The Iguassu Falls Area Guru

Photo of artistical rendering of a Preto Velho - Old Negro Slave - taken from the Raiz Cultural (Cultural Roots) Blog The dates first:   January 20 - Oxóssi February 2 - Iemanjá Day Bahia / Iguaçu April 23 - Ogum May 13 - Pretos Velhos (Old Negroes) June 13 - Xangô July 26 - Oxum September 27 - Saints Cosmas and Damian October 12 - Erê Children's Fest November 02 - Omulú November 15 – Umbanda’s Foundation / Flag Day December 04 - Iansã (Yansan) December 12 - Iemanjá (Yemanja) 25/12 - Oxalá Now some words on the dates: These are not holydays in the sense that shops close, children do not go to school and offices normally do not have to open. These are more internal celebrations or festivities held in Umbanda and Candomblé ‘terreiros’ or centers. These special days are dedicated to one Orisha (Orixá). But two main dates above mark important events inside and outside umbanda. May 13 is the day when Brazilians celebrate Slavery Abolition Day. It is the day whe...

January first - New Year's Day February 3th - Ciudad del Este Anniversary on Saint Blas Day March 1st - Day of the Heroes (Death of Marshall Lopez) March - Holy week and Easter May 1st - Workers' Day May 15th - Independence Day May 24th - Anniversary of the Patron Saint of the Province (Maria Auxiliadora) June 12th - Peace of the Chaco Day August 15th - Foundation of Assuncion September 29th - Boquerón Battle Day December 8th - Our Lady of Caacupé Day December 25th - Christmas Day

January 1st - New Year's Day February or March - Carnival (movable) April - Holy Week and Easter (movable) April 21st - Tiradentes Day National Independence Hero May first - Labor Day May or June - Corpus Christi June 10th - Anniversary of Foz do Iguacu (Iguassu Falls City) June 24th - St John the Baptist's City's Patron Saint September 7th - Independence Day October - 12th - Our Lady Aparecida's Day (Brazil's Patron Saint) November 2th - All Souls' DayThe Day of the Dead November 15th - Republic Proclamtion Day December 25th - Cristmas

January first - New Year's Day March 24 National Day of Memory and Justice April - Holy Week and Easter April 2 Malvinas (Falklands') War Day May first - Workers' Day May 25th - Country's First Government Day June 20th - Flag Day July 9th - Independence Day August 17th - San Martín Day September 10th - Anniversary of Puerto Iguazu October 12th - Day of Razas (Races) Columbus Day December 8th - Virgin of the Immaculate Conception Day December 25th - Christmas Day

Foto from Marisa's Con Nuestras Manos Blog Ñanduti embroidery is a typical good example of a Paraguayan-made handicraft. The word ñanduti means web. It is not native of Ciudad del Este but comes from all over Paraguay mainly from the city of Itaguá. Paraguayan pottery, silver jewelry and wood carving are also great. If you like music a Paraguayan Harp might be a good idea. I will come back with more

This is serious business. I am working on this information. But I will venture the following: Foz do Iguaçu On the Brazilian side shops are open from 8h a.m. to 6h p.m. Office hours normally from 8h a.m. to 12h and from 1h or 2h p.m. to 6h p.m. Supermarkets and shops forbidden to open on Sundays. Restaurants downtown mostly close by 2h. Puerto Iguazu Shops and offices will open from 8h a.m. to 12h and from 4h p.m. to 08 p.m. Siesta time is a must. Exception major supermarkets, bus station, and vital services police, border patrol though some officer do dose a little. Dining time late (11h p.m. onward to 2 a.m.) Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este's is a bit more complex. The 'Microcenter' or the 'city heart' visited mostly by Brazilian shoppers has opening hours of its own and does not follow official Paraguayan opening and closing times. Shops and other businesses tending to the Brazilian public opens as early in te mornig as possible. It is not unusual to see shops ...

