Yesterday we made our first border crossing. It went really smoothly! I was really relieved because a travel agent in Sao Paulo said it wasn´t possible to go to Argentina without a ticket back. We did go by bus, but they just stamp the passports and you´re on your way.
Argentina uses Pesos and the sign to indicate this is $. Spanish is the national language and I have to say I find it a LOT easier to communicate over here! Portuguese may be similar but it was seriously difficult. At least I can now ask directions, order food, get bills and exchange a few pleasantries.
We met up with some travellers in Foz de Iguazu. An English guy and a Scot, Kevin and Fergus. They are almost at the end of their South America tour and are leaving to tour Australasia, New Zealand and Asia next. They´ve given us some great pointers for the rest of our trip. We bunked up with them in a nice (and cheap) 4 bed hostel and spent yesterday and today exploring with them. Puerto Iguazu is a lot different from it´s Brazillian counterpart. The town is much smaller and there´s not a lot to do, outside of going to the falls. We went to a place where the river seperates the three countries (Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina). There is a monument on each bank, but it`s really not particulary impressive. The food is pretty nice and you get good value for money. It is VERY hot and humid though. Yo tenga mucho calo!
The park, where the falls are located, is very nice. We saw quite a lot of wildlife. A big pack of coaties (the local beastie), wild guinea pigs, lots of different birds and some amazing butterflies. The butterflies are everywhere and enjoy landing on you to hitch a short ride and pose for some photos!
The falls were, once again unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it. The Brazillian side gives you a grand overview of everything. This is needed to appreciate what you experience on the other side. There are catwalks going over a lot of the waterfalls which gives you incredible views on everything! We spent the first part exploring the lower waterfalls and then ended this with an amazing boatride up to to the bigger waterfalls. You end up going under one of the big waterfalls and getting COMPLETELY drenched! Very welcome because of the heat.
After this you go back up to the higher circuit and walk over the waterfalls. And lastly you take a train ride, followed by a walk to the Devil´s Throat. This is the absolute highlight! This is an 80m drop in it absolutely thunders down. The spray goes up WAY above the falls, drenching everybody. In the end you just have to stand there and try to understand what your seeing. It is really THAT impressive.
Tomorrow Kevin and Fergus head back to Brazil and we continue on our tour of Argentina. The plan is to leave for Posados tomorrow, an old Jesuit Mission. It is about a 6 hour bus ride. From there we go to Rossario, the birth place of Che Guevara. That is another 10h bus trip. From there it`s just 4h to Buenos Aires where we`ll stay for a few nights and then fly to Ushaiua, the end of the world.
Cheers,
Neil
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