Moon and Mist
Yesterday I went to Iguazu Falls. Eleanor Roosevelt said something like “poor Niagra” when she viewed these falls. Niagra is a lot smaller, but more importantly, it is surrounded by concrete and tourist junk whereas Iguazu is surrounded by pristine jungle. I got to the park at opening and took the little train to the end where a trail and catwalk system lead you over the river and islands to the top of Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat – got to love the name). This fall is the largest of the more then two hundred individual falls and is split between Argentina and Brazil. As I approached the fall, I could hear the thunder and then I saw the “smoke” rising in the air. The mist is forced high into the air due to the wind currents produced by the force of the falling water. Dozens of large birds which I presume to be vultures were flying above the midst in the same wind currents. There was also a breeze blowing from Brazil towards Argentina and I soon was getting soaked as I stood overlooking the throat. The blowing mist was a real drencher and it made photography more than difficult, but I soon discovered that there were quick periods where the mist did not get blown at us and used these moments to snap away. When I say “overlook” I really mean it because they have built catwalks that literally hang above the edge of the falls and this is probably the most impressive part of the park – something that I understand separates it from other great falls like Victoria. Also, the mist and sunshine created numerous rainbows which only added to the spectacle.
I was suppose to do a boat ride above the falls, but they were closed due to too little water. I was glad there was too little water because more water would have made it very difficult to get so close to the giant fall. There are signs of old catwalks systems which have been destroyed by heavy flows including as recently as 2005. I spent the day hiking all of the trails except a separte trail called Macuco which I reserved for the following day – today. I also took a boat ride into the falls which was fun and then it went down some rapids followed by a supposed safari back through the jungle. The rapids ride was ho-hum and the safari truck did not even stop when an interesting large deer with short legs was just off the trail. I should have just done the ride under the falls. Because there is a concentrated trail system in this park, I was able to observe more of my least favorite human behavior – herding or clumping. Small groups and large groups bunch up and produce huge log jams and people really become horrible tourists in these situations. One would think they were all in a rush because the falls were being turned off soon. When these clumps came through, I would just sit and wait and soon enough the clump would move on as a single herd and the place would return to calm. This was repeated a number of times during the day. I’m not sure if people like to be part of a giant herd and have a lousy experience or if they are too stupid to see beyond their herd that the whole park is not Madison Avenue. It was interesting watching photographers getting all pissy because their perfect photo was interrupted by others. I was able to get a lot of nice photos without people by just waiting a few minutes. Iguazu is distant from most of Argentina and I get the impression people come here for a single day and that causes them to be that much more intense about seeing everything and quickly.
It’s really a park to go slow and easy. There is beautiful forest to look at when not staring at a fall. There is also more butterflies here than I have ever seen. There were moments in the Congo when we just stood and laughed at the millions of butterflies in a small area, but that was nothing compared to what I saw yesterday. The butterflies are after minerals and they love humans for salt from perspiration so they are landing all over you all of the time. Blue, yellow, red, black, white, green, brown… you name the color and there is a butterfly with it and more than likely with ten other colors, too. It was fun to try and photograph them. The fact that the park offers something on the scale of the falls down to tiny butterflies is what I enjoyed the most.
I was quite tired by the end of the day. The hiking was good and the constant drone of the water is also tiring. I left the park to take a break, but I returned later in the night for a special walk. Last night was the full moon and they offer entrance to a limited number of people for three different tours. We took the train and trails to Devil’s Throat again and this time it was bathed in moonlight rather than sunshine. It was very calm so the mist generally stayed in the throat rather than on us. I have not looked at photos yet, but using the railing I seemed to get some cool looking photos of the falls in the moonlight. I’ll try to post pictures of the falls soon.
I woke up today with expectation of getting back to the park to hike and visiting a botanical garden nearby. There was a beautiful sunrise, but soon thereafter the clouds that made it a nice sunrise started to get dark. We have had incredible downpours since that time. The kind of downpours you only see in tropical areas. My guess is that the falls have become quite a bit more spectacular today. I walked around town and managed to get soaked even with raingear. I am very happy I had my day at the falls yesterday and I can imagine a lot of unhappy people there today herding around because it is there one shot at it. Instead of my planned day, I am spending the time planning my next adventures. I leave tomorrow for Cordoba, Argentina’s second largest city, and from there I may get to Rosario to see Argentina’s most beautiful women (locals around Iguazu tell me that their town of Obera – 200 kilometers to the south – has the most beautiful women) and then head north towards Salta and Jujuy.
Finally, I was planning to go to Salta via Paraguay. I was also planning to go into Brazil for a day. I had talked to Americans that were able to get to the falls on the Brazilian side without being checked by border patrol. I thought I would find a taxi driver to take me, but after talking to a few people I decided against it. Mainly, I am planning to go to Brazil in August and I would hate to risk having them catch me for a single day and then make my visa application that much more difficult. I can only imagine what the US government does in the same situation and I am sure Brazil follows our lead. I can get to Paraguay because as long as you don’t get off the bus in Brazil you are allowed to cut through to Paraguay. But then I discovered that Paraguay has the same visa requirements as Brazil and they also charge $100. Brazil has a lot to offer and I will go through the hoops to get there. But Paraguay is considered to be one of the lowliest countries in the western hemisphere so I refuse to go there even through the logistics to Salta would have been easier. Instead, I will fly to Cordoba and then start the road trip north from there.
Tags: argentina, south america, Travel
vagabondrick
What a magnificient falls you describe – your time here must have been so awesome!