Iguazu Falls (detail)

It was mostly awe that limited the length of the last post.  Well, that and an extreme bout of laziness.  But a place as amazing as Iguazu Falls really does require a lengthier post.

Lessons learned: Argentinians love Antonio Banderas.  7up here tastes like Froot Loops.  Butterflies feel just like any other insect when they land on you.  Water is amazing.  I have very little in common with recent college graduates.

So I got on a bus at 3:00pm on Friday with a friend from the Spanish class, Tish.  I fell asleep as soon as they started playing some Antonio Banderas movie with Morgan Freeman.  When I awoke a few hours later, they were playing some Antonio Banderas movie with Rebecca Romijn Stamos.  Then they put on Couples Retreat in espanol. Somewhere in there we got a snack of croissants and a dinner of meat and potatoes and something.  With dinner, they served 7up.  After much deliberation, Tish finally spotted the flavor of 7up as Froot Loops.  I fell asleep pretty quickly and when I awoke, we were about 2 or 3 hours away from Puerto Iguazu.  Tish later told me that there were cockroaches on the bus and her seat didn't recline.

We chose a hostel right across from the Bus Terminal, the MarcoPolo Inn, mostly for it's convenience, checked in and made it to the falls as soon as possible.  After paying the AR$85 entrance fee, we took the quaint little train to el Garganta del Diablo.  The whole ride, you see tons and tons of butterflies just flitting about.  We were starving and I had the worst empanadas ever at the fast food place at the end of the train station.  This is when I almost killed a butterfly because I thought it was a mosquito or something.  After this near death encounter with a mariposa, we made our way to the walkway out to the Devil's Throat.  It was a nice path over the Rio Iguazu, and the weather was just gorgeous.  After maybe 5-10 minutes, you see this:

From Iguazu Falls

And you start to get really excited.  Then you walked further and the sound of rushing water gets louder and louder.  The mist from the falls starts to soak you and then you see it.  You turn your head and see more.  And then you turn your head and see more.  You walk to a different side of the platform and you see more.  There's really no way I can do it justice.  Even the pictures are insufficient.  The videos come close.  But really, it's just an amazing experience.  

From Iguazu Falls

We decided to buy the Passporte Verde, which included a canoe ride back down the river to one of the stations instead of taking the train back, a jungle tour on a truck and a speedboat ride that takes you ridiculously close to the falls.  The canoe ride was peaceful and we saw a little baby caiman, it looked like a big lizard.  The jungle cruise was nice and we saw a toucan and a bunch of huge spiders.  The speedboat ride was amazing.  You get close to the other part of the falls, then the devil's throat, but you don't get wet.  It's mostly just to take pictures.  Then they tell you to put your stuff in dry bags.  Since my camera's waterproof, it stayed out.  There's video of the dousing that we got.  It was exhilirating.  On the walk out of the park, we saw more coatis and some capuchin monkeys.


The next morning, I looked at my pictures, realized the town didn't really have much else to offer so I went back to the park.  As long as you get your ticket stamped when you leave the first day, the second day only costs AR$45.  I took my time and the weather was even better.  I found some better/different viewpoints.  The mist from at el Garganta del Diablo wasn't as overwhelming so I think I got some better pics.  And it was just amazing to soak it all in.


After leaving the park I went to Tres Fronteras, the confluence of some rivers and the border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.