Waterfalls, Ruins, and 40 Hours on a Bus: March 30 – April 3

After our three days of exploring Buenos Aires, it was time for us to see some of Argentina’s natural beauty and cultural history in the Northeast of the country. Over the next few days, we would come to appreciate just how large Argentina really is.

On March 30th, Mike and I took our first long distance bus ride to Puerto Iguazu. The bus ride was supposed to be 18 hours long, but ended up being a 21 hour journey! The bus was comfortable, and they even fed us lunch and dinner! The downside with the meals on board was that I didn’t get off the bus the whole time, and by the time we arrived, I had sausages for toes! Upon our arrival on the 31^st, Mike and I hopped on another bus to take us straight to the park ,which was luckily only 20 minutes away.J

Iguazu Falls was voted one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world, and it was astounding! It wasn’t so much the height of the falls (the highest section was 260’) but more the vastness of them. The Iguazu River is 2 kilometers wide at the top of the falls where it is divided into many different channels, resulting in hundreds of different waterfalls. Surrounding the waterfalls is a rainforest with tons of wildlife and also adds a beautiful green contrast to the misty falls.

The park is set up to show many different perspectives of the falls. Mike and I started by walking to Garganta del Diablo, Devil’s Throat, which is a viewpoint from the top of the biggest of the falls. To get there, we had to walk 1 km on elevated walkways across the Iguazu River! Along the way, we were able to observe some of the river wildlife including turtles, every color imaginable of butterflies, a small alligator soaking up the sunshine, and huge whiskered fish specially evolved to catch food before it goes over the falls. The fish were pretty ugly and huge at 3‘ long!

The viewpoint was awesome, and we were basically standing on the edge of the falls looking down into the mist . This perspective showed the height and power. Across from us, we could see Brazil, as the Iguazu River is the border.

                      

Next, we walked the lower circuit, where we enjoyed a view that showed the vastness of the waterfalls. We could see the Garganta del Diablo to our left and the San Martin falls to the right, separated by the San Martin Island plus all the small falls! It was my favorite viewpoint as it was beautiful with the individual falls separated by lush green plants and the river below.

                      

Included in our entrance fee was a ferry across the lower river to San Martin Island. On the island we got an up close view of San Martin Falls. It gave us a nice cool mist which was needed as it was super hot and muggy! We finished the day with popsicles for our walk back, and we saw some more wildlife including Coatis (a relative of raccoons) and monkeys.

The next day, we hopped on another bus for a 4.5 hour bus ride to San Ignacio Mini. On the bus we observed a mate (ma-tay) drinking ceremony. Mate is a green tea that is super popular in Argentina and Paraguay; people drink it all day long. The loose tea leaves are in a cup, and a small amount of hot water is added to the cup at a time. Right after the water is added, they drink it through a metal straw with a filter at the bottom. Then, they add more water and do it again. This repeats itself throughout the whole day, so we saw plenty of people walking around with a thermos and their mate-filled cup! We haven’t tried the tea yet as it really isn’t available at a store, and you need to be invited to partake, so we’ll see…

San Ignacio Mini is the remains of a Jesuit mission which was started in 1610. The mission was abandoned in 1768 and restored in 1940. The missionaries learned the local language and taught arts and religion while providing food and protection to the natives. The population peaked at 4,500.

The main highlight was the remains of the church. The façade was awesome, covered in pretty bas-relief carvings. Originally, the church was white-washed over the red sandstone. The interior was huge with a pretty mosaic floor, and most of the doorways still had pretty carvings over them. Next to the church was the living quarters for the priests, which still had some nice stone work, including carved banisters and mosaic floors.

                         

                         

On April 2^nd, we took another bus back to Buenos Aires arriving on the 3^rd. We had planned to continue our sightseeing of this great city and take a tango lesson, but I got really sick with the flu, so instead we spent the day in our hotel. I think Mike was relieved at not taking the dance lesson.J

So far we have been in Argentina 8 days, and we have spent over 40 hours on buses! Argentina is a huge country, and just the small pieces that we have seen have been amazing! I am excited to continue our journey south to Patagonia, except this time we are flying.J