May 28, 2003
After a decent breakfast, we waited at the entrance of the hotel for the local bus to the falls. There was a local guy waiting there as well and we asked him to make sure that we were waiting in the right place. We were. We got on the bus and paid 2.8 pesos each for the ride to the falls. Note: Spanish has multiple words for waterfalls: cascada for a smaller waterfall and cataratas for bigger waterfalls. Cataratas de Iguazu is where we were headed. The ride headed back in the direction of the airport until we turned left towards the falls. The bus stopped at the entrance of the park, where we had to pay to enter the national park: 30 pesos for foreigners like me and just 12 pesos for Argentines. Other national parks were 18 pesos for foreigners, so Argentina is milking foreigners at Iguazu. There were also different rates for Mercosur residents, residents of Misiones province and residents of Puerto Iguazu. After we paid, the bus continued on to the visitors center and dropped us off.
Margarita has visited Iguazu many years ago - more than 20. Previously, making the way from the entrance of the park to Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) was a long arduous walk with lots of climbing and stairs. Now there is a train.
After showing that we paid, we walked towards the train station as we had decided to see Devil's Throat first. Michaela was safely in the backpack. After a navigational error by me and some additional walking, we got on the train and made our way to the first stop, where we had to get off and wait for another train to Devil's Throat. The train was a small scale train that sounded like it had a truck motor. The passenger areas were basically benches and both sides were open, so it was important to hold Michaela at all times. The view of the jungle was nice - especially all of the butterflies. which would occasionally distract Michaela from her desire to get down and move around.
After getting on the next train, we made our way to Devil's Throat. At the stop, the entire train exited and started the trek to the falls. We got Michaela in the backpack and joined them. Right near the train stop and along the path to the falls are many vendors selling handicrafts. There is a better and cheaper place to buy them that I'll tell you about later. Of course, we didn't know that at the time.
The trail to the falls is a series of steel bridges that seems very sturdy. There are no places to exit, but there are places to stop and rest. The path takes you over the numerous rivers and areas of land that separate the train stop from the falls. I don't remember how long it was, but it was an easy walk and could be done in a wheelchair - some people were pushing strollers. Michaela seemed to enjoy the walk, especially the butterflies, but she also wanted to go play in the water. In some of the areas where there was land, there were signs warning visitors about snakes, which were intended to frighten but we thought they were very cute. Besides the butterflies, the only wildlife we saw were some very cool spiders next to the trail.
As we approached the falls, we saw what appeared to be steam rising from an area in front of us, essentially forming what looked like a cloud. This would turn out to be the spray rising up from the bottom of Devil's Throat. The sound of the water also got louder as we approached. I thought it would be louder, though.
When we finally got to the overlook for the falls, we were suitably impressed. The sound was intense and the sight was even more spectacular. At Devil's Throat, imagine the shape of the letter U with water falling down all around the U except where it is open. OK, maybe that's not the best description, but it is really is hard to appreciate it unless you've seen it yourself. Pictures won't do it and I doubt that the video we shot will do it either. It's difficult to see the bottom of the falls because the spray is so dense.
At the overlook, photographers will take pictures of you that you can purchase. This makes sense in a country where many people don't own their own cameras or find it too expensive to develop much film. Anyway, one of the photographers was the same man waiting with us at the bus stop and we agreed to pay him 15 pesos for a picture of us at the falls. He used one of the many ladders at the overlook to get a good shot of us with the falls in the background.
In addition to the spectacular sight and sound of the falls, there were hundreds and hundreds of birds flying around in the spray from the falls to and from their nests, which were right next to or behind the falls.
An area of the overlook was drenched in the spray from the falls and we spent some time there as well, which felt nice, as it was warm enough - even as winter was approaching.
After what seemed like a short period of time, everyone was gone - on their way to catch the train. We didn't know what time it was or what the train schedule was, so we soon found ourselves alone at the overlook. I highly recommend that you don't leave the overlook for the next available train as it will give you a brief period of time at the falls alone (or at least with much less people) - at least it did for us.
Before we made our way back to the train station, we stopped and talked to a group of women, one of whom had a small child not much older than Michaela. They had been in Punto del Este in Paraguay and a group of people had attempted to rob them. Apparently, this is a fairly common thing and they had been warned, so they were not carrying anything valuable. The scenario is this: You are walking along the street and four people approach you - one from each side. One in the front prevents you from going anywhere while the ones on the side clean out your front pockets and the one in back takes care of your back pockets. I heard about this from an American guy from Santa Rosa we met in Calafate as well - but it happened to him in a different Latin American country. He said that the robbers were well-dressed. He didn't report it because he didn't think that his word would be believed against four locals.
Anyway, we made our way back to the train station, but not before we bought a blowgun with two feathered darts for 10 pesos. Later, we would find the same item for half the price. At the train station, I frolicked with Michaela in an area just outside the bathroom where hundreds and hundreds of butterflies were flying around and landing. There were small white butterflies with markings that looked like the number 88, black ones with a line of red at the back, orange ones, ones with beautiful shimmering blue, and many many others. Michaela and I both loved it - Marga filmed some of it. We took a bathroom break and then checked out more butterflies. Some even landed on us. Margarita also spotted a beautiful caterpillar on a nearby tree. The caterpillar had small colored tree-like branches all over it, giving it excellent camouflage.
