Glorious Iguazu

It took a mere moment of me stepping off the plane in Iguazu for me to be in love. I headed to Los Troncos and was immediately committed to staying for a long time. It was gloriously warm in Iguazu. I was back to wearing a tank top, capris, and flip flops during the day. After getting an orientation of the hostel, I set off to explore the town of Iguazu.

There wasn´t much to see, but you can walk up to a look out point where you can see Paraguay and Brazil. The town itself has a few clothing stores, several bars and restaurants, and that´s about it. I bought a bottle of wine and came back to lounge in my lovely Adirondack chair, read a book, and sip a glass of wine. This was bliss. And best of all, when I was ready to go to bed, I could turn on an actual heater!

The next two days I spent at the Argentinian side of the falls. The first day I walked all over the falls. It was breath taking in it´s beauty. I did the ride #2 which takes straight into the mouth of one of the falls. Magically everyone else on the trip had ponchos with them just for this experience, but not yours truly! I got drenched and the water coming down was take your breath away cold. Nonetheless, I wouldn´t have missed the experience. Afterwards I went over to San Martin island to have a little picnic and to dry off in the sun for a bit.

From there I went over to Devil´s point, the highlight of the falls. It was amazing to just stare at all of the water gushing out. It had rained in Brazil a few days before, so the hydroelectric damn had opened and let out a bunch of water which allowed for pretty high levels at the falls.

The second day I went back to the Argentinian side to do the Marculo hike. It´s a rather flat 4 km hike through the woods. The signs indicate that there could be snakes, but thankfully I saw none. You arrive at a nice little waterfall that is very tranquil. Only a very small portion of the people who come to falls do this extra hike, so I would highly recommend it if you have the time.

In the evening, though, was the best experience of all. I had specifically timed my arrival to coincide with the full moon. They do special walks two days before, the day of, and two days after the full moon where you can see the falls at night. The sight was truley spectacular. It was impossible to capture with your camera (although all of us tried!) Someone had told me the falls look like they have more water at night and I totally concurred. I went to bed quite a peace with the universe.

The next two days were mine to do nothing. After running around Chile, Bolivia, and Salta, I was looking forward to a little R &R. I had meant to spent the day by the pool, but it was quite overcast. I gave it my best shot for several hours, but eventually gave up and headed back to my porch and beloved Adirondack chair. The following day was pouring rain, so I spent it catching up some more reading and emails.

All and all it was a very restorative time in Iguazu, almost a vacation within a vacation and I was in the perfect mindset to get back into the hubbub that is BA.