GET THEE TO...IGUAZU!

I knew I shouldn't have gone for the cheap seat!

Today we went to Iguazu Falls National Park. You can view the falls from both Argentina and Brazil but to visit the Brazilian side if you are a U.S. citizen, you must get a visa and it costs more $ than we wanted to pay, so we chose to stay on the Argentine side. As it was we spent 7 hours walking in the park which my feet thought was sufficient. I thought about getting my daughter to push me around in an off-road wheelchair (practice for the future) but I feared she might feel compelled to push me more than "off road" after spending so much time together and those falls aren't called "falls" for nothing.

Iguazu falls is listed in all those books about 1001 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE and unlike some of the other listings, (Bakersfield???), I wholeheartedly agree. If you aren't dead yet, GET THEE TO... IGUAZU! (I am thinking of writing bumper stickers as a sideline). As it is such a famous site, I am sure several bazillion good photos and essays have already been published extolling its glories, so I am only going to share a few personal experiences and some not professional photo attempts. (See below).

 Firstly even without the falls the park is extraordinarily stunning. Elevated paths wind through a rainforest populated with gigantic versions of all your houseplants (see previous post), large lumbering lizards including iguanas, huge irridescent butterflies, a cacophany of buzzing and biting insects and flocks of squalling birds who want to eat them. Basically the law of the jungle is bigger really is better. There are purported to be monkeys, jaguars, toucans and snakes, but we didn't spot any on our walk.

 

 

so many snakes they need their own lane

One of the most popular treks is along and over the Iguazuo river which flows into the falls. We saw river turtles and (again) HUGE catfish and the water, though brown, looked quite inviting in the intense jungle heat. One could almost imagine floating lazily along in an innertube singing something about the Suwannee River, except for that huge catfish and also what is that strange roaring sound coming from around the bend? Better sing a little louder.

The bend BEFORE the end...

We noticed that many of the tourists coming toward us seemed a little more bedraggled and wet than even the sauna like weather merited and when we turned the corner we found out why as the river literally fell away into a huge funnel; the falls known as La Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's throat). All I could think when I saw it was A: the devil must have one hell of a thirst (yes pun intended) and B: I sure am glad I rethought that innertube idea.

There is no way to describe the immensity of the falls nor do photos do it justice. Suffice it to say, it makes Niagra Falls look like a houseplant next to the real thing, and even just the mist from the falls is as soaking as a hard California rain, (thus the wet tourists we had seen). Many of the guide books recommended wearing swimsuits to view the falls and suddenly that idea seemed a lot less appalling than I had imagined.

After viewing the falls from this vantage point we opted to grab some lunch before hiking to the lower trail to catch a boat ride "under" the falls. Evidently we weren't the only ones hoping to grab some lunch. As soon as we sat down a gang of coatis swarmed the cafe tables and began to work the crowd. They moved in pairs, with one distracting the gullible diners by looking adorable and cuddly while the other one went for the goods.

Doubling up to strong arm the gringo

After an exciting lunch we began our hike on the lower trail. We were at the
"only slightly damp " stage from our soaking at the Devil's throat when the competition let loose and the skies fell and evidently even a swimsuit wasn't enough to cope with that amount of water as we noticed that many people had donned full length plastic raincoats over their swimwear. Possibly full scuba gear might've been called for but we trudged along in our pointless garments and tried to breathe underwater as best we could.

Why at this point we believed a boat ride under the falls was a good idea says a lot about the detrimental effects of water on the brain. Call us naive but we actually thought we couldn't get any wetter. Let's just say we're a little wiser now.

The tour boats can't actually get under the falls because of the currents and the natural whirlpools that form at the base which can suck whole boats full of tourists into the vortex, kind of bad for business. Instead they drive directly at the falls full speed ahead like suicidal pilots and then quickly turn the boat so all the passengers only get slightly drowned by gazillions of gallons of spray. Rachael and I tried desperately to keep our eyes open but it was impossible. It was also impossible to keep our mouths shut as we were laughing so hard about the absurd fact that we paid good money for this ride.
The boat pilots obligingly do this "drown the tourists" maneuver several times on each side of the boat so no one feels left out, which I thought was quite courteous of them. There is also a "professional" videographer on board with a camcorder in a thermos so if anyone wants to see how they look when they are drowning, clawing for air, it is available to buy after the boat ride. The ride lasts for 12 minutes which might sound short to you, but you try holding your breath underwater for that long...

After the ride the sun re-emerged so we could have an enjoyable steam bath on our trudge back up the hillside, but no worries, when we caught the bus to get back to the hostel there was another downpour and the bus leaked onto all the seats so we could cool off again. Nature here is obliging like that. Truly it was a day to remember. Now I've got some wringing out to do so I''ll say ciao for now,
J

Iguazu Falls - Argentina / Brasil / Paraguay


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