Are we illegal immigrants?

After the events of the previous day we finally arrived in Foz around 8pm. We'd taken the coach to Cuidad del Este and the regular bus across the border to Brazil. After getting off the bus we took a taxi, for what turned out to be just 5 minutes, to our guest house - the Pousada Evelina in Foz do Iguacu, which was a good choice (recommended by Footprints). As we were starving we went out for dinner to the nearest restaurant, a local place with three items on the menu and an aroma of grease. The food was tasty though and we ate a lovely meal then went to bed. The rooms in the Pousada were simple but clean, with a good hot shower. Breakfast was great and their advice on what to do for the day was excellent.


So we set off for the Parque de Aves (Bird Park) first. Ana in the guest house had told us the birds are more awake in the morning. The regular bus service to the Falls and Bird Park is just 100 m from the guest house which made it dead easy. The Bird Park was fantastic as always, it just gets better with each visit.


We had lunch at the restaurant opposite the Bird Park - as much as you can eat buffet for 15 Brazilian Reales, tasty food. Then headed into Iguasu Falls National Park. It was truly majestic, a breath-taking place. So worth the hassle to get there. After a really enjoyable day we headed back to Pousada Evelina who were taking us to the bus terminal.


This is where the things got sticky. The day before, when we came over in the local bus service, the driver had not stopped at immigration - he said we did not need to simply for a Falls trip. But the coach driver for our return said it was obligatory to go through immigration, but this would mean trouble - we'd no passport stamp to enter Brazil. So I decided we'd just to stay on the coach when everyone else got off at passport control. We sat with the blood draining from faces and teeth clenched hoping border control officials would not check the coach and drag us off. They didn't and we entered Paraguay again unmolested. Officially, we'd never left.

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