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BETWEEN BORDERS ... THE IGUAZU FALLS
Saturday 11th July
I didn´t think it´d be possible to spend an entire day in a national park looking at waterfalls without getting a bit bored of seeing the same kind of thing after a while... oh how I was wrong! After having travelled 24 hours on an overnight bus from Rio the day before (which wasn´t too bad apart from having to sit at the back by the loo and having 4 kids continually use the toilet and leave the door open!), not having had much to eat (precisely a bottle of water, 4 mouthfalls of spag bol at a service station, approximately 10 waffer cream biscuit things and probably 10 more plain biscuits) and staying in a not so great hostel (mouldy, damp and drafty), these natural wonders were just what I needed to perk me up and re-energise.
The start to the day wasn´t promising... with an accidental sleep in (we were supposed to get the 7.40am bus from Puerto Iguazu to the Falls to avoid the crowds) and the heavens deciding to let rip and pee down (my combats were soaked through by the time I´d walked from the hostel to the bus station in 5 mins), I was not too pleased and didn´t share Rich´s optimism. However, on entrance to the colossal 55,000 hectare Parque Nacional Iguazu, and typically after paying 22 Pesos for a plastic poncho to protect and cover my legs from the terrential downpour, the clouds broke up and the sun pushed its way through which set the start of a beautiful, clear day.
The visitors centre (which was oddly empty considering the details and background it gave to the park´s history and development) was superb; informative, interesting, educational and though provoking. It gave a brief description of the fauna and flora found in and around the rainforest as well as a brief history of the Guarani tribe (the indigenous tribe that belonged to the area) and how they got taken over by the Jesuits when they came to the area in the 1500s. It also gave some startling facts about the rainforest today and how it´s being treated - I know we all hear about the devasting things that are happening to the planet, but when you´re standing in the place which could easily be no more because of man and you feel quite connected to the cause and wanting to do something to help.
A short journey on a gas train took us to our starting point: the walk around the inferior circuit... but this was by no means inferior! The walk through the forest lead us to the top of the fork of the two major sets of waterfalls; it was spectacular. For about 10 mintues prior to being able to see anything other than green leaves and brown tree trunks, the sound of tons of water crashing and cascading down could be heard and the air was fresh. As the walk took us around the corner, the first set of waterfalls came into view with a rainbow appearing across the river. Some people say that negative ions are produced by waterfalls and they make people happier... I don´t quite know about that theory, but I did immediately felt happier so maybe there is something in it?
Hundreds of pics and vids later, we took a speed boat trip up to the waterfalls and although we didn´t go right up to the Garganta del Diablo (the Devil´s Throat - the main atttraction of the waterfalls), we did go under the other set of waterfalls which was rather surreal! Also very wet (my poncho came in use so 22 Pesos weren´t wasted!).
Walking across the Rio Iguazu on the way to the Garganta del Diablo was probably one of my favourite parts; a sense of how big the park was, how much water plummeted down the waterfalls and simply how beautiful Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil are all came together at once. The walkways across the massive river lead us to more crashing sounds and from a distance what looked like smoke from a fire (until I realised it was the sheer amount of spray from the waterfall). The vantage point across the Devil´s Throat waterfall was breathtaking in a metaphotrical and literal sense: the view of the waterfalls and surrounding forests was incredible but, at the same time, the walkway and lookout took you so close to the edge that you felt as if you could be going over any minute, too!
After being taken back by such awesome views, we walked back to take the ecological raft trip down stream. It was now late in the day, we were pretty exhausted from being on the go all day and a bit of restbite was needed and, fortunately, was found in the raft trip. A lazy, mellow float down the Rio Iguazu (far away from the waterfall´s cataracts thankfully!) was serene, peaceful and interesting; large bamaboo standing about 10 metres high spurted from the river side, the branches of so many different kinds of trees bustled gently in the wind and then the two alligators resting on the riverbank gave us a bit of a shock! They didn´t wake, but we were about 1-2 metres away from them and so I was glad they were asleep!! Further down the river, we came across tucans in the trees which was awesome since I´d never seen one before and watching them hop across branches, tilt their colouful beaks up in the sky and swiftly fly to other trees was amazing.
Finally, we walked the superior circuit which was ironically inferior to the inferior circuit. The walkways took us behind the tops of the first set of waterfalls where we stood about a metre up and away from the edge, watching the water fall into oblivion. It was good to get a different viewpoint but the order in which we did the walks in was perfect as we could appreciate what we were stood above at the end of the day after seeing how immensely huge and powerful these natural wonders were.
If only I could have these waterfalls in my back garden then I think I´d be eternally happy.
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