Following the Dream

Christian February 7th, 2008

Last weekend we spent a few nights in Puerto Iguazu.  This is a town that is located in the very far north of Argentina.  It is a little town that holds a huge attraction.  Iguazu Falls.  Iguazu Falls has been rated consistently as one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.  We were not let down by it.

  We arrived in the town after a 17 hour bus ride from the captial.  This was not no ordinary bus ride.  We were seated in the lap of luxury (at least by our new standards).  The bus had huge seats that actually reclined back very far and had a foot rest the folded down that actually made a quite comfortable bed.  They served us wine and dinner (lasagna) and also a cup of great coffee and a glass of champagne before bed.  To put us to sleep the put on the movie ¨La Biblia¨which translates to ¨The Bible¨.  It was a four hour movie that must have been made at the creation of color TV.  It was in English with Spanish subtitles and definitly was meant to put us to sleep, which it did.  We awoke to breakfast in the morning on the bus.  It was a good way to spend 17 hours.  Our hostel ¨Timbo Iguazu¨was okay, but not as nice as the bus.  It had a pool the size of a jacuzzi or large tub.  The shower required you to reach up and fiddle with an electric heater once the water was on to make the water warm.  We shared two bathrooms between 12 people.  It was not horrrible but not the best.  One of the downfalls was that you were not able to bring anything to drink into the hostel, they made you by everything from them.  Little do they know Casey and I were rebels and snuck our fair share of Coke Zero and Water into the room.  One thing that we did not understand was why our room did not have AC when the dorm we had to walk through to get to the bathrooms that was half the price did.  Also there was a stench in our room that smelled as  if someone pissed in the corner.

On the bright side they had good breakfast and wifi in the rooms. Enough about the room, let us get to the good stuff. The Falls. We took the public bus to the falls on Saturday morning, we got up later than we had wanted (I don´t know how I used to get up before 6 everyday). We entered the park and got on thier ¨train¨, which was blazing fast with a max speed of 7 kilometers per hour. This took you out into the park, from there we got to wait 20 minutes more for the second train to take us to ¨La Garganta Del Diablo¨or the Devil´s Throat. This is the part of the falls that has the most water moving through it. It was pretty impressive and amazing. It was just like roaring thunder of water. It was great…..until the Fotograficos Profesionales came about with their damn ladders. These are a very annoying species at Iguazu falls. They climb up on thier ladders and shout at you to move so they can scam the tourists into buying photos from them. They use the ladders to get a photo looking down on the people and really get the Devils Throat in the backgound. They were very rude and took away from that part of the falls. After that we went on to the upper trail. This was great, you got to see much more of the falls. What makes these falls so great is that there are waterfalls everywhere. It is very difficult to describe, it is simply amazing. The top trail was only like a kilometer in length, so we made it through it with no problems. Next we did the lower trail. This was one of our favorites. It was three times as long as the top one, but you got much better views of the falls. The one lookout bridge, you got so close, the mist from the waterfall soaked you. That was all we did on Saturday, so we turned in to the hostel with our coupons to return for half price the next day.

Sunday was our favorite day at the falls. We did lower trail a second time. From there we took the ferry to ¨La Isla¨which is an island that puts you right in front of the falls. It was tough with the 600+ stairs, but it was well worth it. The views were just so beautiful words cannot even begin to describe them. There was a rainbow shimmering across the falls. We just stayed there (with only 2 other people) in awe for at least 30 minutes, just watching the falls. We must have made it with perfect timing. When we were leaving La Isla, hoards of tourists were making their way over to it on the free ferries. We were so glad to have it to ourselves(almost) for that amount of time.

Next we took one of the excursions on the speed boats. They drove us under the one set of falls, which was incredible. It was so exciting. I do have video of this, but do not have a computer that I can see it on to upload it yet. Next they drove us to below the lookout we were at on La Isla. This was a huge waterfall that just pushes ridiculous amounts of water through the channel. We sped right up to it. It was nerve racking, and no doubt illegal in the US to get that close for safety reasons. The mist and spray got so thick that you could not see a thing. It was so strong. After that we sped out of it and back to the dock. It was well worth every penny.

After all that excitment, we took the long nature trail to the hidden waterfall. The trail was great, it went through the jungle. We saw monkeys in the trees. The one got pretty close (within 10 feet), and was either smiling at me or trying to say stay the hell away or I will bite your ass. It was funny. We also ran into our fair share of spiders the size of hamsters. I took a lot to get Casey to go under the one huge web that one was resting on. I want to take the credit, but I think it was the monkeys that gave her the courage to get through it. There were also the biggest ants that we have ever seen on the trail. Sadly though, it seems that many have bit the dust on the bottom of careless tourist´s shoes. The trail was only supposed to be 3 kilometers to the waterfall. This turned into 5. In the heat, it was quite a hike. It was nice though. There was a pool that it drained into. Casey and I both took our turns trying out nature´s shower. Although getting up to it proved very tough, since it fell onto rocks, before moving to the pool. The rocks were covered in slime and the two of us busted our feet on the rocks by slipping multiple times. It was worth it. We tried to then run back to the train station for one last look at the Devil´s Thoat, but missed it by 30 seconds (literally). It was the last train at 5 10, even though the park did not close until 6 30 (what a rip!!!!). We then made it safely back to the hostel. One thing that I forgot to mention is the Coatis (not coyotes). These are a relative of the racoon. They were all over the place, trying to get tourists to feed them. They are smart little guys. They can get into the garbage on cans that aren´t directly on the gound. Usually one will go in, while another looks out for park rangers. They were a great addition. We saw them many times, either hunting trash or wrestling with each other in the jungle

Overall we would rate the falls as a must go destination. It was simply amazing. Words, pictures, and video cannot do them justice. The roaring of the falls, the cool mist spraying on you in the jungle heat, the shear size and magnitude, and the just raw beauty is something that needs to be experienced to fully appreciate. We will post some photos and video when we get that worked out to give you an idea. Next up will be Argentina´s two passions, football and tango. Which we experienced first hand. Stay tuned….

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