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After hotel check out and entrusting our surplus luggage to the Marriott’s concierge, we took a short taxi ride to Aeroparque, the local airport dedicated to flights within Argentina. As it was now common for us on this trip, this taxi driver also had several recommendations for us once he learned that we were going to Iguazú. He warned us to stay away from a place named “Tres Naciones” (Three Nations) close to the border with Paraguay and Brazil where several tourists had been victims of crime in the recent past.
The check in and security process at Aeroparque was straightforward and we soon reached the gate area. Our Aerolineas Argentinas flight was scheduled to depart at 12:55 PM from Gate 7, located almost at the center of the long terminal.
When the time came for boarding (according to our boarding passes), we joined the line that was forming in from of the gate, but as more time passed and there were no airline people getting ready for boarding anywhere and the display board only indicated the flight number and destination, we suspected that something was not quite right. Our suspicion was confirmed a few minutes later when a
Long Wait at Aeroparque
Joaquín and Sergio wait patiently for our flightquick announcement over the PA system indicated that our flight was delayed, but offered no additional information.
I decided to join another line in front of the airline’s information desk. Ten or so minutes later when my turn came to approach the desk, the airline agent just told me that the flight was delayed ½ hour. We stayed around the gate and the ½ hour came and went but our boarding process did not appear to be getting any closer to begin. Sergio, Joaquín and I decided to go look for a coffee shop to kill time. We actually walked to one end of the terminal and then to the other in search of our coffee shop, checking out a couple of the airport shops in the process.
We were pleased to find a small “Locos por el Fútbol” shop at the end of our search. It brought out recent memories of the Boca Juniors match that we had witnessed last Sunday. We parked ourselves at one of the tables close to a TV monitor and enjoyed an espresso while watching an unidentified match in progress.
As more time went by and no further announcements over the
PA system were made, I left Sergio and Joaquín enjoying their coffees and returned to the airline information desk. By now, we were more than one hour behind our original departure time but our gate was still full of passengers. Again, nobody appeared to know anything about the status of our flight or the reason for our delay. I was amazed about the different treatment that passengers experience with US airlines such as our Atlanta-based Delta Airlines. Late flights go with the “territory” of modern travel, but it makes a world of difference when you are kept informed about the reasons for delays and anticipated departure times. I felt that lacking any information it was best for the three of us to be closer to the gate just in case they decided to start boarding, so I went back to Locos por el Fútbol to retrieve my travel companions.
By the time Sergio, Joaquín and I returned to the gate, all of the waiting travelers had disappeared from our gate area and a couple of Aerolineas Argentinas agents were standing by the gate’s door. We presented our boarding passes and descended to a lower level where we boarded a
waiting bus that delivered us to an already full plane. We left Buenos Aires almost 1 ½ hours behind schedule and never really found out the reason for our delay.
Our flight to Puerto Iguazú was uneventful but our seats were located in the last row of the plane with a nice view of the engines outside. We had no chance to enjoy the falls from the air. Fortunately, our flight was not that long (1 hour 45 minutes) and soon enough we were landing at our destination. We had a small glimmer of hope when the stewardess opened the tail ladder of the plane down to the tarmac. We assumed that we were going to be the first ones out of the plane. Unfortunately, a couple of minutes later the stewardess closed the ladder and instructed us to “deplane” from the front door.
Although we were the last ones leaving the plane, we quickly recovered time by not having to go to baggage claim. Carrying everything with us on the plane had its advantages. Since our tour package from Asatej included transportation from the airport to our hotel, we were expecting to find somebody at the terminal holding a sign with our name on it. We were not disappointed: as soon as we reached the public area of the airport, we spotted our driver waiting for us.
There was one other gentleman sharing our ride with us and we quickly established conversation. He was Argentinean and had visited Iguazú before, so he offered advice when he learned that it was our first visit to the area.
Our driver also instructed us that he could deliver us to our hotel as per our voucher or we could take advantage of our first evening in Port Iguazú by joining a tour of the Iguazú and Paraná rivers on catamaran. The tour was to depart at 5:00 PM and if we wanted to join it, we needed to go directly to the embarkation point. We decided to go for it and a few minutes later, we arrived at the edge of the Iguazú River. Our driver took our hand luggage with him to the tour operator’s office for us to claim upon return.
