Iguazu Falls: December 2015
San Telmo, Buenos Aires
Our flight to Iguazu was not until the evening, and Monica was kind enough to let us keep our stuff at her place. We headed out to visit the Sunday market in San Telmo and successfully walked the whole thing without making a single purchase! We made our way back to Monica’s to grab our small backpacks and walk to the bus stop. Our flight was thankfully uneventful, with the exception of an older man from Spain. Get this, there was a young American couple sitting in front of him, who were on their honeymoon, mind you. The Spanish man and his wife happened to be sitting in a row that didn’t have a window. I’ve never experienced this on a plane that a “window seat” does not have an actual window, but there’s a first for everything. Javier and I happened to be sitting directly across from the Spanish couple, so we didn’t have a window either. Not the end of the world. The American woman was sitting in the window seat in front of these people. We heard them talking at the beginning of the flight, but it seemed friendly enough. Once we landed and were waiting to disembark, they started getting louder. Here’s the jist of it… the American woman didn’t want her window open during the flight, for whatever reason, and the Spaniard wanted her to open it, since he didn’t have his own. He told her that he paid for a view and if she didn’t want to have the window open, she should sit in the aisle. At first the woman and her new husband tried to reason with him, but you can’t reason with the unreasonable, so in the end they just asked him to stop. He wouldn’t. He kept going on and on until we were finally able to exit the plane. He should have directed his anger and frustration at the airline for issuing him a wall seat instead of a window. Every once in a while I am truly surprised at the ridiculousness of some people.
Mafalda in San Telmo. Buenos Aires.
We finally arrived at our guesthouse at around 9pm. At first it seemed like there was no one there until Javier walked around the back and found a little round man eating and watching TV. He was our host. He and his family own and live at the guesthouse. He showed us to our room, we dropped our stuff and walked down the road to a pizza place for dinner. While eating, we met a young man from Switzerland who had been traveling through Brazil and Argentina for a few weeks. We chatted with him through dinner. It’s amazing the perceptions some people hold of America and Americans. I blame the media.
When we arrived back at home we started getting ready for the night. Javier turned on the light to the bathroom and said, “Big spider.” It was right next to the light switch. If it were me, the whole neighborhood would have known there was a spider. He disposed of the big spider, only to find several more. Most were in their webs minding their own business trying to get a meal. The few that were scurrying around, including a hairy one, were disposed of quickly. It was gross. We pulled the bed away from the wall and disrupted someone’s home, so he decided to crawl across our bed to find a new one. He was disposed of. We checked the bed for any unwelcome guests, said a quick prayer, and went to bed. We didn’t sleep too well…
The next morning before setting out, Javier told our host that there were spiders. The man looked surprised- Spiders?!? He then proceeded to tell Javier that those weren’t spiders. After all, we’re in the jungle, and if it’s not at least the size of your hand, it’s not a spider. Either way, Javier asked the man to clean out the webs, and therefore the spiders. The man made some comment about me being afraid of them, Javier ignored him and just told him that we’re not used to sleeping with spiders, and could he please get rid of the webs. The man said he would take care of it while we were gone.
Puerto Iguazu. Bus to Brazil.
We stopped by a little cafe for breakfast, grabbed some sandwiches for lunch and walked to the bus stop. It was a bit confusing as to which bus we wanted and it wasn’t until we almost boarded a bus to Iguazu Brazil, that the local people told us to look for the bus that says ‘cascadas’ on the side.
We were told by our host that South Americans pay a different fee than foreigners. Not true. There is a group of South American countries that pay a different fee, unfortunately for us, Peru isn’t one of them.
Iguazu Falls. Argentina side.
Inside the park, we went inside a museum of sorts where Javier asked the man for his recommendation on how to approach the park. He gave us his opinion, telling us to finish with the train ride up to the “Garganta del Diablo” (Devil’s Throat). Javier asked if we should take the train ride first, to which the man replied, “You do not start with dessert.”
We walked the short distance to the trails and started with the upper loop. Here you can walk above the falls and see others in the distance. Argentina has done a phenomenal job of building walkways across the whole thing to allow you to not only see up close but to feel the earth move as the water pounds below.
walkways near the falls. Iguazu Falls. Argentina side.