After giving Michaela some time to walk and crawl around and get the very red dirt ground into her hands and clothes, we grabbed a train back to the middle station where we could begin the circuito inferior, which would take us to the lower areas of the falls. However, everyone was hungry so we stopped at a confiteria for lunch. We had sandwiches, which seemed fairly well-priced considering that we were in a fairly remote national park. However, after we had let Michaela down to walk around, a bug flew onto Margarita's drink and my attempt to swat it away ended up with it completely in her can. Scratch one drink.
We began to make our way to the circuito inferior with a brief and unsuccessful stop to get batteries for the digital camera. Just as we began the trail, there was a sign that tried to warn visitors of the potential for slipping but looked to us like a how-to sign. We took a picture in which I imitated the sign. The trail was fairly easy but there were lots of stairs. I was glad to have Michaela in the backpack as there was no way that a stroller could have been taken on this trail. There was plenty of lookout for the numerous waterfalls. We ended up stopping at a stand where you could arrange for brief (15 minute) boat trips to the base of the falls for 30 pesos or a longer trip that included a trip down the river and a truck ride back to the entrance (Gran Aventura, 70 pesos). Then we continued to the end of the circuito inferior at a lookout right next to a waterfall. This lookout was another opportunity to get wet, but we were in the shade, so neither of us wanted to get very wet. The overlook is near the very middle of a large wall of water. It makes for a great deal of noise and another impressive sight. Here, we ran into the Japanese tourists we enountered at Guira Oga.
We returned to the stand and decided to take the Gran Aventura at 4pm, which would give us time to explore the Isla San Martín. We paid the 140 pesos and made our way down the trail to where we could catch the free boat to the island. It was also the place where we would start the Gran Aventura.
The boat to the island was essentially a ferry service running every 15 minutes or so. We stepped onto the boat and put on life preservers. We noticed some members of the Argentine Naval Prefectura on the boat as well, but they were not wearing life preservers. They were also armed. I pointed this out to Margarita and she asked the staff why we had to wear life preservers and the Naval Prefectura guys didn't. I don't recall what the answer was, but Margarita told them that they weren't setting a good example.
The ride to the island was very short. I let Michaela onto the ground so she could play on the rocky beach while Margarita began the hike up the stairs to the top of the island. Michaela absolutely loved it. She grabbed rocks, threw them down, dug her hands into the rocky beach and had a grand time. After what seemed like a very long time, I put her back into the backpack and began the hike up to meet up with Margarita. Unfortunately, about a fourth of the way up, I miscalculated a low branch and it hit Michaela in the head and scratched her near her left eye. She started crying loudly as I got her out of the backpack as quickly as I could to calm and soothe her. Before too long, we were on our way again - this time preceding with much greater caution. Margarita was waiting at the top and we hiked the short distance to an overlook of the San Martin waterfall, the second largest waterfall of Iguazu. Again, it was an overlook that was drenched with the spray from the wall. This was nearly as impressive as Devil's Throat because here we could actually see the bottom, where the water seemed to bounce back up after it hit the bottom.
We made our way back from the overlook and took the next trail at the top of the island to an area where hundreds of condors (not andean) were resting, fighting, or sunning themselves by spreading their sizable wings in the sun. It was a peaceful place secluded from most of the noise of the surrounding falls and with wonderful areas that beckoned you to jump the barrier into the pools of water. We, of course, didn't. We made our way back on the trail, this time on the side that gave some nice views of Devil's Throat and the surrounding falls. Along the way we saw some lizards that didn't show much fear of us and I wondered if they had gotten used to being fed by visitors.
After making our way back down to the beach, we let Michaela out once again so she could play with the rocks and sand on the beach. Margarita took off her sandals and sat on a rock where she could get her feet wet. I thought Michaela would enjoy that as well so I took off her shoes and socks and handed her to Margarita for a while. We had time, so we didn't take the first available boat back from the island. I grabbed Michaela, dried her feet and put her sock and shoes back on and released her to play among the rocks again. Then we grabbed a boat back and waited for about 20 minutes for our trip to begin.
We grabbed life preservers and one was provided for Michaela as well. We had been told that we would be provided with something to protect us from getting wet, but we weren't. We were, however, given plastic bags into which we could place anything we didn't want to get wet. The bags were relatively small, however, so we couldn't just put our backpack into it - we had to pull out the cameras and clothing we wanted to stay dry. I also put my wallet and some papers into the bags.
