Puerto Iguazu, Argentina 14-17 Feb 2012

The 20 hours bus ride was long but in a comfortable bus served with 3 meals, I don´t mind the return. Travelling without my glasses is hard, I can´t see well and the sun is hurting my eyes. Lucky not too many handsome guys here to miss! :-p

Arrive in Puerto Iguazu, I look for the hostel where tha gals have booked themselves in, someone shoulted to me across the street, I could recognised the blue top but 2 of them have blue top, then when she cross the street...ahhh it´s Inge. :-) So nice of her to come looking for me, bad news was the hostel they checked in do not have dormitory. We went hunting for one, some were full finally we found one just one block from each other. It was really nice to see them again, they have been great travel companion. We never argued, only between them and I always tell them to keep me out of it! :-) I think we get along well because we have the same ideas, same style, same interest (except for some cultural and historial stuff) same speed and most important we understood each other. We have off and on travelled together since 20 Jan and still we were not bored of each other yet. They are my lucky stars!

Our target in Puerto Iguazu is to visit the mother of all fall, Cataratas Iguazu. The park has 550 km²  so huge that we have to spend 2 days to see everything. First day, we headed for the Macuco Nature Trail. It was a 7km trail both way. which suppose to take 3 hours to complete. There is a waterfall at the end and a pool to dip. We took almost 2 hours to arrive at the fall because we encountered many insects, birds and animals along the way. The waterfall was small and the water wasn´t very clean. We enjoyed more the nature than the waterfall.

After that Nature Trail, we did the lower trail and had an amazing ride on the boat which went almost below the giant fall. We all got wet inside out. Luckily I had only my bikini on and the rest is in the dry bag. The gals was soak! :-) That was a thrilling experience to feel the rush of water from the fall, even though it was not directly under the fall the water was still powerful. The sound, the power, the volume of water falling at one time was just mind blowing! I don´t know how to describe it. We had perfect weather with slight cloud. The rainbow on the fall made a perfect picture moment.

The place is very touristic, the easy access to the fall provide accessability to old and young and even to disabled person. From the walking path we could see the Brazilian side but only at the Argentinean side we could take the boat ride, cross to San Martin Island and go as close as touching the fall. I am contented with Argentinean side. :-)

When we exit the park on the first day, we have to get a stamp on the ticket for the 50% discount on the second day. We planned to visit the Devils Throat which is the highlight of the entire park. On the 2nd day, we started much later. Catching up with some sleep. We started with the Green Trail, this time we took as much time as we can to find small insects and birds. I managed to  find a stick insect. :-) There were lots of butterflies. The coati are abundance here, they are cute but dangerous because they can bite. Lots of sign said No Feeding but lots of people are ignorance.

On the way to the Devils Throat, we walked across 2km of plank bridge built on top of the Iguazu River. It was so freaking hot! I felt like jumping into the river but that was not possible, the current was strong and the cat fish are more than 1m in size. The plank walk lead us to the mouth of the Devils Throat, we could hear the thundering sound from far, when we arrive we were just blown away by the impact of the fall. We stood and stare under the hot sun for as long as we could. Pictures can´t capture the intensity of the fall so we made lots of video. We still have the Upper Trail to complete before the park close, reluctantly we left. At the Upper Trail, it's another view all together, We could walked on top of some of the falls. The Argentinean really did a great job with the walking path, it provide access to everyone up close from all angle. Great job!

We stayed till the park close, at the end of the day. At the train station, everyone was nicely sitting in the last train waiting for it to leave. Marga spoted a deer walking pass the train track, we run to take a photo, by then half of the train passengers were out of the train. It was a funny scene. With the caotic situation, we took advantage to sneak into the trail which was already close. We would like to spent our last few minutes in the jungle instead of the noisy train. End of the day, we saw some monkeys, monitor lizards, a deer, some Aguti, toucans and some rat looking animal without a tail.

On our last day in Puerto Iguazu, we finally have to say our last good bye. They left to Brazil without me, I went to another Nature Reserve Park called Ibera. I was sad that our journey together has to end here, I hope for a miracle that my passport will be recovered and I will be off to Rio to meet them. Till then Good Bye and Good Luck my dear friends.




Accommodations
Hostel La Esquina del Bambo with Wifi and breakfast - AP60


Transportations
Bus to Iguazu Park - AP20 return
Bus from Puerto Iguazu to Corrientes – AP200
Bus from Corrientes to Mercedes - AP68


Recreations
Entrance to Iguazu Park - First day AP100, Second day AP50
Boat ride - AP125