There is Always an Upside

Iguazu Falls is made up of 2 U shapes, forming a curvy M with an "island" (I quote island because it is not a traditional island - I guess is is an illusion created by the change in height, because it is actually surrounded by water on all sides, I think - one side the river and 3 sides the basin created by the falls) in the center. Usually you can take a boat out to the island and walk some trails. However, for the last 7 or 8 months the island has been closed due to flooding.

On our way through the falls we came upon a park worker and started talking about the island. His words of wisdom were: Yes it is unfortunate that you can not visit the island. However, the surplus of rain makes it so that you are seeing the falls with much more water than usual.

Accentuating the positive, it is a beautiful thing.

The Power of the Falls

As you probably know, the falls form a portion of the border between Argentina and Brazil. However, you may not know that Americans (and I think only 3 other countries in the world) need a visa to enter Brazil. From what everyone says, it is important to see both sides of the falls for the full experience, as they are vastly different. From the Brazilian side, you get a panoramic view of the falls, but from the Argentine side you are literally close enough to touch them.

So of course we were hoping to be able to scope out both sides. We read that people sneak into the Brazilian side via bus or taxi, as the border control often let the public buses and taxis across without stopping them but we found out that if they did stop us and discovered that we did not have a visa, they would slap us each with a fine of $1900 AR, which is approximately $500 US. We were very sad to admit it wasn't worth it for us to take the risk.

So we woke up early and headed to the Argentine side. Although we heard there would probably be a long line, we paid our $85 AR and cruised right in. There are many viewpoints/trails that offer different perspectives of the size and power of the falls. Garganta del Diablo (Throat of the Devil) is supposed to be one of the most powerful views, and we found recommendations online that this should be the first place you hit, because it gets so busy later in the day. We had to take the train out there, and then walk for almost ½ of a mile over water. Lots and lots of water, and a rising mist in the distance. As we got closer, we started to hear it, and then on the right hand side we started to see an opening, where the water was being swallowed up.

Before I go further, I want to just say that aside from a few pictures that I randomly ran across (and one I quickly found and posted the link for on here), I had no idea what to expect from the falls. I really had not researched it, or looked at pictures online, so when we rounded the last curve and got our real first view of the falls, I was floored! It literally seems impossible that that much water could exist, never mind be plummeting over the ledges every single second. It is mind boggling. We giggled and smiled until our cheeks ached and then headed back to the train to check out the rest of the falls.

It was all amazing. Every different trail brought you to more and more falls. You saw them from the top and from the bottom, little ones, big ones, and massive falls that were so bubbly and thick that they looked like lambswool after a harsh winter. We saw so many rainbows and butterflies of every color, shape and size. After we made our way around all of the trails, we headed down to the water. We strapped on goofy, clunky, weathered life jackets, stowed all of our belongings in not so secure “waterproof” bags (luckily our things stayed relatively dry) and boarded a boat for our exorbitantly priced 12-15 minute ride on the river at the bottom of the falls and UNDER 2 of the falls! We got SOAKED, and loved every second of it. Abby got some great video on her waterproof camera.

After that we tried to hike a smaller trail to a waterfall where you can swim but it was closed for the day. We cut our losses, scoped out some of the gift shops, relaxed for a bit, and then headed back into town. We were soaked, tan & happy.

The amazing thing is that visiting the falls is like walking around Disney. It is so crowded and tourist driven. All the paths were paved and a bottle of water is 3 times what you would pay for it in the city. But not one of these things could diminish the absolute awesomeness of Iguazu Falls. Obnoxious tourists and all, it was incredible!

