Thursday 16 October 2008

Argentina/Brazil - Iguazu Falls

9th - 11th October ´08

We gladly decided to trade another 20 hours on a bus in favour of a short flight to Puerto Iguazu from Buenos Aires. This small bordering town to Brazil was a popular and convenient place to cross the border, but was also the gateway to an attraction shared by both countries... Iguazu Falls. Having checked into a hostel with a real backpacker feel late that evening, we rested up in preparation for our excursion to the National Park the following morning.

The entrance to the park opened up to reveal a subtropical rainforest with signposted trails for exploring the waterfalls. Walking through the dense greenery under the scorching sun almost reminded us of our Amazonian experience, unfortunately the expected crowds of guided tour groups coupled with some modern restaurants and giftshops eliminated the eco-atmosphere at various times. After completing a 2 hour circuit where we enjoyed some great views of the falls we headed in the direction of the visitors centre where there were various activities on offer. The one that caught our attention involved a thrilling speedboat trip under the waterfalls... and we were in desperate need of a shower. Supplied with life-jackets and a waterproof carrier, we knew we were in for a rough ride... which was certainly the case as everyone on board was drenched from head to toe. It was a refreshing way to end the morning, and the scenery we had seen thus far had really been a build up to the main highlight... ´La Garganta del Diablo´- The Devil´s Throat. Boarding a slow-moving train to another part of the park followed by a 1km trail along a catwalk system brought to the spectacular and deafening sounds of this fall. As we approached the roaring mouth via a single walkway, our renewed spell of dryness was shortlived due to the misty spray that surrounded us. From where we stood, the Brazilian flag was barely visible in the blurred distance indicating how only the rushing waters separated the countries at this point. Two showers and we were ready to make a clean escape from this natural wonderland.

The next morning we seamlessly transitioned into Brazil in what proved to be our quickest overground border crossing to date. Arriving into Brazil´s equivalent of Puerto Iguazu (Foz do Iguazu), that same afternoon we headed to its side of the falls under a recommendation. Noticeably more developed than its Argentinian counterpart, the National Park here seemed to have a calmer atmosphere (possibly because of the time of day we came) but our preference was still definitely the Argentinian side. And on our final afternoon before catching our next bus, we had just enough time to experience a typical Brazilian luncheonette where a huge variety of food was weighed and paid by the kilo. Next stop... Florianopolis.

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