Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Hello Guys, I´m back,

Devils throat movie

So today we are going to compare the falls between Argentina and Brazil and see who got the better deal.  I already know the answer, but you do not.  Unfortunately the comparison will have to wait until I can upload pictures, which may be a while.  But I will get pictures up, I promise.

So we go to the Argentinian side of the falls and Danielle and I have to go through customs because we are the only ones which are going to stay in Argentina.  The rest of the van are going back to Brazil that evening.  We have to be different, I know.  So we have now officially left Brazil and have added Argentina to our travels.  YES, another country for me to add to my list of places I have been.  This is great.  By the end of this trip I am going to have 15 countries under my belt and 19 counties for my lifetime so far.  I do fully intend to increase that number quickly.

So anyway, back to the story.  We are traveling today with our new friends Ben and Sally again.  They just can not shake us, we keep finding them.  :-)  The Argentine side of the falls takes us all day to cover, but we do it perfectly with only minutes to spare.  The amount of time was just right.  We had from 11 AM until 5 PM.  We got to go up to the Devil´s Throat, which is the main event, and we saw a lot of other large waterfalls also.  You will see in the pictures.  We got to see the waterfalls from the bottom and looking down on them from the top.  Except for our half hour lunch break and ten minute ice cream break (simply because we had to wait for the train) we walked the entire time and took pictures gallore.  Although I must say, yesterday I took 400 pictures by the end of the day (including the partying at night) and today I only had in the neighborhood of 200 I think.  Far less pictures, but I also started the attitude of, ´that waterfall is not big enough for me to take a picture of,´ by the end of the day.  You know it is sad once you start thinking that way.  I think I have seen too much of the world.  But if you saw my Victoria Falls pictures, this place rivals that in just the shear size of the area covered by waterfalls.

Do you know how these waterfalls were formed?  Well neither do I, but I did take a picture of the sign explaining it.  So I will know before you do.  Ha ha.  Actually it has to do with the techtonic plates of the earth and apparently one of them shifted up and one did not.  It definitely looks like the case when you look at them.  I just do not know which fault lines run through this area.  I will have to read up on that when I get home and give you a better explanation another time.  Or better yet, I am now going to play teacher.  Class (this means you guys), do some research and let me know what you find out and post it in the comments so that the rest of us lazy bums can get the answer.

So anyway, back to the subject at hand.  We saw all the waterfalls and they are truly amazing.  Some of them you just have to stop and ask, how much water is coming down this thing.  I also stop and wonder what it would be like to raft over it.  I am pretty sure I would not live if I tried.  Actually, that brings me to another story.  I read somewhere (one of the guide books I think) that they used to have people row there boats to the edge of the Devil´s Throat so that the tourists could get a picture from the top of the falls.  Well apparently one day in the 80´s or 90´s the guy rowing the boat was overpowered by the river and the seven German tourists in the boat went over the falls and died.  After that you could not do that anymore.  Too bad I read that the day after I saw the falls and could not try to do that myself.  Oh well, a missed opportunity to get up close and personal with the falls.  Also in the 90´s a flood washed out the viewing platform and walkway.  I got a good picture of the ruins, and the sign.  That will be part of the personal viewings.  You guys better start lining up appointments for those soon.

Man, I just can not keep on topic today.  The falls are amazing.  Look at the pictures and let me know which side you think got the better deal.  So you all know, they split the river down the middle with the boarder.  I will have the pictures up soon, I promise.

Talk to you all later,