Hello All!!

Sorry to disappoint but it's me (Sarah) writing this time...I read all of your response and it seems the crowd is rooting for Chris as the author, so we will be switching everyday now ;).

We arrived early today in Buenos Aires and took the subte (subway) right to our hostel. I must say we were both holding our breath in anticipation in hopes this would be a better hostel...and it is! It's a quaint building with a rooftop terrace as well as a large comfortable "family room." Our room is SO much better than our last, bright and clean. We were extremely relieved. Unfortunately, our bus trip to Buenos Aires was no where near as accommodating as it had been on the way to Igazu Falls. The steward (the guy that serves the drinks, food, etc) seemed to be relatively new to the job, and didn't really know the ropes. He was unable to figure out the DVD player, so for the first 5 hours of the trip there wasn't much to do. Finally, when the bus stopped to pick up our dinner, the DVD player was fixed, but they only ended up showing one movie, dubbed in Spanish instead of with subtitles. Needless to say, Chris and I went to sleep instead. BUT- we aren't complaining because the seats were still VERY comfortable.

Now the most important part of the blog- our trip to the falls! They were simply breathtaking. I'm going to post pictures, but in all honesty, photos alone can not do this place justice. We woke around 9am ate a quick breakfast and than walked to the local bus station to catch a transfer to the falls. The sky was really dark, but it wasn't raining yet so we counted on a window of opportunity. When we arrived there were hundreds of people; the most tourists I have seen yet. We weren't discouraged, but a little disappointed because we really wanted to take in the views minus huge crowds. Also, two of the main attractions (a train ride to the top of the falls and a ferry ride to an island in the middle of the falls) were closed due to the large amounts of rain fall in the recent days. Nevertheless, we set out to do the lower and upper walking trails. As soon as we set foot on the lower trail (the one that goes below the falls, and almost right underneath them) it started to rain. No rain is an understatement, it started to DUMP water. Within a few minutes, Chris and I were both soaked head to toe, and we couldn't really see the trail in front of us. But, instead of turning around to seek out shelter in one of the restaurants (like everyone else) we decided to continue on. Despite feeling like we were wading through a river rather than walking on a land trail, we had the best time. It was a true "rainforest" experience. I attempted to take a couple of pictures, but it was nearly impossible and I didn't want to risk ruining my camera. By the end of the lower trail, the rain had significantly slowed down, and we headed toward the upper part. While we felt more removed from the waterfalls themselves, the upper part of the trail led to some amazing photo-ops, which fortunately i was able to capture since that rain had stopped. Finally, we grabbed some lunch and figured we would take the lower trail again (the rain was completely gone at this point) so we could get the pictures we had missed earlier. (I would try and explain these massive waterfalls in more detail, but I think the pictures will speak better than words.) Satisfied, we called it a day and went back to the hostel.

Once back, we both unsuccessfully tried to figure out a way to dry our damp clothing. With no laundry facilities, and a room as damp as an ocean cave, we were at a lost. It was frustrating but there wasn't much we could do. (In fact, both of our Merrils are still significantly wet even after two days.) We went out in search of a restaurant for dinner and happened upon a small restaurant with leather couches and candles as the only form of light. It looked and smelled appealing, but the thing that caught my eye were the board games they provided, and almost every table was taking advantage of the fun! (we played checkers, chris won both times). The food was outstanding (we both had stir-frys) and we ordered a bottle of MalBec (Latitud 33). All in all, it was a wonderful dinner, probably one of the best yet!

That is pretty much it for now..we are flying to El Calafate tomorrow and we are both very excited. Chris is the next to write, which I am sure he will once we are settled there and have some news to tell! We miss you all dearly, and hope the real world is treating you well.

xox,

Sarah and Chris