As we arrived to the dock, the only visible vessel was an old river liner that appeared to be way past the prime of its useful life. It looked more like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. We boarded the liner but went straight through it and to our relief, on the starboard side, there was a much newer catamaran docked next to the liner and waiting for us.
Upon boarding the other vessel, we headed straight for the upper deck, which was already very busy with other tourists, but we were able to secure seats for our party. As we sat, we realized that we really did not know for sure where we were going, but a fellow traveler was reading a brochure that described our itinerary and he was kind enough to share it with us.
As the catamaran left port, we quickly realized that we were sitting in front of a loudspeaker that was being used by our tour guide to narrate the tour. The volume was so loud that it was hurting our ears every time that she commented on something. I took the punishment just a bit longer and then decided to just stand up in the forward part of the deck, where the entrance to the pilot’s cabin was.
As we moved forward, we were heading up river towards the point where the Iguazú River joins the Paraná River dividing Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Down river from our point of departure, we could see the international bridge linking Argentina and Brazil.
We soon reached the point in the river shared by the three countries and then continued up river. Our eventual destination was a point in a Paraguayan beach where Guaraní natives would perform a folk dance. Our ship’s tour guide pointed out that the governments and private organizations in the region promoted activities such as our catamaran tour to provide income for the native peoples displaced from the lands now part of the national parks around the falls. In this way, they could preserve as much as possible their own culture.
As we were about to arrive at our destination, we could appreciate a campfire on a beach to the starboard side of the ship and several Guaraní natives around it. The catamaran slowed down and started to approach the area. Most of the tourists onboard headed for the catamaran’s bow and a true barrage of flashes and whirls from video cameras ensued. Dancing to the music provided by an old guitar, a violin, and multiple native percussion instruments, several very young Guaranies went around and around the campfire singing their native songs. Most people would only see extreme poverty in these people, but it seemed to us, even in the dim twilight past sunset, that they had extreme pride in their culture and costumes.
We actually never set foot on the beach; our catamaran briefly “ran aground” for us to appreciate the show. As soon as the show ended, its powerful engines pulled the vessel back into deeper water and we started our voyage back to Puerto Iguazú.
Though there was some entertainment in the restaurant cabin (South American music band), we opted to enjoy the fresh air and more natural evening sounds from the bow platform just in front and above the twin pontoons that gave our ship its buoyancy.
At some point in time, we did go inside and discovered a couple of Guaraní natives selling these incredible-looking, wood-carved animals and other types of woodcrafts. The carvings were of such a good quality and the price was so low that I ended up the proud owner of five pieces. After my purchase, we all went back out to enjoy the rest of our river journey. Soon enough we were back docking on the side of the decaying river liner that we used to board earlier that afternoon.
Sergio, Joaquín and I had some difficulty finding our ride back to our hotel. The problem was that we were looking for a van similar to the one that had met us at the airport and none of the vehicles awaiting for passengers near the dock looked at all like that. Finally we climbed the hill in front of the dock following the exit road. On a dirt parking area at the top was a larger bus almost totally full of passengers. I decided to ask the driver if he was missing any passengers. As it turned out, he was and we were the missing passengers.
The bus took us to their main offices where we were reunited with our carry on bags. From there the bus started delivering passengers to the various hotels in the area. Our stop was one of the last ones in the route.
Hotel El Carmen is a newer three-star hotel in the area, nothing like our Marriott accommodations in Buenos Aires but still very quaint, clean, and decorated with native art and crafts and these great mural-size pictures of the falls. After check in, we delivered our luggage to our room and headed for the hotel’s restaurant.
The restaurant was very simply decorated and it featured buffet fare of local food. Both Sergio and Joaquín enjoy all-you-can-eat meals and this particular one was no exception. The only menu item that we had to get was a nice bottle of Argentinean red wine and some mineral water. After dinner, we headed back to our room to prepare our gear for next day’s exploration of the Iguazú National Park.
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