Iguazu Falls

I was sad to leave Patagonia, but it was made all the worse because I woke up feeling sick as a dog. I started my emergency course of antibiotics and geared up for a day in airports. I tried to convince myself that it was basically a rest day, all I had to do was get on and off airplanes all day.

Yeah, traveling alone when you're sick is hard. I slept on both my flights and had to be woken by the flight attendants at landing. I could feel that I was flushed with fever. I had a layover in Buenos Aires, and I got off the plane when I was just supposed to wait on the plane, it was the same plane flying to iguazu falls. I had to exit the airport and rush through security to get back on.

But it all turned out fine, and when I got to iguazu falls, another late arrival in an unfamiliar place, I had the complete opposite of my first airport experience. I just followed all the people with backpacks. We let an Israeli haggle a price, and a minute later a big van arrived to take all the backpackers to their hostels for 1/4 the cost of a taxi. The Israeli took one look at my fevered face and made the driver drop me off first. I love the Israelis so much. Sure, they are loud. They snore. They leave messes in the kitchen and seem to take joy in breaking every rule they can. But they are useful and nice and they fucking watch out for all travelers, not just their own.

The next day I felt better, but not great. I went to the Argentinian side of iguazu falls anyway. 10 minutes after getting there I had to sit down, I was shivering with a cold sweat. Luckily it passed, and I wandered the rainforest paths thinking... Oh look, I'm back in Florida. The everglades and the rainforest are very similar. I even recognized some of the bugs and plants. A bunch of people were exclaiming over a gator and I was just like OH LOOK, MY 236TH GATOR OF THE YEAR.

Then the monkeys showed up, and everything got a lot more interesting. Iguazu falls is gorgeous. It's a natural wonder. It's impossible to have a bad time watching gallons and gallons of water crashing hundreds of feet through the air, and I didn't. It was a fantastic day. I took the boat ride into the spray of the waterfall and screamed with delight. I saw rainbows and brightly colored birds and did I mention it was hot?? Gone were the high winds and sudden rains of the arctic tundra, I was back in the tropics. It felt good.

At iguazu, there are a bunch of easy walkways overlooking the falls, and one short three mile hike. I skipped the hike, and I beat myself up about it. It's the type of thing I would have done if I weren't sick, but I was totally exhausted by about 3pm. Oh well.

When I got back to the hostel I napped, then got up to take myself out to dinner. The electricity in Puerto iguazu is spotty, and as I walked to dinner entire blocks would black out and suddenly come back on a minute or two later. When I arrived at the restaurant the lights were out. I ate there anyway. They brought me a candle.

As I sat there sipping wine from mendoza and buttering homemade bread by candlelight, I felt a warm happiness stealing over me. The night was young, the wine was good, and the steak was cheap. What more can anyone really ask for?Read more