Poor Niagra

Today we went to Iguazu falls which is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The myth behind how the falls came to be is that there was a God who fell in love with a mortal. Sadly, this mortal loved another mortal so the God, with all his anger, scored the river down the middle condemning them to an eternal fall. That is why the earth is cut down the middle at the falls. Anyhow, however the waterfalls came to be, they are breathtaking. The first person who discovered the falls is quoted as saying "poor Niagra".

We woke up at 06:00, went back to sleep until about 06:30, struggled to get out of bed and had a big breakfast at our hostel before heading out to take the bus to the National park. The bus cost ten times the amount of normal busses but we would expect nothing less of the kind Iguazu falls people. When we got to the falls we bought our tickets at the door and had secret directions from a friend at the hostel about how to manuever around the park in an effort to avoid the crowds but still see everything. All that went to crap quite quickly when a school group and two seniors groups snuck ahead of us. So we missed the first train that takes people to the "Devil's Throat" which is the biggest waterfall. We managed to get on the second train but it was too late, there were tourists everywhere. Our first view of the falls was amazing and when compared to our first view of Machu Picchu, they are tied. I am starting to believe that the "wonder of the world title" is something special.

At the Devil's Throat waterfalls, we could see a panormic view of all the falls. After our first gasp at seeing the sight (that many people say puts Niagra Falls to shame) we were left speechless. The mist created by the extreme force of the falls made it difficult to see at times but when the mist parted or thinned, we could see the its full grandeur.

The Agentine side of the falls is by far the biggest and most extensive. There is a lower trail where we could walk right up to the waterfall and get soaked and an upper trail where there are more panoramic views of the whole event. There are also dozens of other smaller waterfalls throughout the park. In the lower trail there are many viewpoints for photos but the coolest by far was one point where the trail leads into the falls and we can walk right up to it. Anywhere near any of the falls we would get wet because of the mist.

Of course there are many more ways to blow hundreds of dollars in the park. We chose to pay 125 pesos ($35 US) each for a 12 minute boat ride. I have to be honest and admit it was pretty awesome. We got into a small speed boat and it drove us way to fast up to the falls and then through them. Then everyone shouted uno mass (one more) and the driver took us two more time through other falls. We were soaked and laughing our faces off by the end of it.

We went for a seven kilometer hike to another waterfall and natural pool. This is where we encountered many of the wild animals that we have posted photos of. There are several of the animals, insects and birds that I cannot name. Amongst some that I think I can name are: lizards, snakes, monkeys, toucans, anteaters, big ants, crocodiles, wierd bugs,butterflies

After the hike we rushed back to the falls where there were clear signs indicating that they were closed. Being the good honest folk that we are we walked right past it and snuck back to the falls. Luckily we saw the view for a few more minutes before a frustrated man in a red shirt told us that the park was closed. We begged him for a few more minutes or just one more picture to which he replied a stern NO. So we obeyed and walked away. But then we snuck back in to where we thought he couldn't see us, but we were wrong and he started yelling Vamos! Vamos! Then he got onto his walkie talkie and called the sherrif who escorted us out of the park. It was a little funny and a little embarrassing.

For this reason we went back for another day at the falls which was not a financially good decision but we are happy we did it. The second day we got to take our time a bit more and capture more experienced pictures. We swam in the natural pool again and met some other travelling youth. There were many school groups full of obnoxious kids that we tried to avoid. There are also lots of mosquitos there that did not seem to mind the expensive OFF that we had purchased to scare them. We left the park at closing and caught the bus home. For normal bus travel it is one fifth of the price it is to get to the falls even though the falls are closer.

We had prepared six salami and cheese sandwhiches for our lunch the next day at the falls but when we went to grab them in the morning someone had stolen them and left only some crumbs in a bag in the garbage!! We were disappointed and hurt that someone would do that but we took some lunch from the free breakfast and winged the rest. The breakfast at the hostel we were at was elaborate with fruits, cereals, toast, eggs, cakes, juices and more.

On our walk back to the hostel we bought our bus tickets back to Buenos Aires which ended up being 200 pesos cheaper than our bus tickets to Iguazzu. This should have made us happy us happy and it did but also annoyed that we obviously overpayed on the first tickets. As we left the bus station we heard hundreds of cars honking, sirens of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances going off. People were waving flags and clapping and dancing in the streets. Argentina had just beat Bolivia in soccor and the people were going nuts. There was a parade of cars as far as the eyes could see. It was exciting to watch.

Tyson bought some super glue at the hardware store because my sandals and his sunglasses were coming apart. He glued my sandals and told me to stand on them to seal it. I stood on the sandals with my left foot and it stuck. It took about half an hour to peel my foot off the sandal and it hurt too.

For dinner we decided that we should spring for the best cut steak of Argentina called Bife de Loma. We cooked it with only salt and a huge side of potatos and salad. We also bought a mystery sauce which turned out to taste similar to honey mustard. All in all it was a little soul food that we enjoyed.

We met a couple from Montana who we got along with quite well and had a lot in common with. We spent part of the day with them the next day while we were waiting for our bus. Our bus ride was nearly twenty hours but we watched movies and slept. It was comfortable and the dinner was nice. We got back to Buenos Aires to the same hostel at around 10am for our second to last day in South America.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"