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Wow....that's a lot of water! Gorgeous, really gorgeous water. And lots of trees...like a jungle....oh....wait, it is a jungle! The Iguazu Jungle and Iquazu Falls was definitely another highlight. Felt like we should be in a Tarzan movie or floating down the river in "The Mission". Iguazu Falls is located at "Las tres fronteras", which is the point where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet. From the Three Frontiers statue you can see all three countries, which is pretty cool.
The first day we just spent lounging by the pool at the Hotel Esturion where we were staying. Very relaxing and great to be surrounded by lush green jungle. During supper the hotel's restaurant had a harpist playing, which definitely added to the ambience.
The second day we went to Iguazu Falls with a tour group. It was stunning to see the falls from so many angles. It's one of the biggest falls in the world and it's amazing to see so much water falling with so much force. It looked gorgeous and incredibly dangerous all at the same time. We took a speed boat ride under the falls that cruised us back and forth between the Brazilian side of the falls and the Argentina side of the falls and then down the river. Very exhilarating! After that we hopped into a little safari vehicle to drive a bit through the jungle. We didn't see much wildlife, but there were definitely lots of trees. :)
We took a boat ride down the Iguzu and Parana rivers, which also provided some beautiful, lush scenery of the river valley. We stopped to see a native ritual of the Guarani tribe of Paraguay. It was a dance to thank the gods for another day of life and for providing for their needs. The boat company supplied them with some food and other goods and one of the Guarani men came aboard to sell some handicrafts. During the ride back there were two guitarists that played and it was a blast to be dancing to some fun latin music and a couple of tourists showed us a bit of the Tango. Very fun!
On the way back to the hotel, our taxista, Raul, took us to the Tres Fronteras again to see it at sunset and we also stopped at the little markets there. "Mate" is THE thing to drink in Argentina and is an herb that provides energy and has anti-oxidant and healing properties. We met a shop owner who asked if we'd ever tried mate, and when we said we hadn't, he served it to us there, which was cool. It is shared among friends in a ceremonial way , where the host pours water into the mate herb served from a gourd. The gourd is then passed to one person and that person drinks all the water from the gourd and passes it back to the host, who again pours water into the gourd to serve to the next person. The friends sharing in this "ceremony" together continue to drink the mate tea through the little straw (bombilla) until all of the water from the thermos has been consumed. We enjoyed mate and our litte excursion so much that when we got back to the hotel, Raul phoned us and asked us if we wanted to share some mate later, so we met him and hung out for two hours sipping mate by the pool.
The third day we walked through town in the sweltering heat trying to rent a moto to cycle around on, but no luck since it was Sunday....everything was closed. I don't think we've ever been so hot in our lives! We were drenched with sweat from such a humid heat. Spent another day by the pool trying to keep cool before we headed to Bariloche the next day.
Sending lots of happiness your way...
Stacy and Shelly
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