Holy cataratas!

We arrived at the Iguazú bus station an hour and a half late and had to wait even longer in the cold morning air for our bus to the hostel.  Due to the dense fog, we missed the stop for the hostel (even though we warned the bus driver where we were getting off) and ended up at the entrance to the falls.  Despite the fact that this was our destination, we were really looking forward to getting rid of our bags, showering and warming up before taking on the falls.  We had to get off the bus while it went to the Sheraton inside the park.  There was an international conference of Foreign Ministers of Tourism taking place and security was high at the Sheraton.  So, we waited another while for the bus to come back and pick us up to finally arrive at our hostel, Hostel Inn Iguazú.

dining area

lounge area

The atmosphere was like a summer camp with Brazilian music playing overhead with people lounging in large couches, waking up and having a lazy breakfast, checking their e-mail and Facebook on the many computers.  The employees at the front desk were very kind and accommodating.  We couldn’t check into our room until the afternoon, but they had lockers for our bags and public showers.  Things were definitely looking up – we’d finally get warm again!  We had the continental breakfast that they provided and bought a tour package for the park.  We decided to go with the full package: jeep ride through the jungle, jet boat through the falls, and row boat through the backwaters.

We took the bus back to the park (we had this down now), this time prepared for the falls.  The heavy fog from the morning had started to lift around noon and the sky open up to make for a perfect touring day.  While waiting for the jeep ride, we went in the visitor center that had a display of some of the flora and fauna in the Iguazú Park.  I was set on seeing a tucan!  Tyrone wanted to see a monkey.  The jeep ride was extremely informative – the tour guide didn’t actually have a script – she just had the audience ask questions, and she was able to answer every single one and translate it perfectly into English (for Tyrone, as he was the only non-fluent Spanish-speaker) – pretty impressive!  Here are some of the tidbits I picked up:

- 30% of plants and 50% of animals of Argentina are in Iguazu Park with 8 species of orchids.
- Brazil still allows helicopter rides – it addition to using them for tourism, they work in conjunction with the park rangers to patrol poaching and deforestation – the vibrations affect the tucan’s eggs, though.
- Palmito trees in Argentina are protected because this species only flowers once and the fruit is only enough for one salad.  (Fer had actually told us about how Argentine palmitos are banned, since the species that grows there is in danger, but somehow, he was still able to buy a can of palmitos made in Argentina.)

Also, according to the World Waterfall Database, Iguazú Falls is the 11th largest falls, just behind Niagara Falls (less volume than Niagara, but over twice as wide).

platform to board the Jeep

warning sign for the Jeep ride - I greatly enjoyed the icons

philodendron roots

the jeep brought us down to the Iguazú River where we got into a jet boat to go up the rapids to the waterfalls

the calm

bungee jumpers on the Brazilian side

Tres Mosqueteros / Three Musketeers: first sighting of the real falls (and the "steam" from La Garganta del Diablo) from the Rio Iguazú

 

The rapids themselves were a blast and the perspective that we got, seeing the falls from afar was great, but it was when they actually took us in and out of the gushing water falls that was the most exhilarating.  It was better than any water park ride!!

these are the falls that we went under in the boat - multiple times

drenched and a bit chilly in the shade

we hiked the lower loop trails to get to a lunch spot

from the Circuito Inferior

platform to the falls

more philodendron roots

large vulture

Dos Hermanas / Two Sisters

This was where we saw our first real fauna – coatils.  They are the raccoons of Iguazú, and they’re fearless.  One jumped up on Tyrone’s chair and tried to steal his sandwich as he was swatting away bees.  We decided to eat inside after that.

certainly not shy

trees

the Sheraton right in the park - where the International Ministers of Tourism conference was taking place

next, we took the little trolley-train to the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat)

 


there’s a nice elevated walkway that hovers over the still waters leading to the falls

eco paddle boat that we'd later take

still water above the falls

steam from the Garganta

 

the platform that broke due to flooding

new platform

 

steam from the Garganta

Then the Garganta is upon you...and absolutely astonishing!  Pictures can’t give you the accurate sense of the volume of water and force at which it’s speeding down the gigantic opening, but I’ll take a shot at giving you many perspectives.

to the right

water above

looking out to Brazil

to the left

the tourism ministers with their badges and cameras started to show up

We left the Garganta to finish the day with our ecological row boat ride.  The calm backwaters were the perfect way take it all it.

water was just churned up - supposedly the guide said it's clean enough to drink

we saw a yacaré (alligator)

steam from the Garganta

some blossoms - there aren't too many colorful blossoms in the park, due to the temperate climate

the timing was just right for the tucans to come out - we heard them, but no sighting

philodendron roots

 

the shuttle back to the train platform

We left the park as it was closing and headed back to the hostel for a shower and buffet dinner.  We met some Dutch guys and girls, a little younger than me, who were doing an internship for their MBA in Brazil for 5 weeks and then they were given 5 weeks to travel.  They were quite interesting!  But after not sleeping much on the bus ride and being outside all day, I hit the sack pretty early.