Puerto Iguazu Hotels
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Wet in Iguazu
Entry 164 of 220 | show all | print this entry |
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After a marathon bus ride from the Pantanal we arrived at the border town of Foz do Iguazu and decided to head straight over into Argentina as we'd heard it's a lot cheaper there. Asking at the bus stop's local information counter the lady said the best way through the border was by taxi, though she was unsure of how much it cost. She did advise that the cabbies definitely used their meters. Lucky us we got screwed by the cabbie we chose! We asked how much but of course he replied in Portuguese.....or maybe it was Spanish. Whatever language it was we didn't understand but thought he would use the meter anyway. Nope he didn't understand us either or pretended not to and refused to turn the meter on. By this time we were already flying along at 60kph towards the border point and we had no choice but to pay what he wanted. The crossing was quick and easy and he dropped us off in Argentina with little fuss, extracting 60 Real from us; about double what it should have cost.
Argentina, on fist impressions is very nice, if you ignore the bright red dirt that seems to coat everything, even making it's way halfway up the base of the tree trunks. We found somewhere to stay at what we thought was a really reasonable rate of 2 US dollars each per night.
The major draw card for this little border town is the massive Iguazu falls that act as the border between Argentina and Brazil. They are a short local bus ride away in the middle of a national park and surrounded by kilometers of walking tracks. The thundering falls can be viewed from a number of places in the park, each one offering a seemingly better view than the last. We took a boat ride right under the base of the falls for great views and an impromptu shower under the pounding cascade of water. This thoroughly soaked us through. The highlight of the day was the views from a place called the Devil's Throat or Garganta del Diablo. As you approach this section of the falls along a catwalk, suspended over the flat expanse of water visible in all directions, it appears that the ground opens up into a massive canyon with the water spilling over in a huge gush of white froth and mist. Never before have we seen a rainbow stretch almost 360 degrees but I kid you not that is what you can see standing at the top of the falls. It is truly magic and an awesome experience!
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