argentina - san ignacio & puerto iguazu

After the glorious visit to Cafayate, we took a day in Salta to regain our bearings and get ready for another fat bus ride, this time some 19 hours to the east, with San Ignacio mission and Iguazu Falls as our destination points.  I made the poor choice of not taking motion sickness pills for the ride, so was feeling quite dizzy and generally not well when we arrived in San Ignacio.  It was raining pretty hard the night before and continued to rain throughout the day we were there, so we looked pretty hilarious as we attempted to hobble down the rocky and muddy (unpaved) streets towards the center of town in search of food and the mission.  We read that many businesses in Argentina are closed during the bulk of the afternoon, and we definitely found that to be the case.  Luckily we finally stumbled upon both a dining establishment and the San Ignacio Mini mission. 

San Ignacio Mini is one of the many Jesuit missions set up to convert the native Guarani population to Christianity in the 17th century.  It was rediscovered about a hundred years ago, and is supposed to be one of the best preserved ruins in Latin America (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site).  Here we could see where both the Jesuits and Guarani lived, worked and worshipped.  The architectural details, particularly along the church entrance, were still visible, and quite stunning.  We were looking forward to the "Sound and Lights Spectacular" after sunset, where there was to be a performance using "cutting-edge technology" depicting scenes from the era.  We didn´t know if it would be cheesy or fantastic, but found out it was going to cost even more money so decided to skip it.  Of course it was interesting to stand in the midst of the ruins think about what things were really like during those times, how the Jesuits in fact treated the Guarani people, and the fact that the Roman Catholic religion is the predominate faith throughout South America. 

After our quick stint in San Ignacio, we took a five hour bus ride further east to Puerto Iguazu, where we would spend a few days to visit Iguazu Falls, see the Hito Tres Fronteras (a point overlooking two rivers and the 3-way borer between Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay...that´s what this picture is from), and just hang around town.  The city of Puerto Igauzu itself is quite touristy (and a little dull), and we stayed at a less than desirable hostel.  It initially SEEMED like a good place to be - with a pool, large screen TV with lots of movies to choose from, breakfast included, and a private bathroom, but...the pool was gross, the TV would cut out all the time from power outtages, the breakfast wasn´t good, the whole place reeked of dogs and the electricity cut out in our room frequently (leaving you in a cold dark shower).  More upsetting than this was the fact that I woke up one morning covered in bug bites (more so than when I was working with the monkeys even!), which I am still trying to decipher where they came from, since its not like we had swarms of mosquitoes in our room or an open window... 

But none of this really all that significant in comparison to the spectacular falls that we visited (although I am still scratching like mad even as I write this)!  Iguazu Falls are made up of some 275 individual cascades, with the highest drop of over 80 meters, along a huge semi-circle almost three kilometers long.  To me, they really dwarfed Niagara Falls, both in size and impact, and I can´t believe that I had never even HEARD of them until this last year!  When we arrived, we got on a little train that takes you to all of the different paths you can walk to view the falls.  We looked at the Paseo Superior (upper falls) first, and I thought they provided the most beautiful views of the falls, as you can see here...

 

Next, we walked the Paseo Inferior (lower falls), where we were allowed to get quite close to the falls in a few spots.  More than the scenery though, I appreciated the fact that we got some nice sprays of water, since the sun was beginning to get quite scorching as the afternoon progressed. 

We had read that we might have a chance to view some wildlife during our visit, and I was quite skeptical that we would actually see any, due to the number of people visiting.  I turned out to be incredible wrong, because we saw LOTS of wildlife, including the same crazy capuchin monkeys we worked with weeks ago, tajons, lizards, birds and LOADS of butterflies, in every color of the rainbow.  I have never seen so many in my life, and they were so beautiful!  The only thing we didn´t get to see which I hoped we would were toucans.

The final walk we took in the day was to "Garganta del Diablo" (The Devil´s Throat) which was definitely the most dramatic/powerful/loud!  Here we were practically enveloped in a large semicircle of falls, with loads of water dumping all around us, creating huge amounts of rising mist and beautiful rainbows.  Like the Grand Canyon, it is definitely difficult to describe a natural phenomenon of this magnitude!  Definitely an unforgettable experience.

 

We leave this afternoon for a lengthy bus ride to Buenos Aires, where we will stay with friends for a few weeks.  We are very excited to see them and their city, and can´t believe this will be our last stop in South America!