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Published: April 26th 2007
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WEEK 19 - FROM BOLIVIA TO IGUAZU FALLS
A fond farewell to Fe. She flew from La Paz in Bolivia to Buenos Aires to quickly visit Uruguay before her flight home. But we will keep in touch daily by email - and also with Carole in Edinburgh who tracks our where-abouts. So the last 2 weeks travelling on my own,
I was still keen to see more of Bolivia - such a fascinating country. I caught an overnight bus from La Paz to Sucre the judicial capital. No day buses. I guess it is more important to get freight and the mail delivered the next day - and people who have business to attend to - rather than pander to the whims of tourists who want to look out of the window! It was a local bus - I actually feel more secure in a local bus with low gearing which sounds as though it has a good grip on the road. The journey on a continuous surfaced road was very comfortable.
Sucre is a beautiful city with UNESCO World Heritage Status. A bit like Cusco with a lovely plaza and colonial buildings. (Not like La Paz
Iguazu Falls
View from Brazil with the bustling indigenous element.)
My stay was a bit longer than anticipated - partly because the truck drivers were on strike and blockaded all the roads for 2 days so the buses could not operate- and partly because the Chinese meal I had did not agree with me. (The first upset tum in 18 weeks isn't bad) I chose to relax and totally recover - rather than risk a 15 hours overnight journey on a bus without a loo and no comfort stops!
I visited a wonderful weaving museum. Sucre weaving is very fine and one piece of wall hanging 30"x 24" takes 3 months. The ladies demonstrating were brilliant. Augustina a 22 year old was taught by her mother who passes the skills and necessary rituals on. I decided to return and buy a table runner - but the museum was closed for Good Friday - so it was not to be. It was also a salutary reminder to buy what you like at the time. It is unlikely that you will ever see the same article again - or that you find it cheaper!
It is also policy to never go back and try
to repeat an experience - it is never the same! Just remember and really appreciate the original and aim for something new and different!
The journey from Sucre to Tarija was OK. Five hours on tarmac and 9 hours on a narrow dirt track, but the surface was well graded and comfortable. Up and down endless hairpin bends, over remote mountain ranges and along steep narrow valleys. We only had 2 punctures. The driver and conductor both chewed their coca leaves. They started at 3pm had two 30 minute breaks and then drove continuously through the night until 6.30am - Over 14 hours of perfect driving. These guys are to be respected.
Now from Tarija to Salta crossing from Bolivia to Argentina. I saw a Andesmar kiosk and having travelled with this bus company previously - all mod cons and a loo - I bought a ticket -2 in fact - one to the border and one from the border to Salta. Normally such journeys are continuous with the driver and conductor keeping passengers right at the border.
There was no Andesmar bus at 9.00am the next day. I was switched to an old local bus. It
Below the falls
Iguazu Falls - Argentina was fine and a beautiful journey through lovely mountains and down the Bermajo valley passing through sub tropical forest to the hotter more humid lowlands and with small strips of bananas, maize and sugar cane.
We were almost at Bermajo - the bus stopped - tipped me out and I was all alone at the border crossing. I had my passport stamped to exit Bolivia and was then directed through a small hole in a huge wire fence into a quiet country road. A long walk over the bridge from Bolivia towards Argentina and then the Bolivian police searched my bags. No contraband - so I sat in the sunshine by the river and waited for a taxi.
Sometime later a mile or so down the road I found myself in a queue with a few lorry drivers. I entered Argentinian immigration, had my passport stamped, cleared customs and then had a 10 mile taxi ride to the bus terminal.
Once again - no Andesmar bus. The man in the Andesmar kiosk organised another ticket for me with Flechabus which was just about to leave, but only to San Pedro de Juy Juy - not Salta. It
View from the platform
Iguazu Falls - Argentina was a new comfortable bus and for once I watched a movie about an adventure in the Arctic where two children rescue their father from a plane crash with the help of a baby polar bear. Quite a contrast to the usual violent and horrific movies which they screen to passengers to while away the time.
Once in San Pedro I discovered all the buses to Salta were full. No one spoke any English - but after a cafe con leche and a pigeon Spanish conversation with a bus ticket officer I discovered I could get to Corrientes - half way to the Iguazu Falls without going to Salta - so it all worked out OK.
I think that I was the only gringo in San Pedro de Juy Juy. No tourist office, no maps and not even a mention in the Lonely Planet. I found a hotel and breakfasted in the local market - where food is cooked on site and fresh and I enjoyed my cheese omelette and cafe con leche.
The bus to Corrientes was 2 hours late being held up by striking demonstrators blocking the road. It was another over night journey and
Beneath the Falls
Iguazu Falls - Argentina by luck on arrival I hopped straight onto a bus to Iguazu. A long journey through the pampas. A lush level green grassy landscape - now I know where the tasty beef comes from! Further north were strips of pineapples,maize and tapioca and then a switchback landscape not unlike the A68. We passed through miles and miles of well brashed conifer plantations -local saw mills now providing the bulk of the country's soft wood.
To the wonderful cataracts of Iguazu. Two kilometres of waterfalls over the near vertical edge of an ancient basalt lava flow - and over 200 individual falls. Much more extensive and dramatic than Niagara. First to the Brazilian side which gave a wide overview of the falls. Another border crossing using local buses. Again I was almost alone - but a small group of Israelis appeared and asked me to join them for the day.
Once in the National Park we were transported by bus and then followed a series of paths through lush tropical rain forest along side the deep gorge of the Parana river over looking the length of falls. The falls were beautiful and sparkled in the bright sunshine with circular rainbows in the spray. There were thousands of colourful butterflies and they seemed to be attracted to the blustery spray from the falls.
The next day to the Argentinian side. Once in the park a train ride to take visitors to the various trails. A wonderful new interpretive centre stressing the pressures on the few last remaining reserves of tropical rainforest and supporting the need to maintain biodiversity.
Here a closer encounter with the falls with walkways above the wide gently flowing river upstream and then an aerial walkway above the raging cataracts, their depths lost in mist and spray. The noise of the water crashing down was unbelievable and beneath the falls was an earthy smell. I took a boat ride across the river to San Martin Island where it was possible to stand opposite the base of the falls and experience the strong winds from the displacement of the air by the raging waters. It was also very wet as we experienced the full effects of the spray!. I spent 6 hours walking along the trails and gazing in awe at the extent and magnificence of the falls. Lots of photos - but none do justice to the scale of the landscape.
I was most impressed with the planning and management of the National Parks. Visitors were transported comfortably and easily through out the parks. Although the trails were hard edged to prevent erosion and degradation from high usage - but they were designed appropriately and contained in such a way to enable the visitor to feel enclosed within the forest and the environment. On many occasions I was able to be completely alone and truly appreciate the wild experience of the falls. I didn't want to leave.
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Andrew Lear
non-member comment
fantastic!
Its like a Conan Doyle lost world! Dont tell the Americans that their trickle is second class...Is it the Brazilians talking about saving the forests? That will teach you to eat Chinese.......better to stick to local food..... Hope you are going to give us a presentation on your return Vida, presuming you are coming back sometime?