Day 83: Argentina
You think Niagara Falls is big?
You're wrong.
It's puny.
Iguazu falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. They are:
- The Amazon
- Komodo Island
- Halong Bay
- Table Mountain
- Jeju Mountain
- Iguazu Falls
- Puerto Princesa Underground River
By the time this voyage is over I will have experienced three of them. Iguazu, Table Mountain in Cape Town, and the Amazon.
Table Mountain was incredible, I am sure the Amazon will be an unbelievable experience, and Iguazu definitely deserves its spot on the list.
Iguazu means big water. The islands in the river divide the falls into many separate waterfalls. The number fluctuates between 150 and 300 depending on the water level. Around half of the rivers flow falls into Devil's Throat, the biggest fall.
We arrived in Iguazu around 11 after a two hour plane flight and were picked up by our guide Gabriel, who preferred to be called Chino. We immediately went to the Brazil border. We would be in Brazil before the rest of SAS!
We had to stop at two different customs buildings. We went through the Argentina one, and then crossed a bridge where the color of the paint changed once we were in Brazil, and then we went through the Brazil one. It took a while to get through customs, probably about an hour total that first day. We were dropped off at the entrance to the National Park and took a shuttle into the jungle and to the falls.
There were thousands of butterflies. I have never seen so many butterflies in one place. It was like there were butterflies instead of birds. There were all kinds but the most abundant were the yellow ones. It reminded me of love bugs in florida. They were flying around everywhere, and would hit the bus.
We had been anticipating the falls for so long that when we caught the first glimpse of it through the trees everyone gasped. We got off the bus at the main rest area at the highest point of the falls on the Brazilian side. There was a restaurant there and we were given free time for lunch. There were two choices for lunch, a fast food like place, and a really expensive buffet. We opted for the buffet. I ate with Colin. I knew him because we went on the Munich overnight together back in Germany. He was the only person I really knew.
The buffet was ok. The best part of it was that we ate outside right on the river that fed Devils Throat. The view was incredible.
After lunch we walked along the paths that bordered the lower river. Occasionally there would be view points that stuck out. We were looking at a long cliff covered in many waterfalls. They were all so beautiful and even the smallest ones were huge. The end of the path led out over the shelf made by one of the falls. We got nice and damp in the spray, which was fabulous because it was insanely hot out.
The walk took about an hour and I took probably about a thousand pictures. There were just too many things to take pictures of. And as you walked the angles would change and you would have to take more pictures of the same thing. I spent way too long taking a picture of this giant spider and of butterflies.
After we left the park the plan was to go and visit the bird park right outside of the National Park. We also had the option of paying for a helicopter ride over the falls. It wasn't part of the program, and was insanely expensive but I decided to do it and man, was it worth it.
I had never been in a helicopter before, and it was something that I have always wanted to do. And how magical to take it over a spectacular waterfall and jungle.
Our trip liaison didn’t seem too happy about us doing this though. She told us that if we hadn't met back up with the bus by 5:15 they would leave us and we would have to find our own way back. Wow, ok. First of all, this was not an independent thing, it was offered to us as part of the program. Second, I don't really think you can do that. Third, we hadn't even gone to the hotel yet and have no idea what it is called. And finally, we are in Brazil and you have our passports! So we would have been completely stranded.
We were all fuming when she said that.
The bird park was right across the street from the helicopter place so we were not all that concerned. The helicopter ride was terrifying in a good way. There were 5 of us that went together. It took about two minutes to get above the falls and then the pilot made wide, banking turns over them for about 15 minutes. When he heard us freaking out he purposely dipped forward. We all shrieked a little. Maybe more than a little.
The waterfall was incredible from above, although you didn’t get the sense of its power like you did when you were right underneath it.
When we landed we found out, ironically and hilariously, that the bird park had been closed. Brazil is in a different time zone than Argentina, so they were one hour ahead. Everyone who hadn't done the helicopter had instead gone to a store. That's what they get for threatening to leave us behind.
It wasn't like we had anywhere we had to be. After that we were just going back to the hotel. If we had left later than 5:15 it would have impacted nothing.
Getting back into Argentina took forever. We were not told to bring our Argentina reciprocity fee receipt so they all had to be looked up. Apparently there wasn't a record for a few people so they had to call someone to do something. We sat at the border for over an hour.
I ate dinner at the hotel. It was expensive and not too impressive. But it was decent and didn’t leave me hungry so I was satisfied. A lot people went out to dinner but I was just not in the mood. I had no energy and didn’t really know anyone.
I spent the rest of the evening utilizing the wifi. That felt great. 12 days of no internet wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but being able to communicate immediately with people felt fantastic.
