Iguazú (Argentina)

The drive from Salta was not as bad as I was antiscipating. With my large quantity of music and Ron Burgundy to keep me company the two days were over very quickly. I am definately getting used to long journeys and the first of the two days which was 14 hours was actually not that bad. As for camping behind a service station for the night, well, that was an experience.

We made such good time on the first day that we got to San Ignacio at around lunch time the following day. This was where we were meant to be staying for the night. Most of us jumped out and had a look around the old Jesuit Monestary which was pretty cool. Nothing overly special and there was scafolding against the walls which kind of killed the feel of the place. Either way, it was an enjoyable hour before heading back onto the bus to head of to Puerto Iguazú. We arrived late and everyone was quite tired from two days of travelling that bed came around very quickly.

Because we arrived a day early we went to the falls a day early also. We arrived at Iguazú National Park at around 9:30am and we got told we were going to be picked up at 5:00pm. We thought we would get bored for all that time but we were well and truly wrong! Most of us got the full day pass which was all the normal walks as well as a boat ride under some of the falls and an ecological tour. After walking for about 5 minutes we came across a whole bunch of racoons who are the cutest looking things but you can´t touch them because they can have rabies. Later on, one of them climbed up the table leg and swiped Stace´s lunch from her hand. We naturally all moved and ate inside.

After a nice walk through the Jungle we came to the first of our waterfalls. They were a pair and only about 30m tall. As we crossed the bridge below we admired them but knew that they were only a taste of what was yet to come. I was wrong. These two were only crums compared to the full view about 5 minutes later. You walk down the ramp and as soon as you find your footing at the bottom you look up and there are 200 waterfalls crashing down onto the water and rocks below. Again my expectations we far surpassed and the photos you see of these falls are nothing in comparison to being there. Having them all in one feild of vision is an absolutely amazing sight. Another prime example of a place that you really need to go to to comprehend its magnitude.

We worked our way down below on of them and out onto a walkway. We all got absolutely soaked as the photos were hesitantly taken. A few minutes later we descended to th waters edge to begin our jetboat ride under the falls. I don´t know quite what I was expecting but as he drove under three smallish waterfalls we got totally soaked! I don´t know whether I was expecting the same spray that we had been walking through for the last 20 minutes or what but it was actually like what it would be like if Mike was strong enough to throw me in the pool. I may as well have jumped in! Quarter of an hour later I was back on solid ground and it only took a couple of hours for my clothes to dry. We walked along the top of the waterfalls for a while then caught the train down to the Devil´s Throat. We were walking out and it was at this stage that I made the poor decision to comment on how dry my clothes were and that it had taken a long time for this to happen. Next thing I know we are standing on the edge watching millions of cubic tonnes of water fall into the mist below and this mist starting shooting upwards. Many times this happened and my clothes were once again slightly on the damp side. Definately worth it though as the Devil´s Throat was Huka Falls in terms of water flowing through an area but it was 300 degrees around. Hard to explain.

After jumping in a group photo of another group we walked back across and jumped onto the ecological boat. Probably the disappointment of the day. It was nice and peaceful but we thought we were on a tour but our guide spoke no english and didnt even really talk to anyone even if they spoke spanish. We saw two crocodile, neither of which were very large but it really was a "hows the serenity" moment. Shortly afterwards we were on the back of a truck heading back to the main entrance to conluded our day.

Much like Machu Picchu I arrived with the highest of expectations and in exactly the same fashion this south american attraction far surpassed it. The even better news is that I have not entered from the Brazillian side yet which is apparently the picturesque side and that is where I will be flying above! Not long now.

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