The Brazilian Side of the Falls
From the mosque, the road leads into the Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, 185,000 hectares of Atlantic Forest protecting the falls themselves. Private cars stop at the entrance; a park shuttle carries visitors in to the Trilha das Cataratas, a paved, railed walkway of a little over a kilometre that unspools one view after another of the 2.7-kilometre curtain of falls before ending at the Garganta do Diabo — the Devil's Throat — where a footbridge pushes out into the spray for the closest possible look, with a panoramic elevator lifting to a second viewpoint above. There's real time in hand here: the trail itself is only a couple of hours at an easy pace, which leaves room for lunch inside the park or, for anyone with an appetite for more, a stop at Parque das Aves next door — a large bird park that's become one of Foz's most popular add-ons, though entirely optional against a day that already has plenty to it.