Not content with flying about 28 hours to and from London the week before, I decided to book a spur of the moment trip to Iguazu Falls this week. I had made the decision to return to school five days a week starting this coming Monday, so this week was the best time to do the trip before I left (and before it got TOO hot up in the north). I flew LAN, which I highly recommend for anyone travelling in South America, they have nice planes, delicious snack packs for free and you can earn AA miles.
Even though staying at a hostel was a bit of a bust in Salta, I decided to try it again this time and really embrace hostel living by staying in a ten person dorm. I picked the most highly rated one off Hostelworld.com, which was called Hostel Bambu Mini. When I was packing I had to remind myself about all the elements of hostel living that I hadn't dealt with since studying abroad - ear plugs, flip flops for the shower, bring-your-own-towel, etc. And in the end it worked out great, although 2 nights in a row is probably my capacity now (so don't worry...I am not going to depart for a six-month backpacking adventure anytime soon).
There are two sides to Iguazu - Argentina & Brazil - since the river forms the international border. Since I don't have a Brazilian visa I could only do the Argentinian side. The nice thing is that the town in Argentina (Puerto Iguazu) is much nicer than Brazil's (Foz do Iguacu). Puerto Iguazu is pretty tiny, but relaxed and very safe feeling. Also, the airport only has two gates so it made for a very easy arrival and departure! My hostel was right in the center of the town which meant that we could easily walk to restaurants or the station to catch the bus to the falls.
There were about 12-15 people staying in the hostel and as soon as I arrived I met an Aussie guy and a Canadian guy who I ended up going to the national park with the next day. The nice thing about Iguazu is that everyone is basically there for one reason...to see the falls. So everyday at that hostel you can probably find a few people to go to the park with. The hostel also has a little bar area outside where everyone sat around and had snacks and a cold beer (the temps were mid 90s) before dinner, which was nice and social. On Thursday night the three of us and two Canadian girls went out to dinner in town for a "wok" (what they call stir-fry here). The girls had been to the falls that day so were able to give us lots of tips which was really helpful. After dinner I was afraid of insomnia and having a terrible night lying awake in a room full of strangers, but a benadryl (which I really did need for my allergies) did the trick.
On Friday we woke up pretty early, ate breakfast (the usual medialunas, like every breakfast in Argentina, but with an added bonus of ham & cheese to make a toastie and actually get some protein). There is a bus that goes right from the center of town to the national park, which takes about 25 minutes. We got to the park at about 9am and decided to first do a jungle walking trail that not many people do, and let the crowds dissipate a bit. On this trail there were amazing butterflies everywhere, but they are near impossible to photograph - especially when your camera is actually a T-mobile phone! We also saw a crazy furry caterpillar (credit to other walkers who actually spotted it) and monkeys!! The monkeys were also camera shy up in the trees, but it was cool to see them in a non-zoo setting.
After the trail we were starving so had a quick lunch. The national park is really well organized with little restaurant stands dotted around. We all had salami & cheese sandwiches, which makes a break from the monotony of plain ham & cheese. :) Unfortunately we were very popular with the coatis, which are little animals similar to racoons who love to hang about the picnic tables waiting for scraps.
Finally it was off to the falls! The park has three main trails which are all metal walkways that extend over the river. The upper trail takes you to the edge of the falls at the top and the lower trail extends over the water at the bottom of the falls, so you can get a sense of the power of the water, while getting absolutely soaked at the same time! I believe the falls are about 8 stories high and there is so much water and mist that you can't even come close to seeing the bottom. Then there is a trail to the biggest fall, called Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat). At that waterfall the rainbows were amazing, with double rainbows at times. Watching the water was almost hypnotizing - there is so much and it is never ending. I now need to rewatch The Mission, which we watched at some point at Ignatius, as it was filmed all around the falls.
Lastly we did a power boat ride into the falls. The main tip from the Canadian girls was to bring a pair of flip-flops for this part and I am so glad we did. The crew give you waterproof bags to put your stuff in, so we just stuck our socks and gym shoes in there and wore flip flops for the boat ride. Some people stripped down to swim suits, which is probably the way to go! The ride is a little scary because if you go overboard the water would probably just overwhelm you, but they do at least give you life jackets. The boat goes into two different falls and it's like being in the most powerful shower you have ever been in. I had to keep my sunglasses on, otherwise I think my contacts would have been washed right out. We came out completely drenched, but at least had nice warm and dry socks and shoes to put on. And luckily with the heat we got relatively dry pretty quickly.
After eight hours at the park it was time to head back to the hostel and relax a bit. We picked up another hostel mate, who was from Switzerland, and went to a food market in the town. It was actually quite a neat little place. There were about 15 stands with picnic tables, so you could buy food and wine from the stands and just eat right in the market. However, being Argentina, the stands were basically all the same - Ham/Salami, Cheese and Empanadas. We picked one of the stands and got a huge antipasti plate of ham/cheese/olives and some delicious chicken empanadas (if you are keeping track, this is the third meal in one day that involves a variation on ham & cheese...it's a good thing I don't keep kosher!). The Swiss guy works in a wine shop back home and he picked out the nicest bottle of malbec that I've had while in Argentina. We were slightly tempted by a bar near the market, but in the end just too tired from the day to go out any further so had a relatively early night.
Now I'm back in thunderstormy BA. Four more weeks to go here! I restart school tomorrow which I am really excited about. And on Tuesday I am going with my Scandinavian friends to a cool art exhibit in the Puerto Madero neighborhood which I am really looking forward to.
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