Iguazu Falls

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Iguazu Falls. We had a 21 hr bus ride in both directions. Why I decided to do that instead of fly is beyond me. Well, not really. It was cheaper. In the States you would never (willingly) get on a bus for 21 hours. It just doesn´t make any sense. But that´s how they travel here. The seats fold back basically into beds and there are movies, so it´s not that bad. Though when it was time to get off the bus, I was not complaining.

I stepped off the air conditioned bus and was affronted by the heat! You could tell by the temperature and humidity that we were near the jungle. We stayed in the nicest hostel I´ve been in. Actually, I take that back. This is 2nd nicest - the nicest (and by nice, I mean clean) was in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Anyway, in Iguazu, there was a pool, hammocks, bar, internet, pool tables, etc. Not bad for $10 a night. The one gross thing was the humidity. My towel never got dry and they only turned on the AC at night. To top it off, my other roommates couldn't figure out the AC and we spent the night in a humid cesspool. Yuk. Nasty.

But the Falls were worth it. I hiked and zip lined and rock climbed in the jungle. The next day we went to the Falls and saw the Argentine side only - no time for Brazil! 😞 We took a boat ride INTO the waterfalls. I was soaking wet, wandering around in my bathing suit, but it was so friggin hot, I didn´t care. The falls are incredible. The largest one, called Devil´s Throat, literally rendered me speechless. You just sit there and meditate on the powerful force of nature that created this beautiful monstrosity. There were numerous other smaller falls and the whole place teamed with butterflies/colorful moths. If you´re in Argentina or Brazil, you should make some time to see this natural wonder.

To see all the pictures, go here. You can also cut and paste the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060634&l=5d88f&id=200129

Here's a couple thousand words:

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Photos

Iguazu Falls
Rainbow over one of the falls

Iguazu Falls
Dos Hermanos

Iguazu Falls
Hiking

Iguazu Falls
About to climb a little mountain - it's ridiculous how much gear I had to put on.

Iguazu Falls
Devil's Throat

Comments

[Granny Frankie Murphy]

Sounds great
Your blogs are just great. They sound like you are having a wonderful time. What school group are you with? Where next?

[Skipper Du]

Twirling in South America, eh?
Jake, your bus trip sounds like one of those moments in life where you feel like a snake that's poked its head too far inside a hollow bamboo stalk: one way out - straight ahead. But it's an adventure. Like when I landed in Madrid, then took a train from there to Florence. Um. WHAT was I thinking!? At any rate, the falls look amazing and so do you! Who are the people you're traveling with? When I was in Brazil it was my hope to see Iguazu Falls, but at that time, last summer, the falls had dried up. There were no falls. Just rocks! So I didn't go. This is the first blog link I've received. Bummer that I missed the others. Maybe there's an archive . . . ? I'll look for it. Love you, my little zip liner! Chip

[Hal]

Quite an Adventure
Jake: Looks like you had quite an adventure. I'm really proud of the spirit you're showing, traveling 21 hours in a bus, climbing mountains, staying in hot, humid hostels. Keep it up. And keep the wonderful pictures coming. Hal