Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

We made it the Argentine side of the river to Iguazu National Park today. We
had asked at the hotel here about transportation. No we did not want a tour.
Just a taxi. But no, she says. You should take one of our drivers. He will
take you all the way out of the park, across the border, to the park and
wait until you are finished for your return. All of this for only 300 Reais.
($200). But no, we say. We do not want a tour. Just a taxi. But no, she
says, this is not a tour, just transportation. A taxi will cost more because
it is a very long way. Being the cheap, I mean savvy, travelers and
generally cynical people that we are, however, we did not believe her.
So we took the park bus to the park entrance this morning and approached a
cab driver and inquired about transportation. Leolindo spoke Portuguese and
I spoke Spanish and we verified that he would take us all the way to the
park entrance in Argentina (not just to the line - I do not know the word
for border) between Brazil and Argentina and established that the cost would
be....wait for it....160 Reais Roundtrip. Not only that but he stopped on
the way at a good place to change some money into Pesos (the park entrance
fee is only payable in Pesos - no Reais, no Dollars, no credit cards) though
the boat rides etc can be paid in any currency (Government vs Free
Capitalist Trade Markets). All of this we got from our Portu-Spanish
conversation.
He handed our passports to the immigration agents leaving Brazil, entering
Argentina, leaving Argentina and re-entering Brazil. And when we got to the
park he jumped us out of the car, ran us through the gates and directly into
the waiting arms of the get-you-soaking-wet boat operators for the tour. We
managed to convey that we would meet him at 4PM after he called to verify
what time OUR park gates close since our hotel is inside the park so that we
would get home in time.
He was absolutely right to hurry us in. We had just enough time to take the
boat ride, hike back up the hill, jump on the train, walk to Devil's Throat,
stop for a cerveza and to eat our purloined croissants, cheese and meat from
the breakfast buffet, and get back to the gate to meet him at 3:45P. Got
back here EXHAUSTED...in fact, too exhausted to hunt down the concierge who
had so blatantly lied to us yesterday. Good thing for her, I tell you. If I
had any strength left I would have bitch-slapped her silly.
Now sadly (or not) it is overcast so we won't be walking back to the falls
at midnight in search of a better lunar rainbow. At least it was cloudy an
hour ago and we aren't going to check again....that's our story and we are
sticking to it!