Two of my good friends invited Mike and me to join them in
Argentina. Pedro was born and resided in
a town called City Bell an hour outside of Buenos Aires. His family still lives there. They are some of the nicest, most generous
people I’ve ever met. My Spanish is poor at best while Mike’s is nearer to non-existent. Top that off with the Argentine way of pronouncing
y’s and ll’s and the language barrier thickened greatly. The Aguilars and Julias spoke almost no English. However, through Megan and Pedro and with my
rusty high school Spanish, we managed to both communicate and have basic
conversations.
A train
connects the different areas of the park. At the top end is the Gargantua de
Diblo, the Devil’s Throat waterfall.
Catwalks take viewers across the vast river to see the wonder that is
Devil’s Throat. Along the way there were many more butterflies of different
shapes, sizes and colors. Mike was fascinated
by the giant spiders in the trees. With their
legs, the spider were the size of my palm. A huge catfish swam under the walkway,
apparently enjoying the attention of the tourists and their cameras. Turtles
sunned themselves on rocks in the middle of the river. Black
birds with blue and yellow markings attempted to steal food. The landing at the end of the catwalk was crowded
as can be expected. The falls are a massive
horse shoe shape with such a huge volume of water crashing down it is impossible
to see the bottom through the mist. A
rainbow shone in the mist with every color visible. Each end of the enormous
falls was ended by more and more beautiful cascades. Depending on the season and rainfall, there
are as many as 270 waterfalls in the area.
A raft floated
us down a tributary to a safe area below the falls. It was quiet and
relaxing. The guide gave us information
in both English and Spanish as we floated.
We saw a pair of wild tucans flying through the air. From where the boat dropped us off, it was
only a short walk to the upper trail which gives vistas of several waterfalls
from above. It was a beautiful amazing
walk. Water flowed under the pathways to crash down on the rocks beneath
us. Then it was time for the park to
close. We headed to our hotel in town, which was nice, but basic.
The morning arrived
bright and beautiful. Our driver dropped us off at the park at 8 so we could
easily make our 9 am boat ride. The
Grand Adventure as the ride was called included a jeep ride through the jungle
with an English speaking guide. She told
us that the large spiders were not poisonous and neither were the large snakes
up to 3m in the area. However, there
were also 5 types of corn snakes with 2 poisonous. The way to differentiate between the
varieties was to flip them over and see if there were rings on their bellies. Unlikely.
Megan and I couldn’t care less if they were poisonous or otherwise. We would run.
Luckily, tourist areas are not good homes for snakes and we didn’t have
to run. The jungle ride ended at the
boats. Our things were placed in dry bags.
The initial ride to the falls is for photos. We saw first one side, then
the other before the guide told us to put the cameras away. The boat took us into the mist under the
falls on both sides! It was both fun and hilarious. We were soaked and laughing. Every vantage point in the park offers a new
appreciation for the magnificence of the falls.
Each was enchanting in its own way.
We walked the lower
trail seeing new falls and different vantages of those seen from the upper trail. Once we reached the end, we
stopped for a snack at the convenience store.
A herd of coaties, which look like a mixture of raccoon, anteater and
lemur, roamed the area stealing and begging food. They were cheeky little blokes and not shy in
the least bit. Mike and I wanted to see
the giant falls at Devils Throat again before the adventure ended. We realized the river had swollen about a
foot in depth from the previous day. It
was richer and darker red brown as well.
The falls looked quite a bit different the second day. More water thundered down in reddish streaks
increasing the amount of mist and therefore reducing the visibility. It was well worth the second trip.
The Monday after we arrived, we caught a plane to Iguazu
National Park on the border of Argentina and Brazil. To say Iguazu is beautiful would be doing it
an injustice. Our taxi drove us into the park set within hundreds of miles of
jungle in every direction. Butterflies filled
the air, the sunlight bright and warm around us. We put our bags in a locker, bought tickets,
and wandered in to find some food. There
was a nice buffet with plenty of vegetarian options. Afterward, we booked a tour for the following
morning to ride the boats.
A train
connects the different areas of the park. At the top end is the Gargantua de
Diblo, the Devil’s Throat waterfall.
Catwalks take viewers across the vast river to see the wonder that is
Devil’s Throat. Along the way there were many more butterflies of different
shapes, sizes and colors. Mike was fascinated
by the giant spiders in the trees. With their
legs, the spider were the size of my palm. A huge catfish swam under the walkway,
apparently enjoying the attention of the tourists and their cameras. Turtles
sunned themselves on rocks in the middle of the river. Black
birds with blue and yellow markings attempted to steal food. The landing at the end of the catwalk was crowded
as can be expected. The falls are a massive
horse shoe shape with such a huge volume of water crashing down it is impossible
to see the bottom through the mist. A
rainbow shone in the mist with every color visible. Each end of the enormous
falls was ended by more and more beautiful cascades. Depending on the season and rainfall, there
are as many as 270 waterfalls in the area.
A raft floated
us down a tributary to a safe area below the falls. It was quiet and
relaxing. The guide gave us information
in both English and Spanish as we floated.
We saw a pair of wild tucans flying through the air. From where the boat dropped us off, it was
only a short walk to the upper trail which gives vistas of several waterfalls
from above. It was a beautiful amazing
walk. Water flowed under the pathways to crash down on the rocks beneath
us. Then it was time for the park to
close. We headed to our hotel in town, which was nice, but basic. 
The morning arrived
bright and beautiful. Our driver dropped us off at the park at 8 so we could
easily make our 9 am boat ride. The
Grand Adventure as the ride was called included a jeep ride through the jungle
with an English speaking guide. She told
us that the large spiders were not poisonous and neither were the large snakes
up to 3m in the area. However, there
were also 5 types of corn snakes with 2 poisonous. The way to differentiate between the
varieties was to flip them over and see if there were rings on their bellies. Unlikely.
Megan and I couldn’t care less if they were poisonous or otherwise. We would run.
Luckily, tourist areas are not good homes for snakes and we didn’t have
to run. The jungle ride ended at the
boats. Our things were placed in dry bags.
The initial ride to the falls is for photos. We saw first one side, then
the other before the guide told us to put the cameras away. The boat took us into the mist under the
falls on both sides! It was both fun and hilarious. We were soaked and laughing. Every vantage point in the park offers a new
appreciation for the magnificence of the falls.
Each was enchanting in its own way. 
We walked the lower
trail seeing new falls and different vantages of those seen from the upper trail. Once we reached the end, we
stopped for a snack at the convenience store.
A herd of coaties, which look like a mixture of raccoon, anteater and
lemur, roamed the area stealing and begging food. They were cheeky little blokes and not shy in
the least bit. Mike and I wanted to see
the giant falls at Devils Throat again before the adventure ended. We realized the river had swollen about a
foot in depth from the previous day. It
was richer and darker red brown as well.
The falls looked quite a bit different the second day. More water thundered down in reddish streaks
increasing the amount of mist and therefore reducing the visibility. It was well worth the second trip. 
Iguazu
is one of the new 7 wonders and it is obvious why. It is the most magical and amazing place I have
ever been.
