Las Cataratas! (Part 1 - Argentina)

Blogging in Spanish has been suspended because if I don't do this one in English I'll be typing for quite some time.

I took the picture above this morning from the Brazilian side - since you can view from slightly further back and higher up you could argue you get a better look from the Brazilian side. However, there is more of an experience on the Argentinian side for me. I'm glad I did both. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

I arrived in Puerto Iguazu about 2:30 on Saturday. My choice of hotel may not have been the cheapest but at 20 paces from the central bus terminal (where all of my buses to and from the falls and back to Posadas leave from) I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back on grounds of convenience. I was able to chill by the pool in the afternoon (another wee pat on the back) and do a bit of reading up on Las Cataratas - the local's name for The Falls of Iguazu.

The Argentine side is in Parque Nacional Iguazu. It covers a pretty big area and there is loads to do. Early start required and I resolved to get the first bus (7:30). All was running to plan (earlyish night, alarm, quick brekky) until I realised I'd forgotten my camera - this was not the day to forget my camera!!! Bad start! I missed the first bus but made the second at 8am.

It's almost difficult to know where to start when you get to the Parque. This is the order I did it in - as much by following my nose than any grand plan...

1. Circuito Superior - Upper Trail. This is a path that winds along the top of about the first quarter of the falls. Some pics...

Hat hair!

WOOF!












One wrong move and woooooosh - never to be seen again (don't worry there's barriers to stop that I'm just using a little poetic licence)

Bad start forgotten!

2. Circuito Inferior - Lower Trail.
This longer trail goes along the bottom of the same part as above and affords some different perspectives on the falls. From here I decided to take the "Gran Aventura"- ride in a boat under the falls and down the river followed by a truck safari through the rainforest. I also allowed myself to be traded-up to include an ecological boat ride later in the day for an extra 30 pesos - I'm not here very often! some pics...

These little rascals are only after one thing .... food that is.

A little birdlife - actually there weren't many birds making themselves visible but this one wasn't shy.

Yes, I'm wet! and my scottish skin is still white. My skin has two colours only -white or red, it's best to avoid the latter!

Apart from the odd bottle neck like this (and at the Garganta - see later) the Argentinian side is so big that the crowds don't cause a problem.

I'm in the boat now. Lifebelt - just in case I suppose. You get some great views from down here. Wonder why they made me put all my still in a wet bag.....?

Ah! Very wet!!!

So the Gran Venture kicked off in real style. In spite of the 30degree heat it took a few hours to dry off. The last bit to dry off (and it took way too long) created a pseudo superman underpants effect - alternatively, a "look at me, I've peed my pants" effect. Rather embarrassing.

On the safari truck ride we saw a wee monkey climbing and feeding in a tree. We'd already seen loads of butterflies and the guide told us a few of the species. Have you ever been on a guided tour and thought "No, he's got to be making that up"? Must get a bit boring giving the same old chat 4 times a day - do you think the guides ever have a game where they try to get away with the most outrageous bit of made up chat? Maybe not, but when this one told us there was a butterfly with the number 88 on its wings I was thinking - no way!!

Well, would you believe it! 

3. Garganta Del Diablo - The devils throat!

You need to get onto a nice old open train to get to this bit. I sparked up a wee conversation with a bloke from Corrientes on this 20 minute ride. A south african woman had asked him about his Mate kit (pronounced to rhyme with latte) and I'd asked if it was terere (mate is a herbal tea they drink here - mate is hot and a broadly similar cold version is called terere  - sometimes they make this with the herbs and fruit juice to make it a bit sweeter - terere, is pronounced like tayrayray, but said quickly). Anyway the guy said no it was mate. My spanish may be getting better because I think he said he was used to drinking it hot in the day and it's a bit like smoking (either that or he drinks it instead of smoking). We asked each other where we were from and he said "wiki" when I said scotland - Ah "Whisky". I said in spanish that I don't need mate cos I've got whisky - he laughed. Later on he shouted out "Escosia, Escosia" to me as I passed him on the way to the garganta - YES! I punched the air and beamed a big smile!

This part of the park is truly awesome. The walkway after the train ride takes us to the edge of a big horseshoe of water fall...

I guess you have to be there!

4. Ecological boat trip.

I thought it would be nice and cool on the water (the day itself being a roaster) but no, when we were on the water in a big dingy there was no expected breeze and with our rubber lifebelts on too it was a little too hot for comfort. Thankfully it only lasted about half an hour and we did see a caiman (little crocodile/alligator), some turtles and frogs.

the boat took us back to quite a central bit of the park and I only had one thing more to do before my work was done for Cataratas day 1. Jungle walk on the Macuco trail. 

5. Macuco Trail.

When the information man sends you off in the right direction with "stay on the path, its very dangerous" I would normally think, "he's just doing his job, health and safety etc", but when I saw the sign with snakes beside the entrance to the path there was the inkling of nervousness emerging. I was taking this 6k walk on at about 3:30 and I don't suppose many people do it anyway so I hardly saw anyone at all on this bit. As I entered the pathway I noticed the foliage making things a little darker. Then I noticed the noises. In retrospect I am reminded of a very funny Billy Connolly story about men not belonging in the jungle. Basically due to all the noise that you don't realise goes on in a jungle until you go there. How anyone can sleep under canvas in a Jungle is beyond me (and Billy). Needless to say I was starting to imagine all sorts of things were behind the noises. Every wee rustle in the undergrowth had a sinister source. So I'm sure you can picture me jumping out of my skin when something big moved right at my feet. We do not belong in the jungle!

This is the culprit. Not far off 1m long if I'm not mistaken. Thankfully just as scared of me as I was of it. In fact there were quite a few of these and this was the only one that hung around long enough for me to photo.

I thought these things only existed in silly scifi films like starship troopers. No that is a big old nasty wasp/bug thing. Probably the length of my thumb. We don't belong in the jungle! 

...and most disturbing of all...

Welcome to the Jungle!

I'm afraid I have no pictures but there were some nice timid rodents - too timid to get on film. Pretty big, but not as podgy or furry as a capybara.

This waterfall was the end of the trail...

Not as big as the other ones nearby but a bit more private and some people were swimming in the pool underneath. After seeing all the beasties, hearing all the noises and not knowing what kind of snakes there were - could be water snakes?!?!? I wasn't for getting in. No swimming costume either and I still wasn't totally dry from the Gran Aventura. Hummph!

Well, that was pretty much it for day one. A whole fun packed day of Parque Nacional Iguazu experience. I got to the park before 9 and left on a bus at 5pm with hardly a pause. Awesome!!

Look out for some more chat and pics when I get some free time. That will probably be Wednesday.