We got into the relatively small boat with two other couples. I wanted to sit in the front but the staff said "Not with the baby" because the front of the boat moves up and down alot. There was a video cameraman at the front of the boat, a person controlling the engines and steering, and the guide. The guide provided us with a plastic poncho and helped us to cover most of Michaela. We first headed towards Devil's Throat. We approached some of the falls closely, enough to get a little wet, but nothing too interesting. Then we headed towards the San Martin falls. We headed in twice and made fairly close approaches, but they avoided going in too far because of Micheala. Even so, the boat moved around a lot with all of the water from the falls. After learning this, we said to go all the way in and we did. The woman in front of us screamed. We got drenched. It was fabulous! The boat moved all around, water and noise were intense. Michaela barely fussed at all. Shortly after, she was smiling and clapping. Then we headed back towards Devil's Throat and went right to the base of a waterfall (not Devil's Throat). Again, we were drenched. We did it again. Then we headed down the river skirting the rapids - this was a powerboat - not a raft. Michaela had a great time - she was smiling, clapping, etc. She only fussed a little at the height of bring drenched at the base of the waterfalls.
I highly recommend that you at least spend the 30 pesos to take the 15 minute boat ride to the base of the falls. It was awesome.
The ride down the river was fun, but not as much fun as whitewater rafting. The driver tried to heighten the excitement by making sharp turns and accelerating quickly, but the ride was more relaxing than exciting. At the end of the ride, we were informed that a videotape of the trip was available for 50 pesos. We inquired about the format (PAL/NTSC) and then whether a DVD could be bought. Yes, it turns out, for 90 pesos, we could get a DVD and avoid the whole PAL/NTSC issue. So we said we wanted one and he wrote down our hotel information.
The hike up from the boats to the truck was lengthy and we were last to make it to the top, where we could buy bottled watewr for 2 pesos - and we did. The trucks looked liked old army trucks and were just about as comfortable. There were rows of seats high atop the truck that were reminiscent of something you might use for a safari. The ride was bouncy but Michaela needed to be changed from her wet clothing into the dry clothing we had in the plastic bag. Fortunately, we stopped for a short period of time while the guide explained things. When we were done, the truck started on its way again. The guide showed us the trees from where heart of palm comes from and lots of other things that have already slipped my mind, including the numerous orchids and other plants and trees. The coolest thing I saw was a woodpecker right near the road as we went by. Just traveling through the secondary jungle was nice with vines and luscious vegetation all around.
At the end, we were dropped off at a place near where we could start the circuito superior, which would take us to the top of some of the waterfalls. First, though, I wanted to get batteries, and managed to do so, along with an alfajore for Margarita and some crackers for Michaela. By the time I loaded the batteries into the digital camera, it was nearly 5:30 and the park closed at 6 pm. At a somewhat rushed pace, we were still able to complete the circuito superior to our satisfaction. Along the way, Margarita pointed out a toucan, which was very very cool. I must say that by this time, I was overwhelmed by all the waterfalls and didn't spend as much time looking as they deserved. Michaela too, was tired. As we made our way to the exit, we passed parts of the trail we had just walked that were now closed as the staff tried to get everyone out. Even better, though, was now that it was getting dark, more of the wildlife, at least the toucans, were visible. There were lots and lots of toucans now and we saw many in the distance and about four or five pretty close. Michaela was even able to see them and took great interest in them.
The train was waiting for us and all of the stragglers at the station. We again let Michaela down to walk and crawl around and she, of course, made us nervous as she made her way to and from the train while it was still stationary. When we finally sat down, we briefly saw a cuy (basically a groundhog/guinea pig like thing) before it went back into its burrow. After we got off the train, we began the hike back to the park entrance. We had learned that we could have our tickets marked so that we could come back tomorrow and not pay full price (it was half, I think), so I found the tickets, which had been in my pocket and were now soaked. I made a futile attempt to dry them as we walked back to the entrance. Plenty of others had the same idea as well as we waited as tickets were marked. Because ours were soaked, we had to wait for them to gop to an office, get another piece of paper, and staple everything together.
As we exited, we ran into the photographer who we had agreed to pay for a picture of us at Devil's Throat. He had our picture so we took a look at it and paid the 15 pesos for the 8 x 10-inch picture. It was now dark, so we had to go to the entrance to see the photo.
Then we waited for the bus to return us to the hotel. We checked the schedule and we only had to wait a short time for the bus, which first made its way to píck people up at the Sheraton (which is inside the park). Meanwhile, Michaela found two young Australian kids to play with and I talked with their mother about their flight from Australia. The ride back was 2.8 pesos. As it was now completely dark, I couldn't really tell where we were so when I saw unfamiliar lights at the side of the road, I asked Margarita to ask the driver to stop at the hotel. Our timing was fotuitous because the hotel was only a minute or so away.
After a brief rest, we made our way to the buffet once again. Did I mention that they had deviled eggs each night we were there? They did and they were sooooo good. I love deviled eggs. When Michaela finished dinner, we set her down and she began playing with Mauro again. Later, she and Mauro began playing with Milena, who was about the same age. They all had a blast walking and chasing each other in the lobby of the hotel. Michaela walked a lot but also ended up crawling. Milena and Mauro were pretty strong walkers.
After they played for a while, we headed for the room for a good night's rest - and a trip to the Brazilian side tomorrow.
Posted by mike at June 2, 2003 10:30 PM