Awesome Iguazu Falls

We barely slept at all on the bus, despite it being comfortable, because two rows forward an old man kept coughing all night. He must have been seriously ill, because he coughed every ten seconds or so for nearly the whole night. Surely people that ill shouldn't be travelling? On top of that we didn't get the breakfast we had been promised when buying the tickets, the bus arrived three hours late, and it was pouring with rain. Looks like I chose the wrong week to give up drinking (which we had been planning to do for a month after we left Uruguay and Andre). There was nothing for us to do but go out for a drink.

Our hostel was recommended online for being quiet, having lovely hammocks to relax in (which it didn't look like we'd be using), and for having humming birds around their lovely garden (of which there was no sign). It was a little out of town, but we located a venue which our guide recommended for its strong caipirinhas and felt obliged to order one each. We were just looking at the menu and thinking about eating there, when the waitress chastised the couple next to us for drinking from a small bottle of water they had brought with them, rather than buying it there. It wasn't as if it was alcohol or something, just water, so, disgusted by their attitude, we decided not to eat there and instead followed the advice of a couple at our hostel, who were just at the start of a round-the-world trip, and went to a nearby Italian restaurant. The couple had been at the hostel for over two weeks, due to the girl getting a “stomach flu” on their first day, so we reckoned the guy must really know the town inside out. Unlucky start for them, though. We double-checked that they hadn't gone to the restaurant before she got ill. Mine was OK, but Joanne was very disappointed with her risotto. I don't know why she ever orders it, because it never lives up to homemade.

My carpaccio starter

Joanne's bruschetta starter

My spinach gnochi putanesca

Joanne's bad salty risotto

We had only been planning to stay two days in Puerto Iguazu, but our first day had already been written off by the weather. I bought a plastic waterproof coat incase the weather continued, because we couldn't just cower indoors from a wee bit of rain. The next morning, my second purchase of a crappy waterproof coat proved just as effective a talisman against the rain as the first one I bought in Nepal had been: it had cleared up quite a lot and it was even a bit sunny.

So we went to the falls. I don't have the words to describe them... so I'll just post lots of photos. They are awesome, incredible, overwhelming, stupendously powerful, breath-taking, and quite beautiful, thundering in the surrounding lush green forest. The park is inhabited by cheeky little creatures called coaties, which I later saw referred to as “... or racoons”. I've never seen a racoon before, so I don't know if that's right, but they are persistent in their attempts to steal food from customers at the cafes in the park. There are signs up warning that you shouldn't feed them or touch them, but we saw plenty of people ignoring the second warning. They are quite cute, but I wouldn't want to touch one, especially when it might mean a rabid bite in return. Or worse, it could steal my lunch.

People hassling the coaties

Coati

You can get really close

We first walked around the upper trail, which follows over the top of the falls along the horseshoe-shaped cliff they drop over. At points, the path is only inches from the flow as it plunges below, and there are places where you can reach out and put your fingers in the gushing water. It impressive to be that close up. The falls are absolutely huge, and go on for miles. Literally. OK, it is more than one mile, anyway. I don't know whether we were there during a period of heavy flow, but the whole area was full of water vapour, splashed up for the churning foam beneath. At one point, there was a view of people below, presumably on the lower trail, being absolutely soaked by this vapour on a pathway constructed just in front of one waterfall.

Jesus, I presume

Lots of people getting soaked

Quite busy

Next it was the lower trail for us. We had prepared for the soaking by putting everything into a dry-bag. You get some nice broader face-on views of a series of falls from the lower trail, but the main point seems to be the pathway that brings you right up to the massive, crashing, thundering, foaming white wall of water, with the boiling cauldron beneath. It's the crowning moment to stand there right in front of it, really driving home the enormity of the place, and it's just wow. Some people we protecting themselves with plastic macs and things, but I'd forgotten my newly purchased one, which I had only really intended for the rain anyway; and since it was sunny I was happy just to dry off after getting soaked.

The first bit you get wet

It's crashing down

Me in the middle of it

Me, wet, on my way back to dry land

Wooo!

Joanne in the middle of it

Coatis and Beer

Los Dos Hermanos

The final section of the park is a short train ride away at what is meant to be the most impressive bit of the falls: la Garagana del Diablo, the Devil's Throat. On the walkway after the train we met two American guys from the hostel in Buenos Aires, who had thought we might see in Colonia, since they were going there the same day as us, but in yet another travelling coincidence, here they were instead. The falls here are certainly incredible, and the quantity of water flowing into the hole in astonishing, but there isn't really so much to see, maybe because the flow of water was too strong, but the vapour obscured everything after the first few metres of the drop. Even from quite a distance you can see the cloud rising up from it.

The American guys from Bs As

La Garganta del Diablo

Foam

Us at La Garganta del Diablo

Joanne at La Garganta del Diablo

La Garganta del Diablo

La Garganta del Diablo

The really ugly Sharaton overlooking the falls

The last thing we had wanted to do that day was take a boat trip, which we had heard was great fun, but all of the cheaper options down at the water were cancelled because the water level was too high; even the boat trip to the island in the middle of the falls was cancelled that day; the only trip available was the full package, including a Jeep ride through the jungle. It cost too much, so we decided to leave it. Using our tickets as vouchers, we would be able to get 50% off the park fees the next day, so we decided just to try again then. This meant we would have to stay a day longer, since we had missed the first half-day due to rain and we were going to miss another half-day by returning to the Argentine side of the falls, so we asked at the hostel if we could stay an extra night: sure, no problem the guy on duty said.

That night we celebrated our lovely day by going out to another Italian restaurant. We were called in off the street by the owner and the prices were very reasonable for Puerto Iguazu which, as you can imagine, is a bit dearer than your average Argentinian town. The food was excellent, although my steak consumption has really got out of hand; still it was a cut I hadn't tried: bife de lomo, which I think it a fillet steak, though some menus translate it as other cuts; they have as little clue about European cuts as we do about theirs. For pudding I had something like zabaglione. A bit too rich after a big steak, but they didn't have the grappa I wanted to settle my meal, so I asked for a mate instead. They seemed very surprised and, although we had been in South America for over a month, we had only each had one sip of someone's mate; it isn't ever on menus in restaurants or cafes. I suppose they reckon there is no market because everyone always carries their mate and flask with them, but surely other tourists would buy it?

Bife de lomo

Pudding

written by  The Happy Couple on October 7, 2009 from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
from the travel blog: Michael's Round-the-World honeymoon
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