The third installment of my Argentina series is just about one single place of interest; Iguazú Falls (Portuguese: Cataratas do Iguaçu; Spanish: Cataratas del Iguazú). Thus, I feel the need on issuing a warning to all readers first. If you somehow had a phobia for waterfalls, kindly click the "back" button on the top left corner of your screen. There is probably nothing much else other than the waterfall though if you do "plunge" in and read, it may just cure your problem once for all. :)
Located in the northern tip of Misiones province in Argentina, the Iguazú Falls consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometers of Rio Iguazú. Legend has it that a god had planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí. However, she had fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. Anyway, the falls had divided the river (which also denotes the border between Argentina and Brazil) into upper and lower Iguazú. Following the trail of lower Iguazú, it would shortly lead to the intersection with Rio Paraná; this would be the point where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet (i.e. Puerto Iguazú).
While the falls can be reached from Foz do Iguaçu (Brazilian state of Paraná) or Ciudad del Este in Paraguay,
I decided to base myself in Puerto Iguazú (since a Sillyporean requires a visa to enter Paraguay or Brazil). After an 18-hour bus journey from Buenos Aires, I walked out of Puerto Iguazú's modern bus terminal with my backpack. Was feeling rather glad that Puerto Iguazú is just a decent town and has none of that rowdy border town feel. I got my orientation right almost immediately and set out to look for accommodation.
I
was all set to realise my Happy Together dream.
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wyattwang.com doing it at the river intersection of Rio Paraná and Rio Iguazú (where Argentina is on the left, Paraguay is in the background and Brazil is on the right), Puerto Iguazú, Argentina.
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Just an arbitrary road in Puerto Iguazú. During the day, it is really quiet with few tourists (most of them should be at the falls).
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Ok, I "took" a day off and was playing drunk in Hostel El Güembe (a 3-bed dormitory, AR$28/S$13.33 per night) after my mandatory Quilmes (AR$3.50/S$1.67) in the afternoon.
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Eating out was pretty expensive in Puerto Iguazú (actually it is expensive everywhere in Argentina) and thus I decided to cook some pasta (AR$5/S$2.38) with ham (AR$2.80/S$1.33). Heeded Sally's advice and mixed the pasta with sauce before serving; not too bad at all.
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While this is defintely not the best photograph that I had taken so far, I was trying to capture the reflection on the shades worn by a staff (that was on the same tram as me) of the Iguazú National Park. |
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Prelude to the first ever waterfall that I will visit during this trip, I hasten my footsteps as I approached the Garganta del Diablo (or the Devil's Throat in English). |
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Just a photograph on my feet and slippers getting all wet from the mist generated by the waterfall. |
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Me (all drenched) and the Devil's Throat; the sound of the water gushing down the heights was so loud that I practically had to shout into my phone as I was talking to Sally and my mum. |
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The view of the Devil's Throat (close-up from the Argentine side); it is simply astonishing. |
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Taken from Salto Bossetti (on the Argentine side), this is another impressive photograph taken of an unknown waterfall in Iguazú Falls .
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