Las Cataratas Iguazu, Argentina

Mario and I arrived to Buenos Aires the evening of January 2nd. We found a nice hotel in a central location and had a good night of sleep. Our bus to Iguazu Falls wasn’t scheduled to leave until about five that afternoon so we had most of the day to explore Buenos Aires. We went to the Plaza de Mayo, the historic government center, saw the balcony the Peron’s and others delivered their speeches to the public, and found our way over to a huge Sunday street craft market. We walked through the stalls and bought a few items, had some lunch, and got our things together for the bus. Luckily, the hotel let us store some bags for free so we wouldn’t have to haul them all around the country with us.

The bus ride is about 17 hours long from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu. Parts of the drive were quite scenic with large swampy wetlands that stretched out in either direction. We were served dinner (not as good as you might think…but edible anyhow) and breakfast. The seats reclined pretty far back so I was able to sleep, but not comfortably. The bus was air-conditioned, to the point of being too cold for me, so when we arrived the next day around 10:30 am and they opened the door the heat was shocking. We had left the temperate zone that encompasses Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires and were now into the Sub-tropics. It was the kind of heat that just sits on you like a weight. It soon becomes an effort to blink, much less schlep around our bags to find a hotel that isn’t full, expensive or gross. At last, we found a great place that was quiet with a kitchen, cable, and air-conditioning. We showered and rested for about an hour and then got ready to go to the park.

That day we walked the upper falls trails. We didn’t cover much ground because Mario was busy birding and because I was tired and cranky. Never the less, the vistas were breathtaking and we saw some great wildlife: monkeys, butterflies, coatis, guinea pig-like animals called,capybaras, and numerous species of bird, including a coveted species of toucan.

It felt great to have a kitchen to cook in for a change. So we cooked a nice dinner and went to bed early, since we didn’t have to stay up late just to make it to dinner on Argentine time.

Mario woke before me the next morning and hit the park when it opened at 8 to try to see more birds. I came along a little later and brought us a lunch. I arrived at the park entrance just as pretty much everyone else did that day so I had to wait in a very hot line to get into the park. Mario was supposed to meet me at 11. He didn’t come along until 12, claiming to have been lost, which I think refers more to his sense of time than direction. So we had our lunch, filled our water bottles, and headed back to the falls. I didn’t wear sunscreen that day because I knew it would be sprayed or sweated off but I did carry an umbrella for shade, which was a huge relief.

We took the little train that runs through the park up to La Garganta del Diablo (The Devil’s Throat). This takes you to the part of the falls where the two rivers come together and roar over the precipice. Once we got off the train we walked with the thousands of other tourists over the boardwalk that goes across the river to the falls. Along the way butterflies lighted on our shoulders and fluttered around through the crowds. Between the butterflies, the heat, and the mist from the falls everything felt very dream-like.

The boardwalk takes you all the way to the edge of the cliff so that you can feel the full power of the falls all around you. Rainbows formed in the spray and whenever the wind shifted everyone would get soaked, which was a welcome respite from the heat. The sheer immensity of it was beyond words. It was all worth it for this moment.

We also walked down to the lower falls trails, stood at the bottom of one of the smaller of the giant falls and got soaked again. By now my skin was turning distinctly red, despite my best efforts with the umbrella, so I decided it was time to head back. Mario stayed another hour or so to find more birds.

On our last day there, arguably the hottest, or maybe just the most humid, Mario had heard of a hummingbird garden in town he wanted to visit before we left. We got lost finding it and every extra block that we walked was excruciating in the heat, but just as I was about to give up we found it. It was only someone’s backyard but it was an oasis. There were dozens of hummingbirds of at least six different species buzzing around. I sat in a shady spot (still pouring sweat) amongst the frenetic little birds zipping to and fro and watched a couple of turtles lounging on a log. The contrast between the lifestyles of these animals living in the same place amused me. On this day I was the turtle, but Mario, constantly and endearingly, was the hummingbird.

For the trip back we decided to pay a bit extra for the bus that has seats that will recline all the way flat into a bed. It was luxurious. We even had individual tv screens! But as we may have suspected, it was too good to be true. The bus pulled over after only ten minutes and we heard clanging and banging from below. Mario asked our bus attendant what the problem was. “Engine trouble”, he said. After another 15 minutes of banging and clanging Mario overheard them say we would have to change buses and also ascertained that not everyone would get to be the same type of bus (ie. no bed seats.). Mario, the hummingbird, thought quickly and before I could even think to protest he had told the attendant that I was pregnant and we were rushed onto another bus that had space for just a couple people. It had the reclining chairs but no individual tv’s. I felt guilty but grateful and I slept great.