Devils throat and two typical Brits abroad in the rain!

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Argentina was crying for Sharon and I to come and visit and so here we are!!

We left Hostel Natura, Brazil with Carlos as he was going to go and collect a couple of English girls up from the Argentinian side of the falls. I think it was probably easier for us to go with him than if we had done it by public transport as he knew the system really well and we were through both borders in less than 5 minutes and the Argentinian guards showed no interest in our bags or wanting to know what we were doing or where we were going in Argentina!!

Despite askign Costas to just drop us off at the bus station and we would walk the the hostel he insisted in dropping us off at our new home and even carried our bags in for us. Our new home was different again and had a thin and long courtyard that was painted bright colours and each room was off the courtyard. Also each room had a table and chair on one side and on the other a hammock and another chair with small table. The courtyard was really peaceful and they had bird feeders up at which hummingbirds would fly around and feed at. As far as I am aware this is the first time I have seen wild hummingbirds and they were amazing to sit and watch!!!

We wandered into the town and found the bank and took out our first load of pesos. Unfortunately this is when confusion reigned for awhile as we got our heads around the change in currency and how much each pesos is! We then headed into the local supermarket and when we found out how cheap Argentina is we got a bit shopping happy: 2 x 1ltr bottles of beer, 1 x 2.5 ltr bottle of water, 1 bread baguette, 1 lump of local cheese, 2 x chocolate cookies and 1 x packet of crisps and this cost us £5.49. We headed back to the hostel and sat in the courtyard and ate our mini feast. Whilst sat there the clouds started coming over head and we then sat and watched a thunderstorm for 2 hours. The thunder never really got over head nor did it rain too much. Eventually Sharon and I decided to have an early night so headed to bed around 9.30pm as we intended to get up early Thursday morning to go and look at the Argentinian side of the waterfalls.

1am that night I woke up to a large overhead crash of thunder and swearing from Sharon. What proceeded was a 12 hour thunderstorm with rain that pelted down like there was no tomorrow!! The next morning my alarm went off however neither Sharon or I had had much sleep and so we decided to turn over and see what the morning brought. Unfortunately the rain didn't let up so we decided to use the day to relax and head to the waterfalls the next day.

After our breakfast, unfortunately we had been spoilt at Hostel Natura and so the breakfast at Puerto Canoas didn't match up, we decided to brave the rain and thunder and buy our bus tickets to Buenos Aires. At breakfast we had gotten talking to another English couple and two American ladies. We were all swapping our traveling stories of where we had been and where we were heading to.

Eventually in typical English tourists abroad we ventured out in our raincoats, shorts and flip flops!!! The rain bounced it down and all the locals just watched us as we walked down the street. After we bought our bus tickets we headed to the supermarket and stocked up on some more snacks and food for the day we also bought our first ice-creams of the holiday!!!! We headed back to the hostel and proceeded to play on the internet and obviously had a few games of shithead to keep us amused and that was pretty much our day!!!

Friday came around and the sun was shinning however the weather had definitely cooled a lot and everyone (apart from Sharon and I) were walking around in jumpers and most definitely wrapped up. Having packed our bags and left them with the hostel reception we headed to the Parque Nationale Iguazu.

For anyone reading this blog if you are ever around and want to visit the falls but only have one day then I would tell you to do the Argentinian side however if you have a couple of days then both sides have something different to offer and are more than worth it!!

The Argentian side of the park offers you walks through various parts of the local rainforest where you get to see both the wildlife and views of different waterfalls at different angles. During our walk through the rainforest we were lucky to see a couple of toucans, some condors (or what I think are condors although an American said they were vultures) lots of gekos and butterflies and some other unidentified birds.

Having walked around the upper and level tours we headed back towards the entrance in order to have some lunch and then to get the park train to the devils throat walkway. As we were walking back towards the main area an information guide gave us a discount voucher for one of the restaurants and after scouting around we decided to go with it. Basically it was an all you could eat Argentinian bbq and salad buffet. This was my first taste of Argentinian beef in Argentina and I have to say that it did not disappoint in any way and I am looking forward to tasting more whilst I am here!!

Having eaten we walked (well I rolled) to the train and we rode up to the start of the devils throat walkway. The walkway crosses over various subsidiaries of the main river and we were lucky enough to come accross a turtle sat sunbathing on big rock.

We heard the falls before we actually saw them and when we did actually reach the devils throat it was more than amazing and certainly breathtaking!! I think that we had been very lucky with the rain the previous day as it made the falls all the more impressive. We stood and watched the falls for 10 minutes before taking the usual 101 and photos. I have also taken a video of the falls but am not sure that it gives you a true reflection of them.

On our walk back to get the train we came across our American friends from breakfast the day before. We once again got talking to them and said that we would see them at the hostel before we got our night bus home. Connie asked me for my e:mail address as she said that she was sure she would think of a lot of places and hostels that we should stay at around South America and also some that may help me on my travels around the world.

Back at the hostel we wasted an hour or so before getting the bus. After awhile Connie and her friend Linda returned and we once again got involved in a lengthy discussion about travels and places to go and see. When we were leaving Connie gave me her contact details and said that if I was ever in the area (USA near to the Canadian border and Toronto) It transpires that Connie is 77 and I have to say that if I am as fit, active and still traveling like she is at her age then I will be very happy!!!

At 7pm we were ready and waiting for our bus to take us on the 17 hour journey to Buenos Aires. Thankfully the bus came along and we were were traveling cama-ejectivo. For anyone that thinks that this traveling by bus lark is difficult believe me it is not and especially so in Argentina! Basically they have a law in Argentina that dictates all buses must comply with a standard within 5 classes and mustr advertise which service is being offered. We were travelling second class and this meant that we had ultra wide seats (only three seats per row they are that wide!), they recline a long way back and you have a foot rest. Along with this we were provided with blankets and pillows and there were tv screens and we were given food.

Since being in South America I have discovered that I have definitely inherited some of the Brimelow gene of being able to sleep anywhere and through anything!! After a long day at the falls and a disturbed night the night before (a knee in the back from Sharon and a cold night as she robbed the blanket everytime she turned over) was quite tired so within an hour I was asleep. I woke up after approximately 30 minutes when we hit the border (basically the road we were going down went in and out of Brazil). A policeman got on the bus but just walked up and down and got off again. Anyway about an hour later we stopped again and this time a policeman got on and asked to see ID. Sharon and I gave him our passports and after a broken English/Spanish conversation he was happy. Then a dog came on and went up and down the coach and another policeman followed. This policeman insisted on seeing our passports and he also wanted to see in our hand luggage. Once again after a broken conversation he was happy........ I then fall back asleep and was woken up at 11pm by the bus waiter shaking me as he was serving dinner!!!!! Sharon said that the guy started off touching me gently to wake me up but when I showed no sign of stirring he started shaking me quite hard - all I knew was that my teeth were rattling around in my head! We were given a ham and cheese salad, bread roll, peaches and cream and then 10 minutes later he came down with a hot meal of chicken in a sauce and rice! I ate a bit (only because it was in front of me rather than because I was hungry). As soon as he collected the trays in I was back out for the count and didn't wake again till 8.30am.

I believe that during the time I slept I missed out on watching a film and I also think that I have missed out on the free champagne...... The morning brought breakfast and another film although the film was frustratingly stopped halfway through for no apparent reason so I am now on a mission to watch the last 45minutes of August Rush!

Buenos Aires, a football stadium, a tango show and tango lesson all awaits.........

SHITHEAD SCORES:
Brim: 30
Deirdre: 27

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