Well, it’s been a very long time since my last update. My apologies. After three months this really feels more like living than traveling and I have fewer exciting stories to share. Also, I’ve had to stop pretending that I’m not really in school. This week I have a paper due and an exam, and next week I have two exams. I am super excited about it.
Last weekend, however, I traveled! I haven’t been traveling much, mostly because it’s expensive. But last weekend I went to Iguazú Falls, usually referred to here simply as las cataratas, or the waterfalls. Iguazú Falls is one of the biggest (are some of the biggest? Does one refer to waterfalls in the plural or singular?) in the world. Supposedly when Eleanor Roosevelt saw them, she said, “Poor Niagra!” (that tidbit courtesy of Wikipedia). There are three main sections of falls and many more minor falls; in total the whole thing measures over 2km across. The Guaraní legend—they’re the indigenous group native to this region—is something about a god being in love with a Guaraní woman, but she fled with her lover in a boat down the river and in anger and god slashed through the earth and the woman and her lover fell to their deaths.
I went with my friends Michael and Martín, and Martín’s girlfriend, Arina. After a 20-hour overnight bus ride, we arrived on Friday afternoon at a charming little hostel. We had a very international moment when showing our passports to check in—I carry a US passport, Michael is from the UK, Arina is Russian, and Martín gets to choose between his Peruvian and German documents. After grabbing some lunch we walked to a spot a little outside town where the Rio Iguazú meets the Rio Paraná, forming a T. Argentina makes up one of the riverbanks, while Brasil sits across the Iguazú and Paraguay sits across the Paraná.
Last weekend, however, I traveled! I haven’t been traveling much, mostly because it’s expensive. But last weekend I went to Iguazú Falls, usually referred to here simply as las cataratas, or the waterfalls. Iguazú Falls is one of the biggest (are some of the biggest? Does one refer to waterfalls in the plural or singular?) in the world. Supposedly when Eleanor Roosevelt saw them, she said, “Poor Niagra!” (that tidbit courtesy of Wikipedia). There are three main sections of falls and many more minor falls; in total the whole thing measures over 2km across. The Guaraní legend—they’re the indigenous group native to this region—is something about a god being in love with a Guaraní woman, but she fled with her lover in a boat down the river and in anger and god slashed through the earth and the woman and her lover fell to their deaths.
I went with my friends Michael and Martín, and Martín’s girlfriend, Arina. After a 20-hour overnight bus ride, we arrived on Friday afternoon at a charming little hostel. We had a very international moment when showing our passports to check in—I carry a US passport, Michael is from the UK, Arina is Russian, and Martín gets to choose between his Peruvian and German documents. After grabbing some lunch we walked to a spot a little outside town where the Rio Iguazú meets the Rio Paraná, forming a T. Argentina makes up one of the riverbanks, while Brasil sits across the Iguazú and Paraguay sits across the Paraná.
Paraguay on the left, Brasil on the right
Each country has erected a small monument painted in their respective national colors, and you can see all three from from the riverbank.
Argentina
This spot is lovely and muy tranquilo, and we stayed for a while and watched the sun go down over Paraguay.
Michael, Arina, Martín
The next day we got up bright and early to go to the Parque Nacional Iguazú. In the morning we walked around the forest and found some small waterfalls. The weather was beautiful and these paths were pretty empty since most people just go straight to the main event and fail to explore the rest of the park.
Michael was a jungle explorer
In the afternoon we saw the cataratas. You get to the falls via a small train and an extensive network of raised walkways that allow you to see the falls from above and below. We went first to the biggest of the falls, called Garganta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat. The walk there was beautiful:
We could see the spray from Garganta long before we could see the falls.
The falls, of course, were incredible. Truly awesome. I’m not sure I’m a good enough writer to describe them. I would say that they (it?) were definitely one of those natural wonders that makes you feel very small. These walkways are at the top of Garganta and there is so much water creating so much splash and spray that you can’t even see the bottom of it. And it is very loud. I think I’ll just let the photographs and video speak for themselves:
After Garganta we went to the other set of falls, which are not quite as awe-inspiring, but beautiful nonetheless. Unfortunately the sun was going down by this time, so my photographs don’t really do them justice:
These falls are great, however, because you can go on a boat, which we decided to do. The boat first takes you to see Garganta from the bottom:
Then you go under one of the [not much] smaller falls. I knew we were going to get wet, but I thought it would be mostly from the spray, like the Lady of the Mists boat or whatever it’s called at Niagra. But in Argentina, you actually go under. I was not at all expecting the amount of water that was suddenly pouring down on my head. We got thoroughly soaked to the bone and had a great time!
Martín, Arina, me, and Michael, after the boat ride
In other news, the other day I went to the movies. When the movie was over, I left the theatre quickly because I was late for dinner. I was one of the first people leaving the theatre and I stumbled and fell down the stairs, sort of flopping onto the side of one of the seats. In front of everyone. I have a big scrape on my knee, and a bruise on my chest where I hit the seat. Graceful.
I’ve been missing home a lot lately and having some problems have arisen that I would prefer not to post on the world wide web, but it would meana lot to hear from you and I'll tell you all about it. ¡Hasta la proxima!
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