Extended stay in Iguazú

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Puerto Iguazú

I want to start with an apology to those of you who messaged me via the blog site. For some reason the messages didn’t trigger alerts to me so I didn’t know they were there and only found them by accident yesterday. Thank you for your messages, I love receiving them and will reply to you all shortly.



This is a short blog to record the stay at Tupa Lodge



I am still in PI, as after trying again there was still no suitable accommodation in San Ignacio. I did not want to go further to other towns as it would have meant a six or seven hour journey each way, but I was getting bored with the Hotel Tourbillon where I was staying. It was fine for visits to the falls which are very close but the garden was too small to provide much exercise, and there are no paths apart from along the main road. Plus, I had worked my way through the limited and to be frank, very uninspiring menu. So I decided to move to a hotel that is on the banks of the River Paraná, facing Paraguay.







It is a completely different experience but only twenty minutes drive from the Tourbillon. Although isolated down some rough roads it has a superb position overlooking the river and a lovely pool. The room is a semi detached chalet, beautifully designed using natural materials and large enough to comfortably fit in three beds. It is a very relaxing place.





Again the menu is limited. The Argentine diet, apart from in the paradillas restaurants which barbecue meat, is very stodgy, high on carbohydrates, salt and sugar, and having little taste other than sweet. It seems that even slightly spicy food is avoided here. The hotel advertises that it provides traditional Argentine food. I made a serious mistake one evening. Having gone through the ‘safe’ options on the menu, pizza and risotto, I chose one of the three other dishes at random. The only words I recognised on the menu were pork and potatoes so I didn’t think I could go far wrong with that. Was I mistaken! The potatoes were sliced and caramelised so very sweet. And the pork? I am not sure I can convey the horror of it! It was a lump about 5cms by 15cms, with what looked like undercooked crackling on one side sitting on top of a 5cm deep chunk of fat. When I looked closely I spotted a few tiny threads of meat running through the fat but, as it was all an off white colour, the meat was difficult to identify! Clearly it is a local delicacy as other people seemed to love it.







Breakfast is fascinating as everywhere I have stayed they have the same strange mix of food but again almost everything is sweet. So for example here they have the usual juices, some fruit but not as much variety as I expected, cheese, ham, cereals, croissants ( sugar glazed), bread ( sweetened) and jams, 7 or 8 different cakes and pastries including chocolate cake, and believe it or not, plates of dark chocolate truffles, coconut covered chocolate truffles and an Argentine special which is a small round ‘sandwich’ made of two biscuits joined together by a chocolate spread filling. The truffles are delicious but it was day 4 before I could bring myself to try one. It just seems so wrong to have a chocolate truffle for breakfast! Scrambled egg can be requested so that became my staple. I am yearning for vegetables, preferably without added sugar.







Anyway, moving on from food, the hotel managed to find a birding guide, Martin, and it was an interesting morning with him, starting at 5am. He explained that there used to be a lot of wildlife around the trails at the falls but since Covid they have disappeared. He believed that as the parks were closed for nearly two years that the cats, ocelot, pumas and jaguars, came into them and found a food source in the numerous coati. Perhaps like in other places when the people stopped coming the food they brought in dried up so there was nothing to keep the animals in the same area. It will be interesting to see if the numbers bounce back, or if the cats really have depleted the populations.







We spent some time in an open hide and at one side the floor was covered with butterflies, flies, and other insects all licking the wood. I asked why and Martin explained that one of the wild cats has marked its territory there and it attracts the butterflies etc.







One of the birds I was hoping to see was a toucan. Within ten minutes of walking along a trail we saw two of them high up on a branch and had a beautiful view as the sun picked them out. It is not the main season for birding but we managed to see about 20 species and a coati ambling across the track.







I hoped I could pay Martin by card but he said he only took cash so we stopped at the main ATM at the park entrance. I am sure you can guess what happened next? It took my pin, acknowledged me by name, asked me to wait…….. Fifteen minutes later it was still telling me to wait but would not return the card. Martin went to ask a Park Ranger for help but was told it happens constantly as the power supply fluctuates during the process and the ATM goes into shock. All the Ranger could suggest was returning the following Wednesday ( it was Thursday) to collect the card when they empty the machine.







So we returned to the hotel, I cancelled my card on the banking app ( thankfully managing to keep the connection until I finished ) and we spoke to the receptionist who agreed to pay Martin and put it on my bill. Getting cash is not easy here.







