Boarder Crossing Criminals

Wednesday, October 19th: Puerto Iguazu, Argentina > Foz de Iguacu, Brazil

•  We rinsed off the car and washed away the red clay and dirt caked onto the bumper, the joints of the doors and the tire rims. Then we drove across town and got in line to cross the border. We waited for about an hour, and vendors passed by our window selling ham flavored chips, tortas and empanadas.

• Crossing the border was smooth. They didn’t ask us many questions or search our vehicle. They quickly checked our passports, and we were on our way. We checked into our AirB&B, which was on the tenth floor of an apartment building. It was a studio, but nicely decorated, clean and comfortable. There was no hot water heater, so the shower head had an electric heater built in.

• We walked around the city, stopping at Doffee to sample four mini donuts – cheesecake, churro, crème brulee and banoffee. We followed the perimeter of what looked like a park, but it was surrounded by razor wire – we’re still uncertain but think it’s a military compound. We walked through their shopping mall to get a feel for the retail market in Brazil – bright / neon colored apparel defined the fashion scene. On the way back to the apartment, we topped at the Italo grocery store and gravitated to the bakery counter where there were cakes galore. We bought an Oreo cheesecake and passionfruit cheesecake.

• Avis informed us that is was prohibited to cross the border into Brazil with a Buenos Aires rental and we were expected to cross back into Argentina immediately. After a few email exchanges between Spanish and English, they allowed us to stay in Brazil until our planned return a few days later.

• A thunderstorm rolled through in the evening, so we cracked the door to the balcony and made a Greek salad with chicken for dinner.

• Accommodations: AirB&B, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil