Allow us to introduce......the Iguazu Falls

IGUAZU means (imaginatively enough) 'big water'.  The 'i' means water and the 'guazu' means big.  I suppose it shows how important water is when it gets a 1 letter noise to represent it!

We landed in Buenos Aires and went straight to the airport hotel we had booked for the night.  It was a simple affair and a bit of a weird one.  On the one hand it was cheap enough and the staff were friendly; but then we had dinner and got royally stiffed!  $35 USD for a pork cutlet, 2 portions of mash, a salad and 2 little bottles of water!!!  Wow.  I had heard that BA could be pricey, but that was just ridiculous.  There followed a night of listening to children wailing for their "mamas" until 2am and so we awoke, at the crack of sh*t the next day, feeling a little jaded.

A pretty cool ant......well I thought it was cool!

Maybe that was why I seemed to be in a p*ssy mood, who knows, but for some reason today I woke up grumpy.  Everything was annoying me.  From the crappy little terminal in the airport, to the feeling the Argentines were stiffing us at every turn, to leaving 100 pesos on the desk of the hotel by mistake as we left.....I was just grumpy.  Of course this overjoyed my darling wife :o)

Whilst we had been queuing to check-in 2 things occurred.  We realised that the staff in the airport didn't have a clue and we were in danger of dying a horrible plague-death on the plane.  First the staff;  when trying to check in at the machine, Julia's boarding pass was refused.

We asked a lady that works for the airline:

All you had to do was rustle plastic
and you made loads of new friends

Alex: "Excuse me, but I am trying to check in, I have my boarding pass, but I can't get my wife's"
Lady: "Ah no, that's because those machines don't work to check in."
Alex: "Um.....they do.....I checked in....look (showing pass I had)....it just won't do hers."
Lady: "Ah no, they don't do check in."

Now my Spanish is far from perfect and South American is different to the Spanish I learned all those years ago.....but I understood her perfectly and she understood me.

And lied.

After we had gotten bored of waiting behind a line of lackadaisical South Americans I tried another machine (ok ok....Julia told me to try!) and lo and behold, the same type of machine worked fine.

Taking time to ponder on the beauty

So here we have another learning about people out here: They will sometimes just make shit up to appear like they know what they're doing, when in fact they haven't got a clue.  I will now pause, because I am sure a few of you who know me will be saying....."just a minute....that's a bit of the 'pot calling the kettle black!'"

The second thing to happen, whilst in the queue, was we were stood behind someone that was clearly going to die.  Pale, shivering and holding his guts, this little, curly haired 30-something Argentine was in a bad way.  Cue both of us breathing as little as possible and praying that he wasn't on our flight.  Julia joked that she bet he would be sat next to us and as we sat there on the plane, waiting to see who our neighbour would be......he came into sight.  Gliding down the aisle like some harbinger of doom, he coughed, hacked up a lung and sat down next to me!  Super.



Half way through the flight we moved.  It reminded me of being on the London tube in the winter and joyfully inhaling 47 other people's illnesses and trying to stay healthy.

Random pushy tourist just jumped in to grab a shot!  Great
early 80s German perm mullet going on there

Once we were on the plane and had taken off though, all was forgotten.  Because now it was HER turn  to get emotional - not grumpy - just very nervous.  I am not sure why, but the flight to Iguazu is rather bumpy.  Not just a little shake here and there, a couple of ripples on your glass of water, but full on "hoooooly sh*t that was a big drop" bumpy!  By the time we got off the plane, we were ready to relax. So we jumped into our cab and decompressed before we got to the hotel.  The drive there is fairly non-descript.  A little example of the bush that passes itself off as rainforest, but nothing spectacular.  Quick pit-stop to get the park tickets (our hotel was in the national park) then we pulled up outside.  At this point, we were still in a "pre-Iguazu Falls virgin" state.

We walked into the lobby and our jaws dropped.

I've been to some of the best hotels in the world and seen some pretty inspiring architecture and interiors, but I don't think I will ever see anything quite like this in a hotel lobby........the world's biggest waterfalls casually existing over the shoulder of the check-in clerk!  We were literally gob-smacked.  While she asked us questions, we gabbled about the size of the falls, the volume of the water, the beauty, the mist, the power.....the ......well just look at the photos and you'll understand.

They are simply ridiculously beautiful.








On booking this trip we had been a mite reticent.  Getting out here isn't cheap and the hotel, being situated on a prime (and unique) spot in the park, isn't cheap either; but so many of Julia's friends and customers had told us to go large here that we thought "sod it....let's just do it".  So we checked in and went up to our room.