GÜIRA OGA

From the bus station, we made our way to the hostel that Lonely Planet “recommended.” Man, did they lose credibility on this one! The Peter Pan Hostel was a dump. En-suite double bunk rooms turned out to be 2 rooms with 2 bunk beds each, plus an additional single bed (9 in total!) all sharing one bathroom, in which there was no shower stall (or curtain for that matter) so no one could even use the toilet while one of the 9 people in the room were in the shower. Later, when we were planning our trip to the airport we asked the woman at reception if they would schedule a shuttle for us (we had the local number) and she charged us a peso to make the call. In addition, some of the girls we met asked the hostel if they could keep their things there for the day and use the pool before their evening bus out of town, and they charged them 10 pesos each. I have never heard of such a thing! We stayed at a place in Ushuaia who actually let us get some sleep in a closed-off common area for free before catching our bus. However, I will admit that the pool was spotless.
So after checking in (regardless of downsides, due to terrible reviews online of all other hostels on the list) we decided to check out Guira-Oga, a local animal rescue center outside of town. It was pretty cool. It is one of the few rescue centers that actually nurses and breeds both endangered and thriving species, with the purpose of releasing them back into the wild, if and when they are ready. The overwhelming and devastating destruction of the jungle has had a terrible effect on the animals, who have virtually lost all of their habitat to money-hungry developers.
All of the animals were very cool, but some of the major highlights were the friendly monkeys, the massive wild spiders and the eagles, falcons and owls!
After the tour, we headed back into town, grabbed a coffee, found a great Asian-inspired (very unusual and very welcome!!) dinner spot and then headed back to the Peter Pan to hit the sack. The plan was to head to Iguazu Falls bright and early in the morning!!

Headed to Iguazu Falls

Armed with only small backpacks (yes, small!) and a shoulder bag with our hiking boots and snacks for the trip, we left our apartment around 15:45 and made our way to Retiro to catch our 17:00 bus up north. If you look at a map, you will see that Iguazu Falls is tucked way up north in a corner, on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Because of this, we boarded our bus and settled in for a long journey...17 hours long!
The changes in scenery as time passed were very drastic. As we left the hustle and bustle of the city behind us, the landscape opened up to reveal marshlands, sprawling flatness and much more green. Although the green was beautiful, the marshes do not lend well to building, so shacks and shanties on stilts dotted the road. Families could be seen walking down the highway. On one occasion I saw a family of 4 on one bicycle. When the sun set, beautiful deep oranges, yellows and reds painted the horizon.
Overall the bus was relatively uneventful. No screaming children (well, almost), no bags of vomit, no overpowering fuel fumes. The only issue was one of the movies they showed (again!). This one was a French film featuring a wolf-turned-monster who attacked the town and ripped people limb from limb, (literally, I saw it happen)...and this does not even touch upon the very "grown-up" sex scenes and the children and teens on the bus. The bad part is, you cant escape the noise (moans, screams, tears, thuds). I put on my headphones and tried to tune it out but I swear it was the longest movie ever created. However, I will admit that it wasn't as bad as the horror film they showed on the bus in the Patagonia, but it was a little freaky.
The other 14 hours went pretty smoothly. In fact, the bus stewardess asked us to shut off our light around 11 PM because people were trying to sleep! Ab was a little upset because she only had 10 pages of her book left, but even in those circumstances she still had to concede that it was better than people up talking all night and lights shining in every direction.
At 7:50 AM, the stewardess - wait, she needs a better mention here. She was hilarious, teetering around the bus on high heals, humming and singing as she went - woke us up for "breakfast" (at least it wasn't ham, again). Although I would have preferred to skip it and sleep longer, she wasn't having it, so I removed my trusty neck pillow and made room for the pre-packaged breakfast trays and cup of tea con powdered leche. Waking up gave us a good opportunity to look around. The lush greenery and dense sprawling forests were a shock to the senses! Large and small ranch houses filled the clearings. But even more shocking were the bulldozers and the bald spots! Huge areas of the forest have been clear-cut. As a side note, I later learned that only 5% of the Argentine/Brazilian jungle remains. Even now, only small portions are protected from development.
We spent the last couple hours checking out the scenery and listening to the 80's pop music the stewardess put on the TV screens. It felt like a whole different world. At around 10:30, we rolled into Puerto Iguazu, grabbed our small (ha) bags and said one last goodbye to our trusty bus. 90 degrees of heat and humidity slapped us in the face as we alighted, but we were all smiles. Finally, we were going to see the falls!!

Mi pelo nuevo.

Lo siento, mis amigos.

I have so much to write about, but for some reason I can't get inspired to put it all down in writing. Plus the To Do List is taking up a lot of our time.
Iguazu Falls, Check!
Haircut, Check!
Comme il Faut, Check!
Fantastic bondage-meets-strappy sandals, Check!

Just so you know...

The falls are incredible!! =)