On January 27th we arrived in Puerto de Iguazu after a 17 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. We took another bus to our hostel for about .50 each. We stayed at Hostel Inn, an ex casino. It was huge, and had a swimming pool! Unfortunately, it was raining! We went to check in but we had a little issue with our reservations. We had accidentally made reservations for February instead of January. We had emailed them a couple weeks back explaining the situation and they replied saying that it was no problem. Apparently there was some kind of communication problem and they through we were just confirming our reservations for February. We showed the guy the emails between us and the hostel. However, because the hostel’s reply didn’t specifically confirm the dates for January he said it was “50% our fault.” Katie was upset and said “it was not my fault, but whatever!” We finally got into our room and everything was okay. That afternoon we took a taxi into town, because it was still raining hard core. We searched forever in the pouring rain for a working ATM, and finally found one! We took refuge in a restaurant and got some food, and then headed back to the hostel. While drinking a beer in the common area, we ran into a Canadian girl we had shared a room with in Buenos Aires! Small world! And she was with two people from the Seattle area. Even smaller world! There were tons of people at the hostel and everyone wanted to check their email, but there were only 3 slow working computers. But we still waited patiently for our turn. Then all of a sudden this Israeli bitch comes out of nowhere trying to cut in line. Katie told her “no, we were first.” But she tried to say she was waiting before us. Katie replied “I don’t think so. We were sitting right there and saw you come up after us.” She then tried to play the pity card, and said she had something really important to check online. And then Katie said she did as well, and just sat down at the computer. The girl tried to argue more, but Katie wasn’t having it. Katie was really out going this day, and told everyone where they could stick it. It was great! After the little confrontation we went to bed early, as we had an early morning the next day.
On the 28th we left the hostel at 7am and arrived at the Argentina side of the falls around 20 minutes later. First we went to the visitor’s center and walked through the museum. Then we joined a group of people on a jungle tour in a jumbo truck. About an hour later we arrived at a river where we hopped on a speed boat. PS – We were already soaked from the truck ride through the rain. We took the boat through the river and up to the falls. We went under a baby fall and got a little wet. We didn’t think we could get much wetter, but then we went under a massive waterfall (several times) and got completely soaking wet!! Thank god we had a waterproof camera! We were pretty much wet the whole day because it was overcast. We arrived back on shore and took a ferry to an island. We trekked around there for an hour or so, and saw some amazing views of the falls. There weren’t a lot of people on the island, so we were able to eat and pee in peace. We returned to the mainland and went on several larger trails to see small and big waterfalls along the way. In the afternoon we hopped on a train and walked about 20 minutes to get to the top of Devil’s Throat. Devil’s Throat is in the shape of a horseshoe where 14 falls drop 350 feet with tremendous force. It was amazing! It was pretty crazy to be at the top and staring down into the water. At points you weren’t able to see down, because it was so misty. After taking many pictures we headed back to the entrance. Along the way we ran into these little critters, called coatis. They were the cutest things! The best way to describe them is a mix of meerkat/raccoon/anteater. We also saw a Tiger Ant, which is an inch long black ant. It was super creepy! We left the Argentina side of the falls at 4pm and returned to the hostel tired and wet.
On the 29th we woke up early once again. This time we caught a bus to the Brazilian city, Foz do Iguaçu. We got off at the bus station and started to walk toward Paraguay. We thought we would be able to walk across the border to Ciudad del Este, but after about a 40 minute walk with no border in sight, we decided to hop on a bus. We were kinda nervous crossing the border into Paraguay, because technically we needed a visa to enter into Paraguay. Fortunately, we arrived in the city with no problems. We had read that Ciudad del Este is the Tijuana of South America, and they were right; it’s a dusty, smelly place with tons of people, cars and bikes. And everyone is trying to sell you something. We walked around for a few hours, took some pictures, and then headed back to the safe arms of Brazil! Back at the bus station we took a bus to the Brazilian side of the falls. We didn’t spend as much time on the Brazilian side as we did on the Argentina side. There was less trekking and it was more about the views. It was a good way to get an overall view of the falls. You can really tell how massive they are. The Argentina side was a good place to spend the day and to be one with the falls, while the Brazilian side really allows you to appreciate the falls as a whole. After many a bus ride, we finally retuned to our hostel in Puerto de Iguazu late in the afternoon.
We woke up early on the 30th and took a taxi to the Brazilian airport, where we would be catching a plane to Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval! Our time in the falls was amazing and was definitely an experience of a lifetime, but we were also excited to return to a big city…especially one where the biggest party in the world is held!
No comments:
Post a Comment