I had a slow day following the birding but as there was no-one around I had the pool to myself all morning so I swam for exercise. Late afternoon a young woman joined me, very excited as she had just done the boat ride under the waterfalls. She said it was the best experience of her life. I was planning to return to the park the next day to walk the 7 kilometre Macuco Trail so I decided to do the boat ride too while I was there. Then when I mentioned this to Sofia, the very helpful hotel manager who speaks English, she suggested I might like to extend the boat ride by connecting to a new enterprise. This month they have started a boat trip from the same jetty as the falls tour but the new journey goes 15k along the river to the town of Puerto Iguazú ( it has developed mostly in recent times as a result of tourism at the falls) which I had not yet managed to see. It seemed a perfect itinerary especially as Sofia would arrange for a local driver, Susanna, to take me to the park and collect me from the town. As it would be about 6pm when I left the boat Sofia recommended a good restaurant and we agreed Susanna would collect me from there at 8pm.







It was going to be a very full day so we left Tupa Lodge at 10am, armed with my trusty but inelegant poncho ( which can be used as a bivouac if I ever need to camp out!) in the hope it might keep part of me dry under the falls. Afterwards Sofia said I was so optimistic about the effectiveness of the poncho she didn’t have the heart to disillusion me.







The walk on the trail went well, a hot 7k through the forest but with lots of trees to provide shelter. A little way along the track there was a large sign saying what to do if confronted by animals, especially the cats, the advice being not to run or climb trees, ( the cats can do it better, - certainly better than me!), to make oneself as big as possible, and make a lot of noise. I was walking quickly and started to worry about how quickly constituted running in the eyes of the jaguars et al. Did I need to keep looking behind? Suddenly I started to think maybe walking alone might not be too sensible. I saw someone else every 15-20 minutes.



Luckily the only sightings were of numerous different types of butterflies, including a blue morph, a beautiful metre long dark green iguana and a troop of monkeys.







After the walk I topped up my water bottles back at the centre and headed towards the boat meeting point.







Sofia had spoken to me about some of the organisational problems in Argentina, the difficulty of trying to find any employees with even a few words of English, or any education at all. Most fascinating was her explanation of what she called ‘imaginary reality’. It seems to be associated with something in one of the works of the author Gabriel García Márquez but I am not sure if Sofia has created that phrase herself to reflect her own observations or taken it directly from his work. But what she means by it is that the perception is that Argentina functions in one way, but in fact the reality is far from that perception, although no one ever acknowledges this parallel universe, Everyone buys into the ‘imaginary’ reality even though it doesn’t exist.







To give some simple examples, the ATM system is one. On the surface it appears fine, up to international standards, so you are told that getting cash is easy. The reality is, especially for other nationalities, the machines rarely function at all. I think this is why the woman helping the first time my card was lost in the machine said, ‘ welcome to Argentina’.







I am explaining this here to make sense of the rest of my day. So back to the boat. I went to the place where the boat guide directed me, the corner of a locked up restaurant. I was there 15 minutes before the allotted time as required but waited alone for ten minutes. Starting to wonder if I had misunderstood and was in the wrong place, I went back to the kiosk to check and again he said that was where to wait and someone would be there soon. By now our truck & boat adventure should have been well underway.







I was still alone 15 mins later when I saw a few people wandering around the other side of the road. By now most visitors had left the park and it was quiet. So I went across and asked if they were going on the same trip. Yes they were. They had been sent to stand a long way from me where there was an odd raised platform structure with steps from which you had to climb up to be able to get onto the very high safari style vehicle. Slowly a queue formed. 15 mins later the vehicle arrived. Someone called me by name, put a yellow bracelet on me and said I was to take the only seat free on the vehicle! No one else had bracelets. By now it was time for my second scheduled boat to depart but when I explained they said it wasn’t a problem. The bracelet was to show I was getting on the other boat after the ‘shower’ trip to the falls.







So off we went through the forest to the jetty and then set off for the cataratas. We were given large dry bags to put belongings in and people either put on ponchos or took some clothes off so only the minimum would get wet. We also had huge life jackets on, mush bigger than normal. I tried to get into my poncho with difficulty in the very narrow seat. The man behind kindly helped but unfortunately he didn’t understand the design and somehow managed to get both my arms jammed through the side meant just for one and almost throttled me. By this point the boat was moving so I had to put up with it. It was like being in a straight jacket, my arms were pinned in place and I couldn’t turn my head. There wasn’t long to worry about the pain as very quickly we reached the falls.







