Hey All!
Hope Christmas was great for everyone. Momo and I have gone to Iguazu falls the last two days. The first thing we did was hike down to a water fall with a supposedly natural and clean pool at the bottom. The waterfall was awesome, but the pool of water seems suspiciously murky and green to me. Nevertheless, Momo braved the ever deterring water, wading across to the waterfall base. While setting up my camera for a photo op, I was startled by the unusually high pitched cry of distress by Momo, wiggling her way back through the water to shore. I looked closely at the rocks only to find a small crocodile at the base of the waterfall. There are sure to be more in the water!! My next smart move, as many accidents start, is to cross over there and to poke it with a stick to see if its actually alive. Though not the most intellectual move in the world, I did take the high ground on the rocks before poking it. Sure enough, after a few firm, steady pokes, the diagnosis: Dead. My hypothesis is that it died somewhere up river, and fell down the falls at some point. Gross. Just think of how many dead things there must be at the base of that waterfall. I hiked back to the same waterfalls the next day to find no croc in sight. Probably at the bottom of that pool.

Further into the park, we saw the "devil's throat", which is a falls that has water pouring into it from three sides with a water spray and mist just as tall as the drop itself. I now understand why its called such a name. It actually looks like water from all sides is being poured into the inferno or the devil's mouth itself. Once you go over those falls, there's no coming back out. We also took the boat to the foot of some of the falls (not devil's throat, of course. Too dangerous) which provided quality photo opportunities, before they bring you into the base of the falls, drenching you (dry bags provided for those who have valuables). It was awesome, except for the awfully smelly
life vest which hundreds of people use before they wash it, if they ever wash it. It smelled a combination of sea water, rotten meat, and fish meal. Which is funny because the falls are all fresh water. It probably was just the smell of the tourists. So many tourists!! The most encounter I had with the others was at the devil's throat, with the pushing, impatience, yelling in multiple languages, and the click, click, click of high priced cameras. And if there is an annoyance that annoys me more than people itself, it would be wet, sunscreened and slightly slimy, from sweat and falls water, stranger's arms grazing or touching my arms when its hot and muggy. So obviously from the scenario painted, not the highlight of my trip. At least there weren't very any hairy arms.

Happy Travels,

Teigan