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Published: February 1st 2012
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Saltos del Mocona
Shelley's arm, the raft and the falls Day 109 Saturday 28
th January
We had once again overstayed a town by a day or two and could have easily scampered yesterday but we not only had the hotel booked but we also had a tour for tomorrow so we were sort of trapped. After breakfast we had another look over the town but of course discovered nothing had changed. The heat and humidity in this corner of the world is stifling and although Shelley copes with it really well, I just melt into a puddle. The heat soon got to me and I beat a hasty retreat back to the air conditioning in our hotel. Our room really is exceptional with huge glass doors that open onto a long balcony that overlooks the town and across the river to Paraguay.
We spent a lot of the day flaked out in front of the air con, booking hotels for our next few ports of calls and reading. In the evening we headed out for a feed and chose a different café to our usual and we got a fairly decent feed so we vowed to return the next night.
Day
Saltos del Mocona
Raft and the falls 110 Sunday 29
th January
Today we were up at 6 for our second tour that we had booked the other day. Today we were heading out to the Saltos del Mocona, which is the other huge waterfalls in this province, and of course is rarely visited because the other falls in this province is the mighty Iguazu. Because of our early departure we couldn’t get breakfast at the hotel, but just had to go hungry. Got up to the central plaza in town and had to hang around for a few minutes waiting for our bus to arrive. As we waited we speculated on what our transport for the day would be, a huge coach or old school bus but in the end we got a mini van. We grabbed the seats behind the driver thinking they would give better visibility (which they did) but we had no leg room and so was squashed in for the entire trip there and back. The rest of the people on the bus were locals and our guide was supposed to only do the tour in Spanish but he could speak a little English and so gave us a personnel translation
Saltos del Mocona
Close up of the falls on nearly everything he said. We were given the option on an English guide but it was so expensive (3 times the price of the tour) so we were happy with just having a Spanish speaking guide and now that the guide could give us a few words meant that we had chosen wisely…for once.
The Lonely Planet states that the trip out to the falls is about 4 hours but in the end it was a very long 5.5 hours, with lots of stops, at service stations, look outs, people wanting batteries, and kids going to the toilet beside the road. It was yet another stinking hot day and the air con in the van was struggling to keep the temperature at a comfortable level, but once out of the bus we all started to melt. To get to the waterfalls we had to pay an entry fee and for the first time (that we noticed) in Argentina we copped a high entry fee to nationals. It made us wonder if Australia was to introduce a two tiered system for entries what sort of uproar there would be. Put up with this a lot in Egypt and India
Saltos del Mocona
Small section of the falls which we thought was a fair thing considering the disparity in wealth but it is strange to see it in Argentina.
At the national park headquarters our guide took us on a 3 kilometre walk through the rainforest giving a talk on some of the different trees. He didn’t always translate for us but what he told us was good enough to make us feel like we were part of the group. After the walk we clambered back into the van for a short drive down to the river where we were organised into groups for our boat trip. The boats were small yellow zodiacs that could hold about twelve passengers and because of the numbers required in each boat we were lucky to be in the first one. We were all given a life vest and then marched on board and again we were lucky to be at the bow of the boat.
The Saltos del Mocona falls are unique in the world because a geological fault in the river divides the river lengthwise and the water spills over the shelf between the two sections, creating a waterfall 3 kilometres long. The height of the falls varies
with the seasons and the flow of water and can reach a height of 15 metres, but for part of the year is completely submerged and not visible. The river is also the border between Argentina and Brazil so as we sped down in the zodiac we were literally cruising along the border between the two countries. We came around a bend in the river and there ahead of us was the huge long expanse of Saltos del Mocona it was bloody awesome. Our driver gunned the boat close along the waterfall ensuring we all got a good damp ride along nearly the entire length, pausing often for photo opportunities. In the turbulent swirling water we spun around and headed back once again getting a dunking at every opportunity. As soon as we got back we would have loved to have just jumped on the back of the queue again but lunch was waiting.
Once everyone had done the boat trip we drove back to the national park headquarters, where our guide laid out a table cloth on a picnic table under a huge fig tree and we all pigged out on empanadas and pizza. With lunch over we
Saltos del Mocona
Spray of the falls once again had to clamber aboard that mongrel bus and take off again. About 30 minutes down the road we stopped once again at an organic farm, where the owners produce jams, essential oils and earthy products, (hippy shit). It was run by an Argentinian couple and while the guy sat around his still producing oils, the woman took us on a guided tour of her garden. Because the whole tour was in Spanish and just about every weed she had you would see in any park in Sydney I (Scott) got very bored and just wanted to get home. The best part of the tour was the fact that just about everyone else on the bus we discovered could speak a bit of English and they all took turns in translating for us. We really felt like they all wanted to make sure we understood and we were part of the group, or maybe they could see my bored expression. Shelley enjoyed the tour heaps and even ventured into sampling their produce, but thankfully refrained from buying a large jar of jam or the pickled bark of a tree.
We were soon back on the road and it
Saltos del Mocona
The falls extending ahead was a long hot journey home, where we only stopped the once at a service station so we could pick up some more water. Whilst at the station our guide enquired how long we had been in the country and he nearly fell over backwards when we said 14 weeks, and where we had already been. We mentioned that we were heading onto Rio for the Carnivale and later he had to mention it to everyone on the bus and we got a huge reaction from the group.
We didn’t reach Posadas till 8.30 by which time I was so glad to be stumbling off the bus. Everyone said goodbye like we were all close friends and we headed off to get a feed. We ended up back at the place we were at last night and instead of the great food we got last night, tonight we were served absolute rubbish….getting a simple feed can be so frustrating. Despite the bad dinner today had been fantastic and was one of the best experiences so far in South America.
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traudy glasencnik
non-member comment
Refreshing!
How cool was that! Sounds like lunch was good also. xx