Iguazu Falls: Niagra on Viagra

  Iguazu, Argentina
Monday, May 21, 2007

       Iguazu Falls is either a 17 hour bus ride or a 90 minute flight from Buenos Aires. It is on the border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The only reason people come here is to see the falls. With the price gouging going on in the domestic flights we hoped it would be worth the cost to get there.

       There are two ways to see the falls: you can stand over them and look down on the Argentina side or you can view them all at once from across the river on the Brazilian side. We thought this would not be an option because we did not have the 100 dollar visa for Brazil before we came. 

Iguazu Falls

Apparently the border crossing between the two sides is more porous than we thought. The taxi drivers can easily drive tourists through for a day trip, visa or not.

     We were very lucky to arrive at the falls while the rainy season was starting up at the source of the falls in Brazil. This meant that the amount of water coming over the falls was exponentially higher than at other times of the year. Unfortunately the rain was also starting up at the falls which managed to soak us on both days. No matter. The place was spectacular.

      We suffered from what one tourist called "Iguazu Syndrome" where we wanted to keep taking photos to try and capture the enormity of the falls. Though our camera's photostich and video function helped, it really can't convey how amazing this place is.

      Some side activities were an exciting boat ride up to the falls (Like Patagonia, it was much more reasonably priced than the comparable activities in New Zealand), and a visit on the Brazil side to a bird sanctuary. 

Toucan at Brazil Bird Park

 It was actually a lot of fun to see the birds up close. We got to hang out with some toucans, parrots and other interesting feathered creatures.

      The Brazil side did have some great panoramic views but the biggest thrill was on the Argentina side at the lookout point to the Garganta del Diablo (Devils Throat). The walkway goes out to the edge of the waterfall which is the largest in the park. It was totally terrifying. So terrifying, in fact, that Arla saw it immediately turned around and Mom lasted for about two minutes before proclaiming that the whole platform was going to crack off and plunge over the cliff so she headed out as well. Here she is saying "Let's get out of here!" We stayed a bit longer to peek over the edge and totally freak ourselves out.
 
             We did manage to find the best B&B ever for the two days we were staying here. I think it had the most positive reviews on Tripadvisor than any other place we stayed. We were intrigued on how a place could get 89 great reviews and we learned why when we got there. The answer? Free booze. The owner of the B&B was a man who was quite friendly and charming and had a cocktail hour each evening between visiting the falls and dinner. The cocktails were strong and we and the other guests had a grand old time. We all had dinner together (with more wine, of course) and by the end felt like we were all good friends. The owner of the place is smart in that he prices out the party girls and frat boys who would take advantage of free booze. The rooms, breakfast, good company, trustworthy cabdriver and free booze make it worth it.

             We headed back to Buenos Aires for a few more days of power shopping before Mom and Arla had to head back home. A few days later we had to head to the airport for our flight to Dallas. Did we mention that we hated American Airlines? If it wasn't decided before, the flight home sealed the deal. American somehow thought it would be a great idea to schedule four international flights all within two hours. This meant that a zillion of us ugly Americans would be showing up at the airport all at the same time to wait in mile long lines and freak out about missing their plane. Of course there was no risk of missing the plane. The planes all end up being two hours late due to huge waits at the security, passport and airport tax lines (which are not equipped to handle four planes worth of passengers at the same time).
 
             We finally lined up at the gate an hour after the scheduled departure and were entertained by the family that we hope never to be as long as we live. It was a couple with three kids who all looked to be under four. It was about 11 pm at this point and all three appeared to have gone completely out of their minds. The oldest had thrown herself on the ground, writhing and screaming like the girl in the exorcist while her parents tried to weakly plead with her to stand up. The middle child was tied into the double stroller but was doing his best to steal some attention by throwing an even bigger tantrum. When this failed to work he turned around and began to punch his infant brother in the face. Seriously. Of course the baby began screaming in pain and soon it was a chorus and screaming, sobbing hysterics. When Dad meekly told his son not to hit the baby the son started screaming "Shut up, Stupid!" and other more foul mouthed insults. Nice. Supernanny, anyone? If we were in a mall I am sure the rest of us witnessing this would have been smirking at each other but instead we exchanged nervous glances. Someone would have to be in the rows surrounding this family and we all prayed to God it wasn't us.
 
             We ended up about 5 rows ahead which was OK. The crying and histrionics continued until the kids collapsed from exhaustion an hour later. This was good because we were stuck on the runway for two hours. We had to wait for all the other planes to go before we could take off. We were allowed free beer but had the same crappy food and crappier movies. Thank goodness for all the fantastic memories we had to think about from these last nine months of travel. Our luggage made it and we even made the connecting flight in Dallas with minutes to spare. No missed flights and only one late arriving piece of luggage for a nine month trip is quite an impressive record. Julius totaled it up and counted 77757 miles of travel for our trip. Holy Cow.