Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Hola from Iguazu Falls. Yesterday, Stef and I spent the entire day in Iguazu National Park and it was incredible! We arrived at the park before 9am and paid the 85 pesos entrance fee. Locals in the area are allowed to enter the park free of charge. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had something like that in Canada?

Once through the gate, we made a beeline for the Devil’s Throat- the park’s largest waterfall. What a sight! There was so much water rushing through. One dip of the finger and I’m sure you’d be carried over the edge. It was that intense! It’s strange because you walk along a series of raised platforms over calm pools of water and then BAM – there are a million waterfalls with this incredible energy. I think there are 270 waterfalls throughout the park.

The Devil's Throat

At the Devil’s Throad, there were so many people fighting to take pictures. The whole place reminded me of a theme park. The entrance line, the little trolley that takes you to the trail heads, the restaurants, vendors, gift shops, etc. It’s extremely touristic. Still, nothing beats the raw natural landscape. When you look out, it’s like a scene in Jurassic Park.

We paid extra to take a boat under the falls. It was essentially a raft boat with a motor. I changed into my bathing suit because you get drenched. We stuffed our daypacks into waterproof bags and then it was our turn to disembark. The ride was only 15 minutes, but WOW do you ever get wet! I mean, you got soaked! You go right into the mist – it was nuts.  Our driver did some donuts in the waves to stir things up a bit. After it was over Stefanie looked at me and said “F*ck the Maid of the Mist!” Ha! She was referring to the iconic Maid of the Mist boat ride in Niagara Falls, Canada. There is no way a boat ride like that would be allowed in Canada, even if Iguazu is a million times the size. So funny…

After the boat ride, we ate lunch and a rodent stole Stefanie’s nuts from her backpack and wouldn’t let go. Unfortunately, I

missed the entire scene, but an Argentinean woman told me all about it while laughing historically. Poor Stef! The cotie didn’t even eat the nuts. He just made a huge mess.

Natural beauty at Iguazu

Our last hike of the day was to a small secluded waterfall and natural pool. By this time, our camera died, but at least we took some great photos of almost everything else. I really wanted to take a dip in the pool, but it was getting late so we hiked back and caught the bus back into town.

We met up with Adam (from Salta) in the hostel and because there was absolutely nothing to do and zero people around, we decided to go out for ice cream and have some drinks. Two bottles of wine later and we were having a night swim in the tinies pool I’ve seen. It might have been a fountain and not a pool at all.

Stefanie and I spent the following day lounging around the hostel because of rainy weather. I googled exciting things to do in Buenos Aires and Stef skyped with her family. Our package that we sent from La Paz, Bolivia finally arrived, so that is a relief. Everyone was so happy with their alpaca goodies.

When the rain finally subsided, we went out for lunch and then walked to a viewpoint where you can see Brazil and

Paraguay across the river…. it’s appropriately called, ‘The Three Borders”. Along the way, we met an adorable beagle and I named him Bangles. He walked with us the entire time and on the way back, I bought him some dog food – which he didn’t even like! I was sad to say goodbye to Bangs, even though he didn’t appreciate my treat.

We are taking an 18 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires tomorrow. I’m ecstatic to experience the ‘Big Apple’ of South America. We have some great activities planned.