we got back to buenos aires last night after spending 3 days in iguazu. iguazu is a town located in the very northeast corner of argentina and is on the border of both brazil and paraguay. the reason to visit this area is for the amazing waterfalls. unfortunately it was raining the first 2 days we were there, but not knowing if the weather would improve, ben and i ventured out to the national park that encompasses the falls on the argentinian side of the border. the first day we explored the catwalk to what is known as the garganta del diable, an area where several rivers come together and plunge down a semicircular cliff about 75m high. the sights and sounds were incredible. with the rain and the constant mist created from the falling water, it was difficult to get good pictures and to keep my camera dry, but we did what we could. while walking back from the garganta del diablo we heard that a women's body had recently been discovered a few kilometers down stream from these falls. no one knows what happened, but the last place people can place this woman was on the catwalks to garganta del diablo, about a week prior to the discovery of her body.
the next day we visited the national park again....and it was still raining. we cant seem to catch a break on the weather. we decided to do a tour that include a truck trip through parts of the jungle and a boat tour through the falls. the truck part of the tour was pretty disappointing, only seeing a few toucans and no other wildlife. but, the toucan is an amazing bird that can only truly be appreciated if you see it in person. the boat portion of the tour was more exciting as it drove us right up to several of the falls, including Salto Bossetti, Salto Bernabé Mendez, Salto San Martín, and Salto Tres Mosqueteros. Unfortunately the water level did not allow us to get
very close to Garganta del Diablo. I attempted to take pictures with my camera in a plastic bag, but Im not sure if there are going to be any good. The boat tour also include passes directly beneath Salto Tres Mosqueteros and Salta San Martín. I think I have some good pictures of other boats doing this that I will send later so you get a better idea of exactly what this involved. after the boat tour, we walked all the trails throughout the national park getting great views of all the falls from different vantage points. we were also hoping to get a glimpse of the wildlife that live in this part of the jungle (jaguars, armadillos, deer, monkeys) but only saw a few birds and the argentinian version of a racoon.
friday morning we had planned to sleep in a bit to catch up on some much needed rest. just like in el chalten, the weather had improved just when we were getting ready to leave. the sun was out, the skies were bright blue, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. with weather like this, i couldnt resist going out one last time to the falls. ben stayed behind so i ventured out with a canadian girl that i had run into in el calafate about a week earlier. we left our hostel at about 10:15am and i was supposed to be back by 12:15 to begin our journey back to BA. we got to the national park and missed the train that takes you to garganta del diable. so we decided to quicky go view salto san martín. the change in scenery with the improved weather was incredible. the 2 prior days were so drab and colorless, and now with the sun out, everything seemed so enhanced. we took a couple of quick pictures and ran back to the train station...only to see the train pulling away. so we decided to walk the 2.5km to the start of the catwalks for garganta del diablo...which turned out to be a treat as we came upon a family of capuchin monkeys crossing the train tracks. it made the walk well worth it. we arrived at the start of the catwalks to the falls at about 11:40 and the sign posted said the next train back to the center of the park left at 12, so i ran to the falls to get pictures with hopes of returning in time for the train. we got to the falls and i quickly enjoyed the amazing view. with the sun out, it was much easier to make out the falls and i was able to really appreciate this wonder of nature. but, i could not stay long. i ran back towards the train as fast as possible, knocking aside tourists from all parts of the world who were incessantly clogging the catwalks to videotape meaningless parts of the river. i showed up at the train station to the disappointing news that the train left early....early!!! that is a word and phenomenon that until this point i did not believe was understood in argentina. as the next train was not set to depart until 12:30, i began the 2.5km run back to the center of the park. as it had rained for the past 2 days, the path along side the train tracks was not in the least bit solid and when i finally dragged my sweaty self onto the concrete path at the final train stop, i was covered in mud from the waist down. needless to say, the bus driver on the bus i had to take to return to the hostel was not pleased with me, my appearance, or the incredible amount of mud i deposited in his vehicle. but, to be able to see the true colors of the falls and the family of monkeys, made the quick trip worth all the effort.
so we had some difficulties getting back to BA last night due to some massive fires in the area. the domestic airport in BA was shut down for several hours yesterday because the fires had created so much smoke it made it impossible for planes to land. thankfully, the winds changed enough so that we could land at the airport, but the air quality here is making it difficult for us to want to stay. but, with a big Boca fútbol game on Sunday, we have decided to stick it out at least through the weekend. there is a dispute as to exactly who/what started the fires. the government is claiming that the farmers stared the fires (which are about 12km outside the city) because of the recently increased export tax on beef. the farmers claim that it was not them....but we have also heard that the farmers have said they started the fires to clear weeds from their pasture lands...not sure how that really makes sense. regardless, the city is completely covered in a heavy layer of smoke that permeates everything. we have heard the winds are supposed to change and that the city should clear up in the next few days...hopefully in time for our Boca game tomorrow.
we are thinking right now that our next stop will be Salta, in the northwest part of Argentina. from there we are hoping to get to a place in northern chile called San Pedro de Atacama and then into the salt flats of Bolivia. alot of this depends on bus schedules and availability, as we have heard rumors of more protests in the area with people placing large boulders on the roads blocking all automobile travel.
more to come soon.
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