Iguazu
Trip Start
Apr 02, 2008
1
5
91
Trip End
Ongoing
Iguazu National Park,
Argentina
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Got to Foz de Iguazu. Oh my God..what a kip. Tumble weeds may aswell have been rolling up and down the roads, but then again it was, no. 1. Sunday and no. 2. the day Brazil were playing in a soccer game..double whammy, not a supermarket or shop open. We eventually found a fast food kind of place that served...batter. There was meant to be cheese, ham and tomato inside but it was just batter as far as i`m concerned. Anyway, Bambu Hostel in Foz de Iguazu was great, i loved it. The first place i felt i wouldnīt catch something by hanging out in the room. On cue, the rain started when we checked in. Heavy showers for the night, but hey, we`re used to it now
Brazilian Side (postcard shot)
. We were confident the next day would be fine, that`s what`s happened in every new venue thus far! It was cloudy Monday morning. Michael did an early morning tour of the town to find a bank that would work to fix up with the hostel. HSBC was the last bank he tried, it worked and even better, no charge. Had breakfast and headed to the Brazilian side of Iguazu.
So, here`s the deal with Iguazu. Waterfalls, spectacular, kicks Niagra`s ass (apparently), bordering countries are Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. There`s plenty of rivalry between the countries, mainly Brazil and Argentina, over which is the best side to view them from. Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and travellers we met enroute all have different views on how one should approach them, so we didnīt know what to expect. By doing the Brazil side first, we felt it was definitely the best way to end our trip to the country. It was class. The sun came out just as we arrived at the main look out, the Devils Throat, hence lots of rainbow pictures! The Brazil side only took us an hour so we hopped on the bus, grabbed our bags from Bambu Hostel, ordered a taxi and headed for the Argentinian border. (Grechy to Cab Driver ītake me to Argentina!ī).
Stamp, stamp. It was as simple as that. Left Brazil and arrived in Argentina, like we were taking books out of a library. Gave Taxi man all our Brazilian money..cha ching!
Brazilian Side
! Checked into Anahi Hostel in Puerto Iguazu and with no time to lose, headed straight for Argentinian side of Iguazu. That`s where the fun started...none of the tour companies at the bus station would take credit cards. New unit of currency and we only had 14 pesos which Mairead and Francis had kindly given us. Bank machines in Puerto Iguazu refused us money. So, Michael went searching for an ATM that would work..i waited with the bags (i`m getting very good at the job you know..managing to stay awake now, at least!). He cut his losses and tried to exchange some American dollars for Pesos but no one would take them. He finally found an ATM the other end of town. 1hr and 45 mins later we got on the road to Iguazu, the Argentinian side, of course. Very impressive, but the debacle of trying to get money wrecked Michael and we`d had enough. When we got back to Puerto Iguazu we bought 2 big fillets of steak at the supermarket, along with some potatos, which we cooked at the Hostel and which cheered us up. Michael LOVES Puerto Iguazu town. He`s been to the two Supermarkets, in one, he got a free lollipop. He got to know the Laundry man down the road and the Taxi man up the hill. He even got asked for directions. The man is a local! Buenos Aires tomorrow. 
Comments
smashing photos
the photos are spectacular. What an effort to get an ATM that spits money! Stay awake Ailbhe!
Sonas
New Hair
Will you please post a few photos of your 'fringed mullet' Alv i woudl love a good laugh!!