The morning of my horrendous 18 hour bus ride to the almost-tri-border town of Puerto Iguazu began after I was approached on Florida st by a snazzy looking Argentine - suit and all. He produced a professional looking business card with the heading 'Cambio Exchange' in large text. Anyone who has a business card for this sort of thing must be a good guy I thought - SOLD. I began to regret my decision hastily after being escorted off the main st, into an arcade and through a narrow corridor to an elevator. Where was this guy taking me? Surely I would be robbed. The time that passed in that elevator was some of the longest moments of my life. The floors felt as though they were kilometers apart. I began to panic and kept asking him (jokingly) "seguro"? "Authentico?" (Sure? Authentic?) "Si"! "Of course" He replied. The room I was taken to turned out to resemble a small bank teller with cashiers on one side of the glass, exchanging pesos for your dollars. It felt like a joke to me and I was relieved to find other tourists in there, especially a friend from my hostel who joined me for a trip to the bus station to purchase my ticket to Iguazu. Insanity!!
I arrived at Retiro just in time to jump on the bus to the falls. Buses in Argentina are pretty awesome. Typically there is semi-cama (half bed), cama (almost bed) and executive cama (full 180 degree reclined seat). There are also relatively recent movies being played, coffee and (I don't know how) hot meals! I took this ride as an opportunity to catch some not so well deserved Z's, and arriving at puerto iguazu at 930 the next morning in a hot and sweaty state, I found myself to be even more tired!
There's no denying that these waterfalls are AMAZING. Seriously, the amount of water that passes over the cliffs is something I could not comprehend, something that truly had to be seen to be believed. The noise, volume and mist produced by the water gives you an idea of just how powerful they are. I constantly caught myself staring mindlessly into the abyss of falling H2O, and wondering what it would be like if the water suddenly stopped. There are two sides to the falls. I tackled the Brazilian side first, which is much smaller and takes less time to complete. This gives a panoramic view of the falls. You also get to wander out onto a catwalk that overlooks a smaller cliff of falls. I waded through the sea of croc-wearing, Asian tourists in my poncho and witnessed the spectacular view of water falling into the unseen depths below. Amazing.
The Argentine side is much larger and required a full day of exploration. A 730am start proved sufficient, and I was well on my way for more wetness and wildness. On this side you get a closer view of the action. Also many different angles. You can take high trails and low trails to be looking over or almost standing under the falls. I took the crowded train ride to the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) within the park, and the boardwalk out to the waterfall which passed a large river and jungle. I passed schools of photography nerds as I went, who were all busy adjusting their 2m lenses, fixated on pathetic butterflies. The view from here was ridiculous. So much so that I made a return trip there later on. I stared into the white, foamy goodness for ages. Iguazu falls has the ability to easily captivate anyone who sets foot within reach of its soothing mist. Something I will never forget!
Next round: Uruguay! Bring on the schooners, beaches and heavy feeds!