Now, getting wet was not a concern for me. It is hot. But as we drove towards the falls I realised there were huge rocks everywhere and through the mist and torrent of water it was impossible to see them. Then we were right under the falls and the force of the water in the densest part was so great it was impossible to breathe. It only lasted about 20 seconds each time we went through but it was terrifying. As we came out the other side, all the passengers shouted for more. That wasn’t what I would have shouted if my poncho had allowed me to speak! I think it was as near to water-boarding torture as you can get without being a prisoner. It was certainly an experience. Each time we went through the waterfall water taken onboard raced from the front to the back of the boat up to our knees. I didn’t feel that the ‘adventure’ was safe.







Eventually the ordeal was over, we returned to the jetty, I climbed into another boat and set off sedately to leave the falls behind and head to the town 15k downriver to where the Iguazú meets the Paraná. I was pleased to see people on board had yellow bracelets like mine. We were only behind schedule by about 90 minutes.







The pace changed completely. It was quiet and peaceful. We passed a few family groups of Guaraní people on the banks and then saw three or four families of capybara at different times as they cooled off in the water.







My poncho was still wet so I stretched it over my legs to dry out. There was a pleasant breeze so I held on to my straw hat with one hand. A beautiful butterfly I had not seen previously landed on the poncho. Not wanting it to be crushed I smoothed out the poncho with both hands. The butterfly flew away, followed closely by my hat. One of the crew jumped up from his seat but I said losing the hat wasn’t a problem. He was not to be deterred. As the captain turned the boat around to go back, he raced for his grappling hook and positioned himself perfectly to pluck the soggy sombrero from the river and return it to me to the accompaniment of a huge round of applause. It was definitely a memorable day but it didn’t end there.











As we motored along the river we could see dark clouds collecting ahead. We reached Puerto Iguazú town and climbed ashore. One family hesitated before getting off and looked confused. They didn’t have yellow bracelets. They turned to the captain and asked him, ‘ but where are the falls’? They had travelled 15k on a flat river without realising that they were on the wrong boat! I walked off as they were all trying to decide what to do. It was too late to take the ‘shower trip’ by then even if they returned to the falls jetty.







The point of disembarkation is where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil meet together.







Sofia had warned me that the walk from the jetty up to the town was long and steep so I was prepared for a slow amble. Within minutes the skies darkened, and thunder rumbled in the distance. As the first few raindrops hit the ground I thought it best to put my already soggy poncho back on over my backpack. The road was wide, steep and windy bordered by trees but no buildings. As the lightening started I decided not to shelter under the trees but to move faster to find cover. Within a couple of minutes I reached the only refuge in sight, a derelict building with an overhang. Just in time, the rain came down as heavily as the falls and in seconds it was so dense that I could see nothing at all. I have never seen rain fall with such violence. I had to squeeze in sideways to the wall to avoid the worst of it.







Ten minutes later the roads had turned to red rivers as soil was washed downhill in the torrent. By then I had to stay where I was as the water was too deep to cross. I thought it couldn’t continue at that rate for long but an hour later I was still waiting for it to ease. It sounds miserable but I really enjoyed the drama of the storm. It wasn’t cold and I was only a little soggy. The only problem was that I had planned to have a couple of hours for a meal in the restaurant but as the boats were late and I had to shelter for so long it was 7.35 by the time I reached the restaurant. As Susanna had said she would collect me at 8pm it was too late to order food.







I explained to the young man greeting guests how the plan had gone awry, that I didn’t have time to eat but could I have a drink. He said of course, I could go in the restaurant or in the bar across the patio. I opted for the bar, walked over, pushed down on the door handle to go in and somehow the door flung backwards with a crash and the shiny silver handle shot across the room like a rocket taking off, and just as noisy. Everyone looked up. I must have looked a strange sight, still in very wet poncho and sun hat dripping at my side. I said in Spanish something like , ‘Sorry, I didn’t think I was so strong’, They smiled but no one chased after the handle.







I asked for a beer and the waiter said yes of course, and disappeared not to be seen again. Perhaps I scared him. Ten minutes later (it was now 7.45) another waiter appeared. He was very pleasant. I asked him for a drink and he promptly disappeared. Incidents like this brought Sofia’s Imaginary Reality to mind. I waited until 7.55 without any further sign of a waiter so I decided to give up and go and wait by the entrance for Susanna and eat once I reached Tupa Lodge.