The view from our balcony.......tough life this travelling

Our neighbours.......so cute

Jaw dropping moment #2......we could see that wonder of nature from our bed!  We walked out onto the terrace and listened to the roar of the falls, smiled, hugged and kissed .....and then Facetime'd our parents back in Europe to show them.  Part of the wonder of travelling the world is being able to share these experiences with each other.  Of course writing this blog allows us to share a little with you as well dear reader.  FaceTime though, well, FaceTime has allowed us to share a little more with our family and friends back home.  Now was the time for them to see the falls as well :o)

Me and my mate Mr. Coati

 So once we had recovered from the shocks and spoken to our elders, we collapsed in a heap on the bed and slept for a few hours!  We were wiped out and pretty hungry.  Having missed breakfast, we slept until lunch, ate a huge meal, then set off for a wander.  At first we weren't sure what we were going to try and see or achieve.  In the end we saw pretty much everything except for the Devil's Throat....which is the drop/hole for the largest waterfall.  Along the way we saw some cute wildlife, some creepy crawly wildlife....loads and loads of turkey vultures.  Coatis were everywhere and I have to admit that they are very cute indeed.  Even if they are only flea-ridden rodents (well raccoons).


By the time we had finished wandering around (7km later) we had a choice....did we head back and relax before dinner, or did we go up and see the Garganta del Diablo today?  Easy choice really.  Head back and relax.

A long time ago on this trip we had decided to not "kill ourselves trying to squeeze every last sight/site into the day".  In the same way that "living your life through a camera lens" can kill the spirit of a trip, trying to achieve everything and not enjoying......savouring......each moment for what it gives you....well that can also degrade the overall experience.  We had plenty of time the next day to catch the train up to the main falls......

.....and do a boat trip that we had been advised was great fun.

Turkey vultures soaring on the thermals

You gotta love a monkey!  This one is a Capucin monkey

Toucan in the tree

So back to the room and more sleepy sleep before a wonderful dinner.  Now I only really brought up the cost and shock at the airport hotel dinner for one reason.

As we travel the world we are learning about the true propensity for avarice humanity displays.  I know it should come as no surprise, particularly to someone that has spent the last 15 years selling things, but truly, sometimes I am shocked by the bare-faced effrontery some cultures display....and in South America we are experiencing levels of this attitude that are verging on the ugly.  Before we had travelled, I would have passed it off as "ah come on, they're poor, you're not, of course they'll try it on".  Anyone that has been to Africa (northern especially) will have encountered this.  I would have thought Asia would be rife....but somehow not....I know there are probably places where it occurs, but there does seem to be enough "market pressure" / consumer competition, to keep pricing within the bounds of the reasonable.  Yet out here.......well...shocking.

Cool as you like.....just going for a stroll

We wanted to take a few shots of us "falling off the waterfall".....we ended up looking like .....well.......this!  I mean what IS Julia doing on the left there?

Anyway - the dinner was wonderful for a few reasons, but mainly for me because the steak was in the words of a famous German....."Sehr Sehr Sexy".  Wow.  Another thing I'd always railed against was how Argentine meat really claims to be up there with the best in the world.  I mean really?  What difference does it make the geography...surely the breed/upbringing is more important?  Apparently not.  Or perhaps all the cows out here are of a better breed AND Argentinian.  Either way, it was luxuriously, almost sensually good.  Of course, when someone serves me a blue steak beneath a "croute" of black pudding, well, I am going to react in a very disturbing way!

Back on track and back in our room, we curled up to a couple of episodes of Elementary before sleeping the sleep of the truly tired.  So far the bed in Iguazu also wins the "I wish I could take this bed around the world with me" prize.  When you've slept in as many different beds in the short space of time we have, you begin to appreciate a good, firm bed covered in nice soft yet stiff linen.  Christ that makes us sound like a right pair of old farts!

The night before I'd run down quickly to ask for a late check out and thank goodness for that :)  we had such a lovely lie in and relaxing morning in our room by the falls.  Wunderbar.  Then a big brekkie and off we went to our first expedition of the day; a nature tour followed by a boat ride up the river Iguazu to the falls.  To be honest, the drive through the forest with accompanying commentary was well meant, but just a filler to get us to the dock.  Once we were on the boat, the excitement began.

