Ciudad del Este

We got up before 7 today in order to get ready to go and get to Itaipu Dam for it opening at 8. The hotel provided breakfast which was nice after having to find our own breakfast for a good wee while now. We were checked out and fed by 7:30 and on our way to the dam.

We got to Itaipu Dam at 7:56, great timing. Just as we arrived, the doors to reception opened and we were able to squeeze into the first tour of the morning at 8:30. Before the tour started, we watched a short video about the Itaipu Treaty between Paraguay and Brazil and the construction of the dam. It is the second largest dam in the world, but produces a remarkable amount of electricity being the world’s largest hydroelectric power facility. It provides 87% of Paraguay's electricity and 17% of Brazil's electricity.

We boarded a bus that took us to a viewing platform of the dam. Because there isn't a surplus of water, there was no need to release any, so we didn't see the gushing water, but it was still pretty cool and looked like a giant water slide. After we took some pictures at the viewing platform we got back on the bus. We drove around the dam and over the top of it. It was interesting to see the dam from below and from above. It really is quite big and impressive. We even had a little look at it from the Brazil side so we could drive over the top. When we were at the top, we could see the high water from the artificial lake on the right, and the river from the dam, much lower, on the left. Dams really are incredible engineering.

After our tour was finished we got an Uber back to town, picked up some groceries for lunch, and then got our bus over to Brazil.Read more