Steph's classic self-portrait fron Iguazu Falls...makes me thirsty for a Coopers Sparkling!
After a fun time hopping around Uruguay, we took an extremely uncomfortable overnight bus back to Buenos Aires (Semi-cama class is SOOOO far away from Cama class, yet only a few dollars cheaper), arriving the morning of Easter Sunday. Neither of us slept more than a few winks all night!We managed to struggle over to the barrio (neighbourhood) of San Telmo and checked into our hostel, built inside one of the many "terrace mansions" in the area. San Telmo is famous for Tango shows and is also close to the barrio of "La Boca", a poorer neighbourhood famous for Tango and football - the Boca Juniors football club has one of the most popular teams in Argentina.
Outside the Boca Juniors stadium
Despite our lack of sleep, we toughened up and headed out to the main square where there were markets and performers and all sorts of things going on for the Easter weekend.ç
After the movie, we ended up having dinner at an all-you-can-eat dodgy Chinese buffet. Very tasty and, luckily, both of us were completely OK the next day!
The next morning, we caught up on some internet then headed into La Boca for the area known as The Camanito. Famous as an artist's enclave and it's brightly coloured and painted houses.
The area was packed - probably due to it still being the Easter long weekend, and there were lots of restaurants. We stopped at one (of the thousands) that was also having a tango show! Argentinians are absolutely passionate about this dance and it really is beautiful to watch the professionals do it. Looking at the trickiness of the steps, and going on my previous salsa experience, I was convinced that there was a snowflake's chance in hell of me being able to ever get my head (and feet) around the Tango!
We were thinking about heading out to a "touristy" Tango show that night, however baulked at the price: 150-180 pesos (US$50-60) for a show each. We ended up having a quiet one, bought some empanadas at the square and had them with soup in the hostel.
The next day, our final day before we got on the bus for Iguazu that night, we thought we'd explore the affluent barrio of Palermo. We visited the botanic gardens, and then on to the Japanese gardens.
One of the professional dog walkers in Palermo - how do they all get along?
We had more fun there than we should have, watching the Koi carp and finding some great photo opps.
After our bus ride from Paysandu, we wanted to make sure that we travelled in comfort and, as such, booked our first "Super-cama/Tutto Leto" bus tickets, about 40 pesos more than Cama, but supposed to be a superior bus-ride!
The bus ended up being beyond our expectations, with hot meals served, beer, wine and champagne as well as fully reclining, flat bed seats. The bus even had Wi-fi, which we discovered when I had to quickly re-confirm our reservation with our hostel in Puerto Iguazu. It was a fantastic night's ride up!
The Tutto Leto flat bed experience!
The Iguazu falls are a spectacular series of waterfalls, located at the nexus of three countries' borders: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. They can be viewed from both the Argentinian side as well as the Brazilian side and we were hoping that the two days we had allocated was enough time to do both.
The first thing that greeted us when we got to the town of Puerto Iguazu was the heat. Very tropical and humid! However, the second thing that greeted us was getting out of the cab from the bus station and seeing an enormous swimming pool at our hostel. It looked more like a resort!
The Hostel-Inn Iguazu Falls - more resort than hostel
The Hostel-Inn in Puerto Iguazu has been described as Argentina's best hostel, with large and clean rooms, regular events, good food and the swimming pool.We also met some great people here: Diane, a Canadian lady travelling solo through South America; Katherine and Dave, an Australian couple returning to Sydney via South America after spending three years in Holland; and Dave and Brayden, a couple from Portland, Oregan.
Wednesday night is "asado night" at the hostel, with a huge salad bar and heaps of BBQ'd meat for 25 pesos each (about US$8). There was also a Brazilian samba show (we keep striking these at hostels we stay at) which had plenty of crowd participation. It was a lot of fun.
Steph trying to do the Samba!
The next day we headed out with Katherine and Dave to the Argentinian side of the falls.
We had booked in a boat trip that got you up close and personal to the bottom of the falls! We were warned about getting very wet on this boat ride and were given waterproof bags for our cameras, as the boat goes right under the falls, giving everybody a soaking!
Boat heading up to the "Garganta de Diablo", the largest of the falls at Iguazu
The boats going under the falls - very wet!
There are a lot of theories around about waterfalls, and how the crashing water generates "negative ions" which have a positive impact on people's health and well-being. After seeing Iguazu, both Steph and I subscribe to this theory as we left the site with an overall feeling of wellbeing and happiness.
Steph taking her self-portrait at the Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's Throat)
Dave and Katherine, leaning out over the falls to get a better shot
Some "coatis" - unfortunately they've learned how to beg for food from tourists
Alligator - hanging out and hoping for stumbling tourists
Butterfly close-up
After a long, hot day wandering round the falls, we returned to our hostel, eager to cool off in the pool and have a couple of beers.On Friday, Steph and I ambitiously planned to visit the Brazilian side of the falls in the half day that we had before having to catch our plane back to Buenos Aires, we reckoned we had to be back at the hostel by 1:15pm at the latest.
We came to term this day as our "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" day, as the day unfolded as follows:
- 8:30am Public bus to town
- 9:00am Shuttle from Puerto Iguazu to the border
- 9:20am Cross the Brazilian border
- 9:40am 1km walk on the highway to bus stop
- 10:10am Catch public bus to Parque Nacional do Iguaçu
- 10:20am Catch internal park bus to Cascada (waterfall) trail
- 10:45am Commence half-jog down the trail to Falls site, also starts to rain
- 11:00am Arrive at main viewing platform of the falls, still raining
- 11:30am Leave to catch park bus back to entrance
- 11:50am Arrive at park entrance (stops raining now)
- 12:10pm Catch public bus back to road to border, 1km walk back to border crossing
- 12:30pm Bus back to Puerto Iguazu
- 1:00pm Catch cab back to hostel
- 1:10pm Arrive back at hostel to catch cab to the airport
The walk down the highway from the border crossing to the bus stop
The lookout from the Brazilian side of the falls
View back across to the Argentinian side of the falls
View back across to the Argentinian side of the falls
As you can see, we made the trip and the border crossing, paid the entrance fees and bus fares to have a total of about half an hour's viewing of the falls, in the pouring rain.
However, there are two things that we can conclude. 1) the Brazilian side of the falls is smaller, but has better viewing of the main falls; and 2) we would definitely want to do this again someday, with at least a whole day to spend!
Our flight back to Buenos Aires passed without incident and, upon arrival, we said farewell to Dave and Katherine and caught a taxi out to Ezeiza airport, all the way on the other side of BA through Friday afternoon traffic. This was our last day in Argentina and we were looking forward to our adventures in Bolivia!
