So you know how yesterday I said it normally rains a lot at Iguazu? Yeah. Today we got to experience that first hand!
Last night we went out for dinner to a buffet restaurant. We ate lots of salad, various BBQ meats and dessert. My favourite was a chocolate mousse/pudding, I better be careful though or I'll get fat haha!
Went back to the room and then woke at 7 this morning to go to the Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls. This is the more popular side as the falls are bigger and you can get closer to them! Daryl told us that the reason the falls are split the way they are is due to the wars of independence in the 1800s. Bolivia was the first country to begin fighting against the Spanish for independence in 1809 but were the last to achieve it in 1825. After the Spanish were defeated there was a lot of talk and fighting over borders etc between countries. Brazil and Argentina hated each other but worked together to destroy Paraguay and take all its riches. It and Bolivia were once the richest countries in South America, but now they are the poorest. Due to hating each other, Argentina and Brazil decided to leave Paraguay in between the two of them as a buffer, and they took away Paraguay's access to the falls. This is why Paraguay is 20km upstream (we could see it from the bus today).
We arrived at the falls entrance and then took a ten minute train to 'The Devil's Throat'. This is a basin in the falls where water pounds and makes noises as loud as thunder. There was mist everywhere and we got soaked! The view was incredible though so I didn't mind. At this point it also began to rain, and I found myself laughing at the fact that I had put sunscreen on half an hour earlier!! We were lucky to be able to see this part of the falls, because they had such bad rain last June and July that the paths washed away. Usually 1,500m cubed of water rushes through here per second. But during the heavy rains 45,000m cubed per second did!!
We walked back to the train which had open sides so we all got further saturated! I've never been so soaked in my life except maybe when we went bike riding on an island in Singapore and it poured for two hours. We went and sat in a cafe and I used my last Argentinian pesos to buy some empanadas for lunch.
Next, 14 of us plus Daryl caught a jeep like vehicle to our jetboat ride. I really felt like I was on Jurassic Park, in a yellow vehicle surrounded by jungle! We saw some really cool wildlife today, on this trip we saw some Golden Orb spiders a some toucans in the wild!!
We got given a dry bag and a life jacket and boarded our boat. It was SO MUCH FUN! Reminded me a lot of what I can remember the shot over jets being like in NZ in 2001. We could see the line where the water came up high during the rains and even parts of broken bridge from the torrential rains last year, and went over lots of rapids. Then came the best bit - waterfalls! We went in on three separate occasions and got absolutely soaked! Wish I could attach a video, Nan and Pa I'll have to show you once I'm home! So glad I bought the $100 waterproof camera and brought it too. It might not take the best photos but I could never have taken my proper camera on board!
Then we walked the lower and upper trails of the falls and enjoyed some beautiful views. We were also lucky enough to see some capuchin monkeys, a cool bird and a beautiful blue butterfly. The falls really are breathtaking, and the wildlife so different! I'm so glad we came here, and we can now say we've seen one of the seven natural wonders of the world! However there was more rain and spray up here, so I've spent the majority of the day walking around in sodden clothes with wet hair. Never mind!
Tonight we are going to a party with another G Adventures group (same tour company as us). We get unlimited BBQ and caipirinhas - yum!
Tomorrow morning we leave at 4.30am for a 6.15am flight to São Paulo and then a six hour bus to Paraty. See you there !!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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