Can you imagine going to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and
not seeing the city? Well, except for a bit in passing, that’s
exactly what we did. Not that we don’t think there’s plenty to take in, from the Café Tortoni, to Evita’s grave to the smoky haunts of the tango. It’s just that all of that sort of
paled when we had the opportunity to fly to Iguazu Falls.
Located on the border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, the falls are a collection of some 250 cascades
twice the height of Niagara! That, friends, is a
lot of water! Having seen Niagara, however (according to some of his former colleagues, Sam survived a trip “over the falls”), as well as some of the splashiest falls Iceland has to offer, we were expecting something more. Nor were we disappointed….
We took a flight out of Buenos Aires in a small plane, landing at Puerto Iguazu about an hour later. The airport here, about the size of Charlottesville’s, appears mainly to serve as a
feeder for the Park (which is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site) and was fairly empty when we arrived. We took a bus to the Park and then had a seemingly
interminable wait for the miniature train to the Devil’s Throat.
Park authorities control the crowds with limited trips of the train and even if it is
full and
very hot, it will not depart until the scheduled time. This was
not impressive. What
was striking
was the
wildlife. While waiting at an interim station,
(where you are forced to change trains and wait again), we saw a number of coatimundi – a bit like raccoons, and only a little shy of the visitors, who fed them despite regulations to the contrary.
At the Devil’s Throat, there were
clouds of butterflies dancing around moist patches of ground. Here you take a 1.4 mile walkway to the falls, crossing rivers and peering into island jungles. Many butterflies “hitch rides” on the way and we got some interesting pictures of local bird life. The view from the brink is impressive, but you need to watch out and shield your camera from the spray!
In the afternoon, we did an equally interesting jaunt to the eastern falls, the so-called Circuito Superior. This gives you great views from the top, while the Circuito Inferior (the “road untaken”) does the same from the base.
Also available, but not, alas, for those of us on such a time budget, a power boat trip to the bottom of the falls, this is
not your
Maid of the Mist activity - the inflatable rafts really bring the falls up “close and personal.” We subsequently returned to the Puerto Iguazu and from there to Buenos Aires. It was a fantastic day and we both want to go back to the falls on another occasion with more leisure. In the meantime, however, it’s off to the
Pampas!
Located on the border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, the falls are a collection of some 250 cascades twice the height of Niagara! That, friends, is a lot of water! Having seen Niagara, however (according to some of his former colleagues, Sam survived a trip “over the falls”), as well as some of the splashiest falls Iceland has to offer, we were expecting something more. Nor were we disappointed….
We took a flight out of Buenos Aires in a small plane, landing at Puerto Iguazu about an hour later. The airport here, about the size of Charlottesville’s, appears mainly to serve as a feeder for the Park (which is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site) and was fairly empty when we arrived. We took a bus to the Park and then had a seemingly interminable wait for the miniature train to the Devil’s Throat. 
Park authorities control the crowds with limited trips of the train and even if it is full and very hot, it will not depart until the scheduled time. This was not impressive. What was striking was the wildlife. While waiting at an interim station, 
(where you are forced to change trains and wait again), we saw a number of coatimundi – a bit like raccoons, and only a little shy of the visitors, who fed them despite regulations to the contrary.
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