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Published: September 25th 2011
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We had heard a lot about how good the buses were in Argentina so were slightly disappointed when our first one seemed to be outsourced to the 1970’s. Along with us, the bus was carrying a couple of tonnes of hay, the contents of a sweet shop, a puppy and another rather phlegmy man. We arrived in Salta quite late and were touted for a hostel at the bus terminal. We took their free taxi along with our fellow Canadian travellers and got to the hostel. The Canadian girls were instantly accosted by an overfriendly male resident who immediately told them of his wish to take them to a place call San Lorenzo. Slightly freaked out they wished to move on and we joined them and found our pre-determined “Casa” (house) for the night. Casas differ from hostels in that they tend to be someone’s house that they have converted into accommodation and feel more personal. The family we stay with recommend a great place for dinner and we sit down to eat at around 11.30pm, which seems the normal time for Argentinean’s as the restaurant is full.
The next day we explore the city and are surprised and comforted
by how westernised and modern everything is (quite a change from Bolivia). We find our first proper supermarket and stock up on necessities and decide to make our own lunch for the first time. It was a freezing day though and we sat in a park with a statute (one of many to come) shivering while eating our homemade sarnies. The next day we take a gondola ride up the mountain that overlooks the city for some impressive views and walk down to get some exercise. During some shopping that day we discover a tasty treat in the name of ‘Dulce de Leche’, it’s a very sweet caramelly type sauce that is made from condensed milk and Argentinean’s put it in practically everything that is bad for you (chocolate, ice cream, pastries, biscuits… you name it!) which makes it even worse, but even tastier. Our addiction starts slowly, but in the end we are dipping anything we can find into its sweet creamy goodness, eventually moving onto fruit in order to even things out (we kid ourselves!). We realise at this point that our beach bodies for Fiji are now a distant pipe dream
We wake up on our
last morning in Salta excited by the fact that we are due to fly across the country to Puerto Iguaçu where we are going to visit the Iguazu Falls. A rather rocky flight is rewarded during our descent when we breach the very low cloud cover to find ourselves gliding above a rainforest with the power of the Iguazu Fall’s spray erupting into cloud matter above the treeline. When we exit the airport we feel our first sense of heat and humidity since the Galapagos and it feels good. The town is rather expensive due to the waterfall’s popularity, so we decide to cook our own food in a rather dodgy kitchen… its probably the worst Spaghetti Bolognese we have ever eaten, but its cheap and fills us up.
The next day is our visit to the Argentinean side of the falls; this side is based on top of the falls and you get to walk over, under and through them. You really appreciate the sheer power and ferocity of the water and we were lucky as the water was very high making the falls even more impressive. Unfortunately they were so powerful that some parts of the park
were inaccessible due to the water levels and we missed out on the famous Devils throat walkway (the most powerful part of the falls). We spent the whole day at the park constantly mesmerised and marvelling at a true natural wonder. We are rewarded just before the park closes by retracing our steps on the upper walkways and find we pretty much have the falls to ourselves and enjoy watching the sun start to set over the falls.
The following day we cross the border into Brazil and visit the falls Brazilian-style. This side has the amazing panoramic vista of the falls (Geek fact: The falls are 3km long and 70m high). The park is much smaller, but the views make it a worthwhile visit. The finale is a walkway out to the middle of the Devils throat where we both get so wet that our shoes fill with water and our trousers look as if we had been swimming in them. We try talking to each other as we walk out into the waterfall, but couldn’t hear a word as the noise from the tumbling water is deafening.
On our final day in Puerto Iguaçu we visit
an animal rescue park which rehabilitates and releases local animals back into the wild. It’s an interesting tour and we get to see some amazing creatures from the rainforest. Our favourite is the Toucan, which not only captivates us, but also gives Kev a craving for a Guinness.
That evening, we catch a very nice bus to Posadas (about 6 hours south) for a night’s stopover. There isn’t much to do in the city, but it has very nice views across the river into Paraguay and we catch the first England rugby warm up game against Wales on ESPN. We spend the next day walking around the city and enjoying the hot weather whiling away the time until we are due to depart to Buenos Aries.
We board our first overnight coach in the evening with some trepidation, but are pleasantly surprised by its comfort (Kev is able to stretch out fully on the flat chairbed). We tuck into our hot dinner with wine and have a few evening sherbets while watching some film dubbed in Spanish which is strangely also subtitled in Spanish. We were awoken very early by Argentinean police at a road crossing who were
inspecting the coach. I warn them in my best Spanglish that my wife is best not disturbed in the morning, but he continued to wake her and shine the torch in her face (he survived the experience, but I’m not sure I would have done if it had been me!). After a couple more hours and a quick breakfast we arrive in Buenos Aires which looks massive!
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