Friends and Foes

One of the best parts about Iguaçu was spending time in the jungle.  Where we live in Horizontina is not all that different from where we've lived in the US....wheat fields, soybean fields, apple orchards, forests, logging, etc.  As I've mentioned before, this is not the Brazil that makes the US news for Carnival, or on the Discovery Channel about diminishing acres of the Amazon Rainforest.

The Brazilian Iguaçu National Park is almost 460,000 acres, that's roughly 700 square miles of protected jungle flora, wildlife and water.  It takes 15 minutes by state run busses to get from the park entrance to the falls.  What an awesome site. 

So when we weren't mesmerized by the rushing water, we were entertained by the butterflies, birds, monkeys and coatis, a cousin to raccoons, also known as the mascot of Iguaçu. 

They look cute and innocent, don't they?  The first 5 or 6 we saw we thought were adorable.  We oohed over how cute they were, we took pictures, and eventually we realized they were never going to leave us alone.  They followed people everywhere.  At the picnic tables at the end of the trail they hopped up onto tables swiping food.  They snagged a pack of cookies out of the side pocket of my backpack.  By the end of the first day, we'd seen enough of them.  By the end of the second day we never wanted to see one of the mangy creatures again. 

This monkey came our way after a bag of doritos.  We'd grabbed a snack at the bottom of the lower falls trail and were being stalked by 3 very determined coatis, looking for a hand out.  They followed us up flights of stairs as fast as we could move with a 4 and 6 year old in tow.  We saw the monkey from a distance and as I was grabbing for the camera, I realized I was not going to have to try to get close enough for a shot....the trees rustled and the next thing I know he was right in front of us considering his move to relieve us of our doritos as well.