Central and South Americans are notorious for their disastrous timekeeping so I wasn’t really surprised to find I was still waiting at 8.30. By 8.45 I was beginning to wonder if there was a problem. I can’t use my phone and without Wifi I couldn’t send an email or even look up Sofia’s telephone number. There was a taxi office a couple of doors down and a man hovered between his door and the restaurant checking if people needed a taxi as they exited. I explained my dilemma to him and he said use the restaurant Wifi. I said I didn’t know the password so he took my iPad and put the password in! I could have just taken a taxi but I hesitated to do that in case Susanna was on her way. It was well past 9pm now and I was really hungry. I went back into the restaurant, to the same young man and explained and asked if he could call Tupa, he said of course, I know Tupa, Sofia is a friend. Twenty minutes later Susanna arrived and phoned ahead to ask the kitchen to prepare a meal for me before they closed.







I don’t know what Susanna had been up to. She said she had left me longer so I could have a relaxing meal after the rain. Not sure how I was meant to know that other than by telepathy! Sofia was not impressed. She told Susanna that I was English so if I said I would be at the door at 8 I would be there and not eating inside! So another example of plans having their own trajectory in Argentina. I did have a lovely meal but to start eating it at 10.15 wasn’t ideal.







It is all part of the cultural differences which gives an insight into other countries. Despite the odd hitch everyone I ask for help couldn’t do more to sort things for me and I have had some lovely conversations with people, sometimes slightly stilted because of language difficulties, sometimes very informative, occasionally bewildering, often funny and always friendly. One of my favourites was talking to the night watchman whilst waiting for the birding guide at 5am. He was very concerned about my travelling alone. He thought about it for a few moments and then decided I needed a husband. I said perhaps not. So he then very seriously went through all the reasons why I should find one. He had a strong impenetrable accent so I only understand the first few, which I think might have been a good thing as I suspect they became potentially more embarrassing and ended with him applying for the role! But he was good company.







I moved from Hotel Tourbillon because after visiting the falls it became boring. At Tupa every day was eventful.







The next morning I tried to check in online for my flight. It was easy when I did it for the outward flight and I was able to choose my seat. This time the site recognised me and had all my details but when I reached the ‘choose your seat’ page, all the seats were crossed out with a big message saying , No Seats Available! Oh dear, off to Sofia again to see if she thought there was a problem. She said most likely their system was down but to make sure she called them and they said it was fine, seats would be allocated on arrival, and in fact I had an extra legroom seat. I suggested to Sofia that she would breathe a sigh of relief when I left. The hotel is very small, only 10 rooms and I think most guests are Argentinian or Brazilian, usually arriving in their own vehicles. It is a perfect little escape and I was very lucky to find it.







The journey went smoothly but as we approached Buenos Aires along by the river ( which looks like the sea it is so wide) I was amazed to see I the middle of nowhere small enclosed housing developments which had huge houses in large gardens with swimming pools set amongst lakes and streams. They looked fantastic but I am sure they must be unbelievably expensive. These were followed by well designed mini resort hotels and numerous open air sporting venues. All in all a very sophisticated area.







My challenge the following day was to buy a Covid test. To board the ship I have to have a medically supervised test OR test myself. I couldn’t understand that logic but thought I would go for the easy option. Not quite as easy as expected. The first six pharmacies didn’t have tests and in fact looked at me as if I had asked for something very embarrassing. The seventh had tests but to buy one it is necessary to give name, address, passport details etc and then sign a form agreeing to notify the government of your result.







So, if I test negative I shall board the ship Oosterdam on Thursday 2 February. Travelling in Argentina has been fascinating, more so than expected. I enjoy pottering around in BA as there is so much to see, and Iguazú is one of the best places I have ever visited but I wouldn’t recommend getting as close to the cataratas as I did. The view from the walkways is amazing and much safer!





I will try and post this blog shortly, before the cruise in case Wifi is problematic on board. Sorry about so many watery photos but I couldn’t stop taking them!

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Photos

Pool at hotel Tupa.
On the left the slope drops down to the river, hence the Perspex panels

Cat has marked territory on floor
Attracts butterflies and insects

Little woodpecker a long was away
We watched him feed a chick in a hole in tree

The warm up catarata
See how close the rocks are

Smiled despite poncho pain
My neighbour insisted on taking my photo. Look how big the life jacket is, the humpis not me! I can’t turn head because of choking poncho!

More rocks to manoeuvre around
This was the fall that created the water boarding effect

Gate at airport lounge
Thought from a distance that the marked seats were to avoid sitting too close to others. As I went closer the penny dropped - celebration of World Cup success obviously