Our last stop on our tour with Alex was Vista Chinesa. This was another gorgeous lookout point for more panoramic views of Rio. The oriental style gazebo itself was a bit disappointing as it was run down, had no amenities, and there was a construction barricade around most of it. Thankfully the views made up for the appearance of the gazebo.
Alex dropped us off back at our B&B. The tour pretty much took up the entire day and we were pretty tired after our hike. Side note: Before and after the hike Alex took us to a gas station just outside the park. This stop was for everyone to get refreshments (at our own expense). Alex pointed out the cheese bread which turned out to be really good. Unlike most tours I have been on, there was no designated tourist trap sit down lunch. Alex's most frequent phrase was, "I am flexible." I think that is par for the course for most Brazilians. Brazilians seem like a very laid back bunch.
We had already check out of the B&B, but one of the other residents was nice enough to let us use her bathroom. At this point, it was about 5 PM and our flight to Foz do Iguaçu left at 10 PM, so we decided to hang out at the B&B and wait until 7 PM to take a cab to the airport. Ana (B&B employee) called their cab for us and he took us to the airport.
We ate more cheese bread and pastries for our dinner at the airport. We also enjoyed a cold prepackaged / prebrewed tea drink. This was essentially Brazil's version of packaged sweet tea.
Entering the domestic terminal was a completely different experience from the TSA experience we are accustomed to in the US. At the security checkpoint in Brazilian domestic terminal, travelers keep their shoes on and keep their liquids in their bag. The process was quick and efficient.
We flew a Brazilian low-cost airline, GOL to Foz do Iguaçu. Boarding the plane was what Paul likes to call "Air France style." This essentially means that they don't board by row or zone, the airline allows passengers to board all at the same time. We did not board through the jetway, we got on a shuttle bus that drove us out to the plane. There was no first or business class sections, the entire plane was economy. Our favorite part were the inflight refreshments. They served Japanese / Mexican peanuts and an assortment of sodas including Guaraná and fruit drinks. I drank mango juice.
Flight to Foz do Iguaçu was on time and we collected our bags and went outside to the taxi stand. Once again, we approached a taxi supervisor who we told our hotel name to and then he wrote a ticket with the name of our hotel and cost of our taxi ride. I was surprised when he wrote R$40 for a 6 mile ride. But it was 1 AM, and by this point so there were no other options, and thus no room to negotiate. We just assumed that the rate goes up since it was late at night. Taxis in Foz were much newer than the taxis in Rio, but surprisingly, our taxi driver did not have GPS in his car. Instead, he drove on a minor street so that he could go slowly and look for the road that our bed and breakfast was on. We made it to our B&B and we were able to check in with ease.
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