It was a bizarre and wonderful experience: boarding a plane in the middle of winter in one of the biggest cities in the world and 14 hours later, walking off a flight onto the runway of a single baggage claim airport on the edges of Brazil’s famous rainforest, being immediately wrapped in summer’s heat. I couldn’t wait to get here, to smell the forest and feel the dampness on my skin. The air, sticky and thick, wrapped around you like a hug from an old friend.
We arrived in the quiet of night, a blanket that covered the infamous Iguassu Falls but could not hide the sounds of her roar. We stood there over the vista listening, catching the faintest glimmer of white capped water reflected from the starlight. We had just missed the full moon where upon the falls appear lunar rainbows, like a secret gift from the constellations.
Our hotel with its open-air walkways and pink-washed walls framed by grand oak rooms was more reminiscent of dreams I have had of colonial inspired adventure travel than anything I have experienced before. The beds where lords and great minds have rested, where Princess Diana took in the very view that stood before me, was as proud and polished as it was when it was built in 1958. I wondered what they thought about as they lay in the silence of night with one of the natural wonders of the world just a breath away…
*PS- if you stay at this property you can have private viewing access to the falls one hour before the park opens to the public!
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The Pestana Convento do Carmo, originally built in 1586 as a convent, has now been carefully restored into the first luxury hotel in Brazil. There is a peacefulness to the corridors, a safety behind the stone walls. The outdoor living spaces, with their mix of antiques and art, made you never want to leave this timeless atmosphere. Each of the rooms, or apartments as they call them, have the original window seats that look over the center courtyard of the property, a view of history, nature and modern comfort.
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