We've done a lot of white water rafting in our time and as you would expect, you generally follow the flow of the river downstream.  This time we were going up stream and over rapids.  It was an amazing experience.  The sheer walls of rock rose up on each side of us, a beautiful rusty iron colour, topped with the forest trees that had driven their roots into whatever cracks they could find.  The further upstream we went, the bumpier the surface became.  We rounded a bend in the river, leapt over a few rapids, which in and of itself would have been a great ride, had it not been for the immediate smack in the face of all that glorious nature.

That one on the left?  That's the one we got driven under!

As the view opened we had a 280 degree view onto the 275 wonderful waterfalls that make up the Iguazu falls.  Of course we couldn't quite see ALL of them, some were hidden by mist and there are little "bays" and corners that house smaller waterfalls, but the panorama was intense.  The boat did a few turns and stayed dry enough for long enough so we could take photos, then came the main attraction.  Our pilot drove straight for a fairly small waterfall.  I say small, but anywhere else it would look big.  Here though it was dwarfed by its brothers.  As the water hit the boat you realised the ridiculous volume of water that is flowing over the precipice above.  It hit us and it was incredible, an almost indescribably heavy weight of water smashing down on you, so heavy you barely notice how cold it is!  Barely.....but still bloody cold.  We couldn't really keep our eyes open, the mist and spray was everywhere.  Then it was round the corner and we attacked another, larger waterfall.

Soaked to the skin

By the time we docked again at the bottom of the falls, disembarked and walked up the path, we were soaked to the skin.  Julia had worn her rain jacket.........useless.  Though we only had 15 minutes to make it to the train station to catch the half hourly ride up to the Devil's Throat, I stopped to take these photos and am chuffed to bits to be able to share them with you.  This place just keeps throwing up new angles to appreciate the beauty and wonder of nature.

It was as I was taking these photos that I realised (and again I am showing my age) that seeing all this in the sunshine was like being on the set of an old Tarzan film.  Some of you reading this will know what I mean.

We raced along now and just made the train - then enjoyed a 15 minute, very sweaty, train journey.  As we pulled into the stop, there was no indication of what we were about to see, which kind of enhanced what was to come.

Lucky Julia "loves" butterflies

Because they have over 700 different species in the area!

It looks like I have a radio control antenna sticking out of my neck!

Waterfalls are so last year......
me looking particularly disinterested

To get to the Devil's Throat, you basically have to walk for over a km across a river delta!  The ingenious Argentines have built a walkway of metal grid across the river system that dumps down into the falls.  I found it amazing - Julia not so much; a combination of 2 of her worst fears in life (walking over grids and butterflies) certainly tested her resolve.  However when you're surrounded by such natural beauty in its raw state, well, you do kind of forget what's going on......well.....nearly.





Anyhow, the roar of the Garganta was getting louder and we soon spotted the mist hanging in the air.  We turned one final corner and then the trees on a particular island thinned out and .....

TA DAAA!

The world turned into a watery explosion of noise; a riot of green, blue, white and roar.  It's unimaginable the quantity of water that powers over the edge of these cliffs into the river below.  As you watch you keep thinking to yourself "I wonder when it's going to stop".  The idea that the river could continue to flow indefinitely at that pace and volume just doesn't seem possible; but it does.  It keeps going and going and flowing and flowing and roaring and roaring......wonderful.

Stood in the Devil's Throat?  Check

As we walked around open mouthed a nice English bloke took a few photos of us for us and then we were off again, back down to the train station at a breakneck speed to catch the next train down.  Thank goodness we made it (we were on a tight schedule!) and then managed to shower and change before scoffing down a very welcome burger.  By the time we would reach Buenos Aires it would be gone 10pm and the food between our hotel and Buenos Aires was unlikely to be appetising, so a cheeseburger and fries hit the mark perfectly.

It looks like steam, but is just mist from the spray from the river on the waterfall

The journey back was a trifle subdued.....a mite strange.  We were sat in the boarding gate, stuffed to the gills with burger and somehow it all seemed surreal.  Only a couple of hours ago we were in front of one of nature's great wonders.....now we were being elbowed by a crowd of obnoxious Asian tourists determined to board ahead of us!  Ho hum......as I have been told often enough, you have to take the rough with the smooth.

Our flight "home" to Buenos Aires was relatively uneventful and barring a slightly confused cab driver and an engine that really didn't want to run smoothly, we were driven to our new home in Buenos Aires with no stress.  Carolina met us at the door to our pad and then took us upstairs.  We opened the door and........WOW!

No this isn't what our flat looks like!