Honeymon day 17: Puerto Iguazu

---

We got into perto iguazu by taxi, an hour or so before sunset. We had booked a hotel online but didnt know exactly where it was, so we got dropped off at the central bus station. There we found a tourist office that spoke english, which was a nice change from Brazil where there was almost no english to be found. Armed with a city map we walked the 5 or so blocks to our hotel.

It was still blistering hot and humid, so by the time we got to our hotel we were spent. Luckily they had a pool. It was filled with dead bugs and leaves but I didnt care, it felt great. Steph decided to play with some of the resident kittens instead.

The next day we set out to see the Argentinian side of Iguazu falls. It is much more extensive compared to the Brazillian side, and it really does require a whole day to check out.

It was overcast and much cooler than the day before. We were pretty thankful, since the day before we were uncomfortably sweaty the whole day. Also it meant the park was much less crowded than if it was sunny.

The park is pretty well set up for tourists. They have built tons of walkways that go right over the falls. Sure it detracts a little bit from the scenery, but it allows you to get really up close in places that would have been impossible to access otherwise. Heres one of the walkways heading towards Devils Throat, the most powerful area of Iguazu, and one of the many huge catfish you can view below:





Even though we'd already seen Devils Throat from Brazil, it was much more impressive to be this close.







From Devils throat there is an option to ride in a small raft through a quiet area of the park to view wildlife and such. It ended up being pretty cool. We saw two toucans and two crocodiles, as well as a bunch of other birds and insects.







After the boat ride we got a snack. These little buggers (forgot what they are called) are everywhere. Many signs warn against feeding them but people still were.



We then worked our way down to the base of the falls, passing many of the falls on the way





We hiked down to the bottom of the falls to do a speed boat tour into the falls. Yes, INTO the falls. It was pretty awesome. My camera is waterproof so I was able to get some pictures and videos. The video pretty much says it all: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42585283@N08/8245451584/in/set-72157632184507769/



After the boat ride we were SOAKED. We picked a good time to do the boat though, because shortly after it started pouring, hard. We decided we might as well continue exploring the park.







We were on the upper area of the falls when lightning started to strike pretty near by. We had pretty much made it onto all the trails so we decided to hightail it back home, soaking wet but satisfied.

That evening it stopped raining so we walked to a nearby restaurant. The wind was howling though, and twice the power went out. Branches were falling onto the outdoor tables from nearby trees. Luckily they were able to cook our food with intermittent power and we made it back to the hotel, where the power was still out. We read for a little while with our headlamps before calling it a night. The lights came back on in the middle of the night, of course.

The next day we had the day to kill before taking an overnight bus to Buenos Aires at 3pm. We left our bags at the bus station and decided to walk to the intersection of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

It ended up being a lot further than we thought, and the destination was pretty underwhelming. The border is actually out in the middle of the rivers, so you have to settle for a little monument with the three flags. Plus it was brutally hot and humid again. Not really worth it.







Afterward we just hung out in an air conditioned restaurant until it was time to head to the bus station.

---