Iguazu waterfalls
‘C’mon C’mon C’mon!’ Joby trilled in happiness ‘Today is the day! We are going to Iguazu waterfalls! WooHoo!’
‘Is it nice?’ I asked. ‘I hope it will be nice.’
‘Nice? NICE?’ Joby snorted. ‘It’s not ‘nice’.’
‘It isn’t ? Then why are we going there?’
‘Er… What I meant is that it’s not merely ‘nice’. It’s AWESOME! It’s AMAZING! It’s FANTASTIC!’
‘Really?’
‘Oh yes! I saw some awesome YouTube videos about it! This is the 6th largest waterfall in the world!’
‘Is it nice?’ I asked. ‘I hope it will be nice.’
‘Nice? NICE?’ Joby snorted. ‘It’s not ‘nice’.’
‘It isn’t ? Then why are we going there?’
‘Er… What I meant is that it’s not merely ‘nice’. It’s AWESOME! It’s AMAZING! It’s FANTASTIC!’
‘Really?’
‘Oh yes! I saw some awesome YouTube videos about it! This is the 6th largest waterfall in the world!’
Iguazu national park - The park is very well organised - you have a little train to take you inside, and a couple of walking trails to see the falls from various angles.
We continued into the ‘Sendero Verde’ - the ‘Green trail’ - through some forests and was quite excited to see a whole group of coatis playing there!
WOOHOO! COATIS! An animal I had never seen before!
It’s a kind of raccoon and is found only in tropical South America. I had never seen a raccoon either - so I was very excited! It looked so cute - with its long nose and long bushy tail. They were hanging out in large groups and playing in the trees and bushes and had no fear of humans at all. They looked like a bunch of squirrels, as they merrily ran up and down the trees. They were obviously omnivorous - as they would come and sit in front of all the snackers and demand their 10% imperiously!
The park had put up a number of boards warning people not to touch them or try to caress or pat them - they were wild animals after all, and could easily bite you and possibly give you rabies! Or at least make you take all the rabies shots - which would probably pain as much as getting bitten in the first place.
WOOHOO! COATIS! An animal I had never seen before!
It’s a kind of raccoon and is found only in tropical South America. I had never seen a raccoon either - so I was very excited! It looked so cute - with its long nose and long bushy tail. They were hanging out in large groups and playing in the trees and bushes and had no fear of humans at all. They looked like a bunch of squirrels, as they merrily ran up and down the trees. They were obviously omnivorous - as they would come and sit in front of all the snackers and demand their 10% imperiously!
The park had put up a number of boards warning people not to touch them or try to caress or pat them - they were wild animals after all, and could easily bite you and possibly give you rabies! Or at least make you take all the rabies shots - which would probably pain as much as getting bitten in the first place.
There were two trails - the Circuito Inferior and the Circuito Superior - the Lower and Upper trails, and then we would take the train to the ‘Diablo Gargante’ - the ‘Devil’s throat’ - and all this would be a day of walking.
We went up the Lower Circuit and were rewarded with our first view of the falls! WOOHOO!
WHAT A MAJESTIC SIGHT! WE COULD SEE THE WHOLE HORSESHOE OF THE FALLS!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! We both squealed with delight, and took a bunch of photos and selfies.
WHAT A MAJESTIC SIGHT! WE COULD SEE THE WHOLE HORSESHOE OF THE FALLS!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! We both squealed with delight, and took a bunch of photos and selfies.
We happily set off to complete the Upper circuit, and came even nearer to the falls! They looked even more majestic as we came closer. There were a lot of separate falls with names like ‘the brothers’, ‘Adam and Eve’, ‘Chico’ etc - and then a few named after the inevitable freedom fighters - ‘San Martin’, ‘Belgrano’ etc. The trails were very well made, and were extremely clean - it was a real pleasure to be there.
After completing the two circuits, we went back to the central area and took the little Eco-train to the ‘Garganta del Diablo’ station. And from there you have to walk the ‘Paseo Garganta del Diablo’ - a 1 km-long trail that brings visitors directly over the falls of Devil's Throat, the highest and deepest of the falls - and the most …er…watery! About half of the river's flow falls into this long and narrow chasm
Whoa! What a sight! What an awesome sight!
It was just grand!
It was just grand!
How does one describe a grand thing like a waterfall, anyway? It’s more than just a river falling down a cliff. It’s a grand spectacle! It’s glorious. It’s powerful! The roar of the waterfall can be heard from miles around, and the spray from the falling water covers you like a mist and gradually drenches you.
I looked down at the horseshoe formation of the waterfall, and there it was! A rainbow! The sunrays got refracted through the spray and created a beautiful rainbow in the water. What a beautiful sight!
We called our taxi guy to come and pick us up and then we went to see the ‘Hito Tres Fronteras, Argentina’ - the ’Triple frontier’ - where the borders of three nations met. It was the ’T junction’ confluence of the Iguazu and Parana rivers. The other bank of the Iguazu was Brazil, and the other bank of the Parana was Paraguay.
What I found fascinating was that there were very few border controls, and citizens of the other countries could freely come and go into whichever country they liked. People used to drive over into Argentina because the petrol was cheaper, or because the government hospitals were better. You could live in one country and commute to another country for work everyday.
What I found fascinating was that there were very few border controls, and citizens of the other countries could freely come and go into whichever country they liked. People used to drive over into Argentina because the petrol was cheaper, or because the government hospitals were better. You could live in one country and commute to another country for work everyday.
We got back to the hotel and toasted the day with an excellent dinner. The steak was excellent, the beer cold, the dessert yummy - and the hostess pretty! What more can anyone ask for?
