It is Monk Parakeet's nesting season in Urban Foz do Iguaçu (Iguassu Falls Area - Brazil)

The Bird Park has a project to reintroduce the Red-and-green macaw in the Iguaçu National Park. If and when they do fly again over the Iguaçu National Park of Brazil they will certainly fly over the Argentinean Iguazú National Park, over the city of Foz do Iguaçu and neighboring cities in this Westernmost tip of the State of Paraná since parrots, macaws and parakeets have no need to obey human border restrictions.

Umbanda and Candomblé Temples (Houses) in Foz do Iguaçu: address list

  Mission accomplished. Members of the  
Mãe Edna de Baru's (Mother Edna of Baru) house.

An Afro-Brazilian Religious Space may be called "temple", "center" (centro) as in Centro de Umbanda (Umbanda Center), "terreiro" - a word derived from "terra (Earth) and simply "house".  A "terreiro" can be an area in the bush that is separated for the service, the undergrowth is cleared, the soil swept so that feet can tap and stump on the ground without the danger of snakes, insects that could somehow cause harm to the people in ceremony. "We do not need a cathedral. Men make cathedral. The little corner in the capoeira (second growth forest around the house) is god-made and all we need".

Foz do Iguaçu is said to have 42 "houses". Each "house" is independent. There is no hierarchy. Houses do cooperate among them. Each house is presided over by a babalorisha (Babalorixá) or Yalorisha (Ialorixá). Babá means father and Ya (iá) is mother. Thus Babalorisha and Yalorisha means father and mother of Orisha. Commonly both are called pai (father) or mãe (mother) de santo (saint, orixa) in the sense that they take care and cater to the saints or Orishas.        

An adaptation from the Jackson Lima / Blog de Foz list of
Umbanda and Candomblé Temples in Foz do Iguaçu (Iguassu Falls Area)

How did this list begin? See also Afrobrazilian Religious Dates and Holidays
 and This is Cabocla Jurema for a glimpse of how this list began

A Small Meditative Guide to the Foz do Iguaçu Chen Tien Buddhist Temple

Welcome!
In short: In this visit you will see statues representing:  

Three Buddhas

Four Boddhisattvas

Four Celestial Kings

Two Enlightened Children

Eighteen Arahats

Guardian Lions

Buddhism has three major world schools: Theravada, Vajrayana* and Mahayana. The Chen Tien Buddhist Temple of Foz do Iguaçu belongs to the Mahayana school of Buddhism, the one with a great presence in China, Japan and other Asian countries. Within Mahayana Buddhism, the Chen Tien Buddhist Temple of Foz do Iguaçu belongs to the Pure Land Buddhism. Pure Land is a place created by the mind of Amitabha Buddha to whom the Temple is dedicated. The  Amitābha (Amitabha) also known as Amida  is a Heavenly Buddha, existing as an enlightened Being for many ages and many other world systems long before the appearance of Siddhartha Gautama, Buddha Sakhyamuni – the Historical Buddha who founded Buddhism in recent times (circa three thousand years). The mantra of Amitabha is Namo Amituofo in Chinese. In Japanese: Namu Amida Butsu. In Sanskrit Om Amithabada Hri!

The 12th Cataratas Tourism Festival has just ended: will you come in 2018?

Official Grand Opening (Nilton Rolin / Itaipu)

This is just to share some memories and images of the 12th Cataratas Tourism Festival (Foz do Iguaçu Tourism Market ) that ended two days ago on Friday, 30th, 2017. By "Cataratas" organizers have intended to pinpoint The Iguassu Falls as the seat of the Tourism Festival held in the City of Foz do Iguaçu, from June 28 - 30. 

The Fair (NR)

Brazilian Minister of Tourism Marx Beltrão with Paraguayan Galoperas Jar Dancers (NR)

Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) Puerto Iguazu(Argentina) and  Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) form the Three-Point Border where the three countries meet.  The Cataratas Festival is a umbrella event under which the following parallel events take place:     

Hackthoners at work (Festival Photo)

The Iguassu  Tourism Forum, Hackatour (Tourism Hackathon), The Argentine Wine Hall, The MICE Cataratas Hall,  Thermal and Spa Tourism Hall, Adventure Cataratas Hall,  E-Marketing Cataratas Halls, Shopping Tourism Hall, Cultural and Spirituality Hall, Gastronomy Arena, Regional Sustainable Product Expo, the Cataratas Hotel Expo and of course the flagship International Cataratas Tourism Fair. Summing up 1.780 exhibitors showcased  1176 brands in 209 stands in the fair. Over 8.000 visitors have been registered. The festival has grown 18% compared to last year's edition, according to organizer's information.

