Friday: Woke up at 4:30 am to catch a taxi in order to get to a local airport at 5:30 am, where the entire ISA group was meeting. We were taking a small plane to Port Iguazu, which was about a 2 hour flight (or should have been). But of course, once we were seated and ready for take-off, we were alerted that take-off would be delayed "10-20 minutes" due to weather conditions. After 45 minutes of waiting on the plane (a deja-vu of my Atlanta experience!), we were told to de-board and wait in the terminal. Ugh! I'm just not having good luck when it comes to planes here, haha. Our original departure was around 7:00am, but they pushed it back to 1:00 pm. At least when we were waiting, ISA bought us all coffee and medialunas (sweet croissants)- the only good thing about the delay!
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| Medialunas: the morning obsession in Buenos Aires (and the yummy side of a long flight delay) |
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| Standing in the cold rain & finally getting back on the plane! |
When we finally arrived in Port Iguazu that afternoon, it didn't even matter that we had just had a delay- the sun was shining, the weather was warm, and everything was so relaxed! I finally could walk around without my winter coat on too- it was so nice! We drove a short ways to check-in at our hotel, which was also like a dream-come-true: hot showers, continental breakfast, toilets that actually flushed...and with toilet paper to match! Yay!
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| We never had time to use the pool, but the hotel was like paradise. (note the beautiful weather!) |
After unpacking and changing our clothes, the whole group climbed in a 4x4 caravan truck to visit a Guarani village. The Guarani is an indigenous tribe that originates from that area of Argentina/Brazil/Paraguay. They have their own language, still live in wooden huts with palm leaf roofs, and keep many traditions of their culture. We had a Guarani guide who taught us a few words in his language, let us sample a special cornbread and root that they eat (the root was better than the bread), and showed us some primitive hunting traps the tribe uses to capture animals. At the end of the tour, a group of Guarani children sang us songs in the Guarani language. The whole experience was so eye-opening. I suddenly felt so conscious of the fact I was from a first-world country, wearing clothes that weren't stained and torn, with a nice camera in my hand. The Guarani are happy living on their land reserve, but it's a lifestyle so different than anything I've ever seen. Definitely made me put things into perspective about my own lifestyle!
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| The Guarani children who sang for us |
After the visit to the village, we drove back through the rainforest on bright red dirt roads into the small city of Iguazu (all the soil is bright red in the area due to high iron content of the land). We were on our own for dinner, so a few of us stopped at a cute restaurant for a nice dinner out. I was trying to be money conscious, and was happy when I found a yummy pasta for cheap! But once I placed my order, I discovered you had to pay for the sauce in addition to the pasta! Ay! What?! Haha, but it was a delicious meal nonetheless. I also ordered my first margarita, after all, how could I be in the rainforest and not?! We also got free drinks from the restaurant owner at the end of our meal! Bonus! It was a great start to a great weekend. :)
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| Dinner & Drinks! |
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