Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Iguazu Falls from the Argentinian Side Guide: Israel Hotel; Amerian Portal del Iguazu, Argentina

Today we took what was called the Great Adventure Tour. Israel met us at the hotel with his driver and we headed to the National Iguazu Park on the Argentinian side. He suggested that we walk to the second train stop so we didn’t have to stand in line at the first station. When we were walking, Israel pointed out many different trees and plants and we realized that he was a very knowledgeable guide. Not far along we saw one very stupid lady with young children, who was feeding a Coati (like a raccoon) and petting it. Israel told her she should not do that but she continued anyways. We visited the Interpretation Center to learn about the biodiversity of the jungle and the culture and history of the surrounding area. We boarded the Ecological Forest Tram to the Garganta del Diable (Devil’s Throat) Station and then the Cataratas Station, which took us to the hiking trails at the top of the falls. The tram train ride from start to finish was 3 km.

On our walk to the Devils Throat Falls there was a sign that warned us that on this hike, we would get very wet and we certainly did. As far as wildlife along the way is concerned, we only saw a few birds such as Egrets and Kingfishers. We also saw sucker fish and tilapia in the rivers.

Each bridge that we walked over crossed a different part of just one of the many rivers that continued on to be its own waterfall. Just as we were starting our walk, I saw a poster showing all the different kinds of fish in the area. The ugliest one, a Dorado, was the one that I had last night for dinner which tasted delicious, but good thing I didn’t see it before.

The bridge that we walked out on was one and a half kilometers, one way. When we got to the end we went out on a platform and got totally drenched but it was worth it to get so close to the falls. On the way back we saw a great big turtle, perhaps about 2 feet across. Unfortunately, it was underneath the bridge so we couldn’t get a picture. Further along the trails we came to another part of the falls that they had, believe it or not, named Cormorant Falls. There are two walkways, the Upper and the Lower. The upper trail is a kilometer and a half long and then we continued on to do the Lower trail which was 1.4 km one way.

Israel told us that his father was a guide in the national Park and his mother did some guiding as well, but they were now retired. In Argentina the women retire at age 60 and the men retire at age 65.

We saw a big spider and the web is so strong that it captures things like dragonflies and sometimes even small birds. In some countries they use the web of those spiders to build bullet proof vests and our guide Israel thought that it might be in, you guessed it, Israel. The walk back on the lower route was essentially walking through the jungle maybe 15 feet above ground level and along the way, Israel was pointing out all kinds of flowers, trees and fruits. On a busy day they can get up to 6000 people to the park in one day.

After the morning hikes we had time for a quick lunch of empanadas and Don was so tired that he had a Coke to get some sugar. We then got on an open truck that took us to the next part of our adventure namely, a speedboat to the bottom of the falls. I think there were 20 people per boat. The trip up to the falls was exciting enough but once we actually got there, we knew it was going to get even more exciting. The driver played with us a little bit by getting closer and closer to the falls and then turned around and went back to a fairly calm area. We thought that was great and we would then head back. Not so, he then turned the boat around and into the falls we went, literally into the falls. The water was pounding down everywhere knocking off people’s glasses and hats. Everybody was yelling and screaming, cheering and laughing and you couldn’t see a thing because there was so much water. We were all as wet as if you jumped in a lake fully clothed, even though most of us were wearing rain gear.

Fortunately, before we got on the boat, they gave us a dry bag to put store backpacks and any valuables and they worked quite well. Lee, as well as many others, took a change of clothing so she could change into something dry before our trip back home. I didn’t and was quite cool on the way home. We re-boarded the truck and headed back to the starting point. The narrator on the truck said this was a very poor time to see any wildlife but that the previous truck had seen a Toucan, but I suspect it was just to keep our attention.

We arrived back at the pickup spot, met Israel and headed back to the hotel. Lee tried to get some money out of a banking machine at the park entrance but, it turned out that the machine was out of money which Israel said happens quite frequently. We continued back towards our hotel and found another machine that did have money.

Once back at the hotel we were pretty tired. I changed into my bathing suit and headed down to the pool to get a drink for both of us. While I was waiting for Lee, I met up with the tour group from the United States and we had a lot of fun and conversation. By the time Lee arrived, it had started to lightning and thunder with very light rain, so we moved under cover.

We decided not to waste any opportunities by sitting around so we went to another fabulous restaurant noted for its steak. They had fun Argentinean entertainment of singing and dancing. And one way or another, the owner gave us a complementary bottle of wine to take with us. The restaurant’s name was El Quincho.Leia mais