Iguazu

Even though my family was in Argentina for just about one week, we really made the most of it.  Although Buenos Aires is a huge attraction within itself, Argentina “la interior” offers so much that I simply had to show my fam a peek of it.  Actually, for 50 years in the beginning of the 19th century Buenos Aires warred with the rest of Argentina- Buenos Aires wanted to unify, while the rest of the country felt they were a separate entity.  In the end, BA won and they unified as one single Argentina.  However, still today one realizes that the rest of Argentina is so much different from BA.  They speak differently, have a slower pace of life, are very rural pretty poor and have many other cultural differences.  1/3 of the population lives in BA, but the rest of the country offers so much beauty. 

While my family was here we went up to the northeast corner of the country to a province called Misiones where the famous Iguazu waterfalls are.  

Here the climate is subtropical, pretty much a rainforest.  The first picture is from the plane and the second is part of the falls.  It was spectacular- a real breath-taking vista of nature!

We stayed at a Hotel in the national park that had fantastic views of the Falls

After piling on some superpowered bus spray (no Dengue for us!) we set out to explore the beautiful park.  We walked all around one of the paths called the Lower Circuit, snapping picture after picture of the awe-inspiring falls and wildlife that we saw.  The hardest part of this post is trying to pick the best pictures because frankly they are all extraordinary (and I have close to 200!).  Here’s just a few: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a boat over to an island that is in the middle of the river to see some more views.  After climbing an eternity of steps we were lucky enough to find these guys waiting for us: 

 

 

 

 

 

AAfter hanging out by the pool and eating a lovely fish dinner (note: river fish is great!  I admittedly was hesitant to try river fish being the snobby New Englander and niece of an ocean fisherman that I am, but it was delish!) we hit the hay.  We woke up the next morning not knowing that the best view was yet to come!

 First we saw these guys, a molting iguana, and a snake (i promptly ran away from him)

 

 

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Look, a toucan spotted by Kakie!

 

 

Then we walked to La Garganta del Diablo- “devil’s throat”.  Here’s the before shot:

Bomb’s away!!

 

 

 

 

 

We had to hurry back to get on our plane back to BA, but we took one last stop before we left the area at Tres Fronteras, or the exact place where Argentina, Brasil and Paraguay meet.  

I am standing in Argentina, in front of me is Brasil and to the left is Paraguay.  As Americans we are forbidden in both Brasil y Paraguay without pricey visas, but don’t blame them- they only impose that on us because we do it to their citizens.

Iguazu was beautiful.  I love traveling here because it reminds me of how diverse a country I’m living in (while we were enjoying 80 degree weather in Iguazu, the southern tip of Argentina is covered in snow!).  There was much more influence of Guarani, the indigenous language of people native to northern Argentina, still spoken widely in Paraguay, in the food and street language in Iguazu than there is in BA. 

I had to smirk when I realized this though, because Portenos in BA always complain about the Paraguayos coming into their country, bringing their Guarani, but, in truth, it is already here in Argentina! 

 

‘tis all for now- chau, Iguazu!