Lots of field flickers but no field around

With civilization encroaching and natural areas availability shrinking, animals either go down extinction alley  or adapt. I am glad to register that a family of field flickers has just moved in to an area in urban Foz do Iguaçu already shared by a growing number of bird species. I have taken pictures of them right on the spot where busy avenues Republica Argentina and Jules Rimet meet. The Field Flicker (Colaptes campestris) is called "pica-pau-pau-do-campo" in Portuguese,  "carpintero campestre" in Spanish, "pic champêtre" in French and Ypekû ñu in Guarani - the native language to Jungle Lands that best translate Nature and its phenomena as far as tropical forests goes from the Amazon all the way down to Uruguay, Argentina and the whole of Brazil.

Bicycling in the Iguassu Falls extended area

The Universitária Line

The University Line

Another interesting bus line created by the former Foz do Iguaçu’s mayor, Samis da Silva, the son of ex-mayor and today’s state congressman Dobrandino Gustavo da Silva, is the “Universitária Line”. This proposal is interesting. This bus will drive by and stop at or near schools, high schools and colleges in and across town. From the TTU the bus will go to what is called the "University Zone" or District in the area of influence of Itaipu Binational.

Side by side are the Foz do Iguaçu Campus of the Unioeste (Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná - West Paraná State University) – Foz do Iguaçu’s alma mater par excellence and the – privately owned Universidade União das Américas - Uniamérica, responsible for bringing courses in the medical area on the Brazilian side (the Paraguayan side has pioneered medical courses in several areas – including medicine proper). This is the final stop and you will have to get off the bus which means that the “integrated” ticket is over. You will have to pay a new ticket. If you are a tourist, that is, a perambulator, you might consider visiting these universities, sitting at the students bar, talking to people. Who knows? Nobody has done that! So why not start? The Unioeste Foz do Iguaçu Campus' (there are other campi in the region) main building has been built to bring to mind the Jesuit Architecture of which now there are only ruins. The return bus will keep the universitária promisse, it will pass by the Fafig / Cesufoz College Complex on the Avenida Paraná and blocks down the avenue it will turn left and head to the UDC – União Dinâmica de Faculdades Cataratas (I got my Bachellor Degree in Communication / Journalism, here). The name of this school is kind of a challenge to translate. Something like the Dinâmica Union of Cataratas Colleges. Colegio Educação Dinâmica (Dynamic) is the name of a privately-owned school that has been taking care of pre-school, basic, middle and higher education in town. The pre-school departament runs by the name of Xodó da Vovó (Grandma’s Xodó where xodó may mean anything from joy, to pride, jewel). It is not hard to see whole families studying at the Dinâmica Educational Complex. After the UDC stop the bus will head to the Bartolomeu Mitre State School – a traditional state school fitting the every-one-in-town-has studied-here-someday category (I also did) - and will head to the TTU Terminal on its way back to the University Zone.

Neo-Metropolitan buses

Sign with timetable for the Foz do Iguaçu - São Miguel Metropolitan Bus (Author's photo)

METROPOLITAN

Recently the Government of Paraná has been intent on creating metropolitan areas with an eye on improving administration. Foz do Iguaçu is a candidate to be decared a metropolitan are for a number of cities mainly those bordering on the Reservoir of Itaipu. This has been the flag of local politicians. The problem is that the Government saw things otherwise and had planned to put Foz do Iguaçu under the umbrella of Cascavel. How that will end is something to wait and see.
In the practical side of life what has alredy been seen is the formation of a network of metropolitan bus lines. The neo-metropolitan bus lines when compared to old experiments like the STI bus line.


You can take metropolitan buses to San Miguel do Iguaçu and Santa Helena from the stop at Rua Mem de Sá, by the TTU Terminal in Foz do Iguaçu. Again these buses are not integrated so they do not enter the TTU. But they can be taken from Men de Sá Street by the Restaurant Corujão. It is possibe to board them also from the Rodoiária (Bus Station on the platform used by local buses)

The difference between these buses and the long distance intermunicipal buses is that these have common, non-reclinable seats, the ticket is paid in the bus, and they stop whenever someones signals at or think of signalaing at them along the BRs (Federal Highways) and PRs (Paraná State Roads).

Between Foz do Iguaçu and Santa Helena (on the shores of the Reservoir of Itaipu) the bus will drive through Santa Terezinha de Itaipu, São Miguel do Iguaçu, Itaipulândia and Missal. The first leg of the trip is Foz do Iguaçu - São Miguel.

Foz do Iguaçu gets Swiss Award

Foz do Iguaçu has received the 2007 Swiss Tourism Award under the category Water Cities. The Award was received in Lugano, Switzerland, during the I Viaggiatori - Swiss International Holiday Exhibit, held November 1- 4. Click here to see the list of Categories and here for a complete list of awarded destinations.