Anytime. I live here year round. If you come in November, December, January and February may be all the way to May be ready to sweat very seriously. Temperatures are high. You may have the feeling that you might be cooked alive. May is the month when our winter comes into place. Thinking mythologically, God (Ñamandu) created the world and himself in the dark night of winter while he sat in the middle of the original winds. Original Winds is nearly synonym of winter. Temperatures drop and there are quite a few rainy days with very cold rains. If you don't mind that's OK. What to bring? We only have two very clear seasons: summer and winter. Winter may be cold and rainy. Be prepared for cold weather, hot weather, wet weather all in the same day maily from May through August. In the summer, a hat is needed, light clothes are a good idea. I will come back with more.... I'm working on this

There are no special visa rules to this area separate from national laws of the three countries meeting here and forming the Tri-Border, Tri-Country, Three-Nation-area of the Tri-city.. Regulations as to what kind of visa you need will obey the immigration and migration laws of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. To be on the safe side you would need to have the three visas if you plan to go around in the area. Documents This sounds like stupidity to repeat that you will need a valid passport to come here. You will need your passport and you will need to check whether your country needs a visa or not. For example, American, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders need visas for Brazil. No passport is needed from Argentineans, Paraguayans and Uruguayans (The founding members of the Mercosul / Mercosur) and now the tendency is that Bolivians, Peruvians, Venezuelans may not need a passport. Things are in a beginning stage though. You know, nnnn’s Law tends to be proven true around here. Chan...

Modern history of the Three-Country Area starts in the early 1800s with Argentine businessmen pioneering the setting up of yerba mate (Illex paraguayensis or Ilex paraguariensis) production camps (of a sort) and lumber exploitation. Four words and as many concepts have been shared by the three countries converging here: exploitation and slavery, yerba mate and lumber. In connection with these I would like to add another three: mensú, obraje and obrajero. They send us back to the former four. The Obraje was a huge tract of land measured into the hundreds of square kilometers that were normaly given by the govenments so that groups could exploit lumber, yerba mate, furs, live animals. All that done thanks to special methods of exploiting people. Obrajeros were obraje owners a few of them known to these days thanks to their infamous fame. (Obrajes were not a local invention. There were obrajes all over Latin American mainly in the textile fields*) Just like what was seen in the rubber...

Foz do Iguaçu, the Brazilian city in the tri-junction, is the westernmost city in the Southerner state of Paraná. Local people get very nervous when people refer to the city as the end of the line; the place where Brazil ends; Brazil ends here and so on. But it is true. The Iguassu River ends here. The Brazilian Highway (BR) 277 that connects the Atlantic Ocean River Port of Paranaguá ends here. The State of Paraná began in the Port City of Paranaguá. In what today is known to us as the ‘Far East’ of the State. The state’s growth and conquest of the hinterland depended on a Westward March starting from the sea, up the Atlantic Mountain Range through the Araucaria-populated Vast Fields and plateau where Curitiba was founded. From Curitiba the march went on to Ponta Grossa and to Castro and finally to Guarapuava. All these cities sprang from horse and cattle-tending facilities that grew into military outposts and ended as villages. The late 1880s saw a military expedition depart Guarapua...

Facts At a Glance Population of the Tri-Fron : 1 million inhabitants. That includes Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil and Puerto Iguazu, Argentina plus the Paraguayan side that will soon be bigger and more populous than the Argentine and Brazilian side together. Cities on the Paraguayan side in the Tri-Fron Iguassu Falls Area: Ciudad del Este, Presidente Franco, Hernandarias, Mingá Guazu. Paraguayans are talking of a Ciudad del Este Metropolitan Area Population of Foz do Iguaçu : 280,000 inhabitants Population of Paraguayan cities: 600,000 give and take; Population Argentine side: Puerto Iguazu: 55,000 Languages: Portuguese official in Foz do Iguaçu. Spanish widely understood. English at most hotels. Arabic understood by Arab community in restaurants, shawarma places, shops, mosques, downtown.  Chinese, Guarani also heard. Spanish and Guarani in Paraguay; Spanish in Puerto Iguazú with many Guarani speakers. Currency: In Foz do Iguaçu Brazilian Real (R$), official; Other currencie...

