Iguazu (IK)

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After an overnight bus (where we were offered whisky and champagne - the Argentineans know how to travel in style) we arrived in Puerto Iguazu, home of the famous waterfalls. We stumbled across a place owned by a quirky man but it was a camping ground (i.e. tents in his backyard). When we explained that we had no tent, he led us to a gorgeous little wooden cabin that he hand built. It wasn’t completely finished but he moved his tools and let us stay there for the night. He immediately liked us because we are from the land of kangaroos (he said this while imitating a kangaroo hop). The cabin was surrounded by plants and you could hear the nearby river - a beautiful spot. The owner had two rules: silencio after 10pm; and you can only smoke marijuana at the table down the hill.

We spent two days visiting Iguazu National Park. The main waterfall - the Devil’s throat - is mesmerising. The amount of water tumbling over the cliff is hard to comprehend. The walkway gets you close enough to be saturated by the spray and there were hundreds of small black birds ducking and weaving through the water then gliding on the updraft.

At the end of the first day we did the tourist thing and went on the boat that jumps over the rapids and goes underneath the falls. We had waterproof pants in our bag (we’re still not sure why we didn’t put them on) and we got completely drenched. We laughed and shivered all the way to the top of the hill. Stupido gringos.

Leaving the park we heard some birds making a grunting sound. I was about to keep walking when Mark took the camera to have a quick look at what kind of birds they were and it turns out there were three toucans sitting in a tree! We have heard of people looking for weeks for toucans and not seeing any so it was a real surprise.

The next day we returned and went on a rainforest walk to a smaller waterfall. We saw lots of weird local animals including one that looked like a giant guinea pig. We also met our first monkey of the trip who was eating palm dates and throwing the pips down at us. Every time we started to eat animals came from everywhere. A bird tried to snatch some apple out of my hand, and the coatis (cute furry animals with a long snout) climbed up on the table and almost up Mark’s legs to get at our mandarins. My favourite though was the butterflies which flocked to us and are like temporary pets as they lick your skin for traces of salt and hang around for 5-10 minutes. Very sweet.

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Photos

Cabin at Iguazu
The cabin hand built by the crazy Argentinean.

Cheeky little coati
The furry (& friendly if you have food) animals that are a bit like bandicoots.

Pet butterfly
Not for the ticklish.

Mono (monkey)
He kept throwing pips at us... lucky he had bad aim.

The Devil´s Throat
The photo doesn´t do it justice... truly mesmerising.

Toucan
Crazy beak - toucan´s look like they´re straight out of a cartoon.

Pet butterfly
Not for the ticklish.