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Published: April 16th 2006
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Well after the stress of class for a week I decided to get away from the city for a week of relaxation and first port of call was ´Cataratas del Iguazu´.
Everyone I spoke to before leaving that had travelled here said that it was a must see and it was just that and more!
The falls are made up of around 275 falls up to 82 metres high along 2.7 km. The water falls at between 300 to 6500 cubic metres per second over the big fall named Garganta del Diablo ( Devil´s Throat) which is 150m wide. Accounts for the huge noise which I am sure can be heard miles away.
Legend has it - there is always a legend isn't there - that a god wanted to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipu but she fled with her mortal lover in a canoe and in a fit of rage the god sliced the river with the lover turned into a rock at the bottom and she turned into a tree at the top- destined to never meet again. Sounded quite plausible I thought. Anyhow, it is the second biggest falls in the world after
Victoria Falls in Africa.
Thanks to having ownership of a British-EU passport as well the Oz version I was able to visit the Brazilian side without forking out money for a visa which I didn´t have. I knew it would come in handy one day for something other than jumping the line at Heathrow!
So after a brief stop at the border to file off the bus to wipe our shoes on a mat and then file back on the bus, I made it to Brazil.
From the Brazilian side you get an amazing view of the length of the falls which are in fact mainly in Argentina with the Rio Iguazu being the border between the two countries. Lots of wildlife- birds, butterflies, and coatis (feral looking possum type creatures which apparently attack food if you have it) made all the better by the fact that it was a beautiful day for a stroll.
Day two saw a visit to the Argentinian side and although the Brazilian side was fantastic , I didn´t appreciate the size of the place until then. From here you get to basically walk through, over, under, and above
all the falls seen the previous day. Beautiful, amazing, ginormous, incredible, tropical, loud- all this and more. Topped off by the obligatory trip in a speedboat underneath the falls and a ride in a truck through the jungle, finishing the visit saturated but happy.
After spending three fantastic days at the falls I then travelled back south to the port city of Ushuaia for a relaxing weekend. I was offered accommodation and thought - hey why not! Whilst there I managed, amongst other stuff, to catch up on a few bottle of very nice Argentinian red wine, finish a really crap book (which I should have stopped reading but I wanted to see if it got better, which it didn't -see notes at end), and also spent a day on a sailboat on the Beagle channel. Nothing like some fresh sea air to clear the senses.
Since then it has been my last week in Buenos Aires. A tour through the Teatro Colon, which is closing this year for refurbishment before reopening for it's centenary in 2008. A visit to the Cow Parade in Puerto Madero, strolling through the city with Shirley and Ken - from
Cataratas del Iguazu
Walking through the falls in Argentina spanish class in Adelaide and who are also travelling for a year. Tango lessons at the hostel, El Caminito in La Boca. Am sad to say goodbye to this city. It has such a good vibe even if you don't see much of the sun due to all the skyscrapers... But - places to go, people to see, things to do!!! So off to Chile.
Things I find disturbing chapter 2:
My book choice on this trip so far is shite.
One Patricia Cornwell that really just wasn´t what I expected, however interesting it was to read about how Walter Sickert (a painter in the 1880´s) was apparently Jack the Ripper.
One Anne Rice novel picked because I really liked Interview with a Vampire - I should have stayed away from the rest and will do in the future.
So far 'Charlie y la Fabrica de Chocolate´ is winning by a mile.
Leering old guys in the street. They´re not very subtle here when they´re checking someone out and I find blokes hanging out of bus windows very disturbing no matter what their age.
Oh and I have a new favourite drink
Cataratas del Iguazu 2
This is one of the falls that the speed boat went under. - Fernet and Cola
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Shani
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Nice falls!
Ya know, just the other day we were looking at Skogurfoss, and thinking, "My, aren't they something?" All 62m high and 10m wide of 'em. And then we see this. Nice! Were there any thrill-seekers going over the side in barrels? :-D PS: So, we having a Fernet and coke night when you get here then?