Guide Site is a kind of an online guide book . I have nearly gone broken and bankrupt by trying to publish newspapers, newsletters and books about places like Iguassu Falls, the Amazon and the Pantanal. I started years ago in the time of the fascinating mimeograph technology. I have not been successful. It is hard to get the money to pay for expenses involved whatever they are. Money here is scarce and choosy. I have not been chosen by it. The internet as a medium is also my message. To hell with all that delay, bureaucracy, discrimination that come bundled up with the attempt of publishing in the physical world. Thanks to the internet, this material is coming to you nearly free of charge. Nearly, because thousands of people are paying for this mainly providers of free services like Google and Blogger, people who advertise and make such free blogsphere space available and even Mother Earth that also pays the price in the form of more electricity demand, satelites being kicked out ...

Thing to remember: Paraguayan soup is not a soup - it is more like a salty cake and thus more appropriately called 'Paraguayan Cheese Cornbread'. I personally like Paraguayan Cornbread flavored with cheese and onions. In Paraguay it is served along with real soups, grilled meats and so on. But it ca be eaten anytime as a snack, at breakfast with coffee or brunch. I found this recipe at Recipe Zaar by Olga Drozd. Ingredients 8 tablespoons butter 1 large sweet onion, finely chopped 1 cup farmer cheese or cottage cheese 1 cup grated muenster cheese or other mild cheese 2 cups cornmeal 2 cups corn kernels, grated or 1 (16 ounce) can cream-style corn 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 6 eggs, separated Directions 1. Heat half the butter in a skillet and cook the onions over moderate heat until tender but not brown. 2. Set aside. 3. Combine the remaining butter with the farmer's or cottage cheese and mix until thoroughly combined. 4. Add the Muenster, onions, cornmeal, corn, salt, milk,...

Foz do Iguaçu restaurants in the Rua (Street)Marechal Deodoro eatery zone! Every single hotel in Foz do Iguaçu has a restaurant. From the five-star all the way down to the no-star-at-all. But I am not talking about hotel restaurants in this post. What I have in mind here are the restaurants in town - mainly downtown. The photographs above show two downtown restaurants. One Italian, Bello Piatto - see the colors? The other one, in this cute little house built in the 30s,historical or old by Iguaçu staandards is called Armazém (Warehouse). The food here is beef and meat-based. Once a week there is shrimp extravaganza. The Armazém belongs to a guy who came from a city called White Duck (Pato Branco) and seems to has been here forever. This guy started out with a restaurant called Trapiche - specializing in seafood. He runs both nice places on Rua Marechal Deodoro. All these restaurants are close by and they seem to form a restaurant alley. None were made with the tourist in mind but eve...

Photo from the US Embassy Brazil's FLICKR Gallery showing Eleanor Roosevelt, with Natal's Bishop Marcolino Dantas and General Gomes (in uniform) possibly translating. Upon seeing Iguassu Falls, Eleanor Roosevelt is reported to have said: Poor Niagara! You will find that in Spanish, Portuguese, French and possibly other languages. Everyone, when trying to learn about Iguassu Falls, will hear this Poor Niagara – Iguassu Story. What is happening hear now is that I have launched a campaign, through several of my blogs trying to find out whether this is true or false and what is the context in which the first lady said that. US First lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited Brazil in March 14-17 in 1944. She flew from the US over the Caribbean, made stops at some islands and for sure visited Trinidad and Tobago. From TT the First lady flew to Brazil entering the country through Belem – at the mouth of the Amazon River. Eleanor Roosevelt’s Belem visit has been well documented in Brazil. ...