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Published: August 29th 2011
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Saturday and Sunday We'd booked a flight to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina with Aerolineas Argentinas - avoid flying with them. Our flight was delayed 3 hours and we missed our connection in Buenos Aires. Another nasty surprise was the $100 entrance tax to Argentina (only for us Aussies). We were sent to a hotel in downtown BA after being yelled at by the airline agent because we couldn't understand her English directions. We were joined in the taxi by a mime artist from Rio going to perform in Lima and a Bolivian engineer. They'd also had delayed flights.
Every thing was paid for, including phone calls, and for dinner, now really late, we had the most tender grilled veal I have ever eaten - the menu was in Spanish and the waiter didn't have enough English to explain it, so we pointed to 2 different items and hoped for the best. Both good choices, unless all the food was excellent. Most of the meat so far on this trip has been tough.....but the Argentinians know how to grill meat. We had to change and cancel bookings at Iguazu (I rang Aus to do that as at one hotel in Iguazu
they only spoke Portugese).
In the morning we arrive at the domestic airport, which has a lovely view overlooking the ocean and wait for an hour in a queue to get a $10 taxi refund. Luckily our rescheduled connection to Iguazu is delayed by 2 hours. We finally arrive 20hours later than planned and it's pouring with rain. We took the bus into town to get some money and sloshed around in the rain looking for a bank and somewhere to buy water and returned wet and muddy to the hotel.
Monday However it all worked out for the best as this morning it was fine with good patches of blue sky and sun. Iguazu Falls are set in thick sub-tropical jungle which supports all maner of flora and fauna including monkeys and other furry animals, birds and buterflies and turtles and fish in the rivers.
A local bus goes out to the falls every 20 mins and our stop was one of the last for pickups so it was standing room only. We'd booked the grand adventure, through the forest in an open truck to the river (we occasionally see small animals) and up the river
on a fast boat that takes you very close to the falls. We had come prepared with our little plastic ponchos, so we didn't get too wet. Some people got soaked. We then spent hours walking around the paths, seeing the falls from every angle.
A boat takes you across to San Martin Is from where you can see the face of the falls up close. After lunch, a apple, a short train ride brings you to the upper river where you can paddle in rubber rafts or walk along a long metal boardwalk across small islands to the Devil's Throat where the falls curve round in a horse shoe. A few concrete piles are all that remains of a lower boardwalk that got washed away in a big flood.
Unlike Vistoria Falls in Africa, there are thousands of people wandering along, blocking the paths or riding in one of the many boats. As the day wore on, the cloud cover grew less. By late afternoon, weary but satisifed, we got back on the bus to the hotel and waited till 8pm for dinner to start.
Next morning we awoke to a heavy fog which delayed our
flight and could have lasted all day. How fortunate we'd been with the weather.
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