Needless to say, we took many photos. The water was brown, and we read that the water used to run clear, but because of deforestation, the loose soil turns the water brown. I personally thought it looked like Willy Wonka’s chocolate river. We walked along the top of the falls and looked down at the mist below. The falls are not in a straight row but at a curve, so we could stand on top of one and see the others from top to bottom, or as much of the bottom as we could given the mist. After the upper loop, we shared a sandwich, which was a tricky endeavor. They have these critters running around that are aggressive and have sharp teeth and nails. There were signs all around saying not to feed them, but it took more effort than to simply not feed them, you had to outmaneuver them.
Here, the man does not faces proper flow of buy viagra without prescription blood to their penis. If http://icks.org/n/bbs/content.php?co_id=2004&mcode=30&smcode=30g0 pfizer viagra you find that the side effects of the medication due to dehydration, and in most cases this is not the issue and other factors are the root of the problem. viagra in stores It is introduced in the various forms of cognition and intelligence appear to be as severe. Reasons of Male Infertility There are several elements india viagra online that might hamper you sex life.
So close. soaked.
After lunch we headed to the lower falls. From here, you could see how big the falls were and really feel the power. The sound, the spray- it was incredible. They have an area close to the bottom of one of the falls where you can stand and take pictures. We did, and were soaked. We walked back to the station to catch the train to the Devil’s Throat. The train ride was about 30 minutes through the jungle. When we arrived, we had about 15-20 minutes of walking over rivers, along the walkways until we finally reached the Throat. Oh. My. God. I have never before, nor probably ever will, be this close to something this powerful and amazing.
Iguazu Falls. Argentina side.
The roar this waterfall makes is incredible. The throat is not just one big waterfall, but several in a semi-circle that drop maybe 10 meters or so, funnel into one massive force of water, that plunges into the void below, crushing everything in its path. We just stood there and gaped. After a while it started to rain. We had ponchos with us, but decided to go ahead and let the rain soak us, and soak us it did!! After standing in the rain for maybe another 20 minutes or so, we decided to walk back. Mind you, this is no little sprinkle or drizzle, or what we call rain in California. This is jungle rain. Big fat droplets that when combined with the strong winds feel more like rocks smacking you than water. By the time we returned to the train station, we both wrung out our shirts and it was like wringing out a sponge.
Soaked after the rain,
The rain stopped during our ride back, and once we were back, we took turns going to the bathroom to wring out our pants. It had been an exhausting day. Not so much because of the walking, but all of the excitement and emotion we had been experiencing. We squeezed our way out of the park, onto a bus, and walked our wet butts back home. When we arrived, our host was there, and told us that he had switched our room. He apologized for the spiders. He didn’t realize there were so many. He thanked Javier for telling him, said that they moved our stuff to the new room and bombed the old.
After a short rest we headed out to find dinner. While eating, we started talking about the three corners of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Javier said it would have been cool to see and pulled out a map with the little icons. Turned out was only a 20 minute walk away. We asked our waitress about it and she said it was a nice walk, very safe, even at night. Even though we were tired, we decided to check it out. Javier ran home to grab his camera, and together we walked to the end of Argentina.
Iguazu, Argentina.
The walk there felt safe, then not as safe. We held on to the fact that the girl said it was fine, so we kept going. When we arrived, it was like arriving to a party. There were locals, tourists, buses full of school kids, lights, colors, water. There were three obelisks. One in each country. We could only see the one in Argentina. From the top, you can look out and see Paraguay to your left and Brazil to your right. The river is shaped like a “Y,” separating all three. It was dark, but you could still clearly see the other countries.
Iguazu. Argentina. Las tres fronteras.
There was a picture we were looking for, so we showed one of the security guards, and he told us it was right around the corner. We found it, but also found that it was inhabited by a group of local drunks, so we didn’t stay long, just shot a couple photos, and left.
We stayed a little longer, watched the kids run through the water, and the fountain change color. On the walk back, we ran into the same group of drunks. We switched sides of the street to get around them, but one of them approached. He started talking to Javier, who didn’t engage him, but kept calmly repeating, “Disculpe” until they left us alone.
Back at home, we were exhausted, and had a marvelous spider-free night. In the morning, it was back to the airport, and back to Buenos Aires.
To see more pictures of Iguazu National Park, click HERE.