That's a lot of water

For a 3-day weekend excursion I traveled to Iguazu Falls with Gretchen, the Georgetown student that works at the lab, Laura, my Peace Corps friend who is living with me this month, and Alexandra, Laura’s new friend she met at her Spanish school. We left Friday after work and went directly to the Retiro, bus station, and even though there was a protest going on downtown (pretty standard), we managed to get there with plenty of time to spare before the bus left. Bus travel here is a much more comfortable experience than anywhere else in the world I’ve been, including any bus in the US. It’s a good thing considering that the trip was 16 hours! On the way there our seats were “cama ejecutivo,” meaning that the row only includes three seats and they recline as far as airline first class seats. It also means that we got a three course dinner with wine and champagne, as well as breakfast in the morning. And since we rode the bus overnight, we saved money on hostel costs! Our entertainment included a terrible Argentine pirate comedy, the movie 27 Dresses, and 50 First Dates, as well as some videos exalting the agricultural and industrial glories of Argentina.

The last four hours of the trip along the border with Paraguay we had daylight, and quickly noticed that our surroundings were much more tropical than the temperate climate where we started. The trees were all green and the dirt a rusty red. The forecast for the weekend was cloudless and 77 degrees F, so I was pretty excited to be wearing t-shirts and flip-flops. Most of the other passengers had debarked at larger towns on the way, and by the time we arrived the other group of American girls were announcing the items they planned to take into the “jungle.”

Arriving in the quiet town of ~30,000 inhabitants at the crossroads of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, we took a taxi to the hostel which has the biggest swimming pool in town. After lunch and a short discussion about our plan for seeing the falls the next day, we ventured back into town and treated ourselves to ice cream (dulce de leche and chocolate amargo, of course). We also picked up some sunscreen and snacks since we heard that food at the falls would be expensive.

After walking back from town, we chilled at the pool drinking our complimentary caipariñas. That night there was an asado (BBQ) at the hostel with a Brazilian “show” where women in sparkly thongs and headdresses (sorry, I didn't flatter them with) entertained primarily the male guests. We chatted with some young Dubliners who seemed about as embarrassed by the whole thing as we were. Planning for the long day ahead, we turned in just as the flip-cup game was getting started by the young flirty travelers at the hostel.

The Iguazu River forms the border with Brazil, so the falls can be seen from either the Brazilian or Argentine side. As the river hits Isla San Martin, it forms a wall of dramatic falls on both sides. Having turned down the pricey tour complete with a speedboat ride directly into the falls, we decided to take a self-conducted tour of the park, unsure of how much we would be able to see or how quickly we’d run through it all. We arrived at the entrance to the park at about 9 am to pay our 40 peso entrance fee. We got a map and walked toward the train headed toward La Garganta del Diablo (the throat of the devil) where we listened in on a tour being given to a group of about 25 Colombian and Mexican tourists. The number of organized tour groups and variety of was impressive. As was the organization and overall infrastructure of the park. After the train ride, we walked a few hundred meters on a steel walk-way over the calm water that would fall into the throat.

Standing 30 meters above the bottom of the garganta we looked across the abyss at the Brazilian structures that were barely noticeable over the enormity of the falls.

The falls were nothing short of phenomenal. From the garganta, we turned down the chance to float down the river toward the rest of the falls, and stopped at every point on the upper views, lower views, and crossed to the island to see the falls from that side. Having been blown away by every version we encountered, we agreed that the last view was our favorite, confirming that we planned the day just perfectly. Having brought all the food we needed for the day had given us the chance to stop and eat en route rather than going back to the food stands. Of all the 500 reported species of animals in the park, we saw very few. The coatis, raccoon-sized animals that have become friendly with tourists that will share sandwiches and momentarily forget the backpack at their feet, were reminiscent of the baboons at the Cape of Good Hope, but much less threatening.

Maybe the organization and the infrastructure of the experience would have seemed natural to most foreigners familiar with national parks in the US, but having experienced national parks in other developing countries, Laura and I were blown away by this place. While the in-park train was slightly reminiscent of an amusement park, it was overall minimalist and devoid of gimmicks while being accessible to people with small children and older people.

After getting back and cleaning up, we went into town for dinner, starting with a street stand owned by a Brazilian family selling plates of delicious picadas: olives, salami, and cheese. Once again we turned in early.

Today we got up in time to pack up and eat breakfast before checking out. Gretchen and I visited the Casa de Botellas Plasticas across the street from the hostel. While it seemed to just be a gimmick, the man running the show and his son had a well-delivered environmental message. He travels around the area with his contraptions sharing his technique with the locals (who are bound to be strapped for resources in this part of the country), encouraging them to be more creative in finding economical ways of re-using the waste they generate.

Around 3 pm, we loaded the bus back to Bs As, this time in "super cama," less than $2 more than the seats that we had on the way to the falls, but the seats reclined completely into a bed. Laura and I took the opportunity to do some yoga stretches to really prepare us for the long trip ahead.