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| Iguazu!! |
Iguazu is a Guarani (the indigenous tribe of the area) word meaning "big water": Iguazu Falls fits the name completely...emphasis on the BIG and WATER! This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Iguazu Falls is not just one giant waterfall, but many- ranging from 200-270 feet tall. Depending on the rainfall levels, there are about 150-300 waterfalls in this one location. It was amazing. Each waterfall I saw blew my mind and I thought we had seen the best one. But then we'd walk further up the trail, and the next waterfall would be even better! The whole day went like this...it was incredible. We ended our day long hike at the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), which is the tallest and biggest waterfall of them all. Devil's Throat is a U-shaped waterfall, with water pouring in from 3 sides. It was massive; all the pictures in the world could never capture exactly how grand this sight was.
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| Miles and Miles of Waterfalls |
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| Devil's Throat: I couldn't come close to capturing it in one picture. Imagine this, but in a horseshoe shape, all around you! |
In addition to our long hike, we also had the option of going on a speedboat that would take us on a ride under the falls. It wasn't included in the excursion package, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I took advantage of! After changing into my bikini, poncho, and life jacket, I stepped aboard the little speedboat for a ride to remember! It was crazy! At first, the boat driver slowly brought us to an area where we stopped to fully see the falls up close. To be completely surrounded by majestic waterfalls was breathtaking. It was beyond the most beautiful thing in the world. After gazing at the falls for a bit, the driver suddenly took off, speeding the boat through the heavy mists and under the falls! Everyone was cheering, yelling, and clapping- it was so fun! The spray from the falls was so powerful though, at times I couldn't even open my eyes to see what was going on! At the end of the ride, we were beyond soaked. I think I may have accidentally drank a bit of Iguazu as well...haha! Luckily the weather was hot and sunny, so it didn't take long to dry off.
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| Too good to be true! (The boats below are similar to the one I would end of riding!) |
The falls were amazing, and even though the pictures I took look surreal, nothing will ever compare to how the falls are in real life. It's hard to believe that someplace so beautiful actually exists! We took the bus back to the hotel around 6:00 PM and had the rest of the night to our selves. My friends Anna, Raj, and I took a short walk down the road to Tres Fronteras (Three Borders). Tres Fronteras a tri-border area, where you can see Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay from one spot. Each country is separated by the Parana River, but you can easily see across the each place. Each border has a big obelisk erected, painted in the national colors of the it belongs to.
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| Paraguay to the left, Brazil to the right! |
After Tres Fronteras, we continued walking down the street for a while. We turned around when the road ended because we realized we had stumbled into the Argentinian Boarder Control station...haha! Time to get out of there! We were pretty hungry at this point, and decided to eat dinner at this place others from our group spoke highly of. It was called "El Patio" and ended up being a dinner to remember for all the wrong reasons! To sum up a scary experience, we basically ate dinner in a large, open warehouse, paid too much for the quality of food we got, and were creeped out by the meat-cooking man who kept trying to get us to order his "all-you-can-eat-meat" buffet. After we paid the bill and ran out of that sketchy place, we called it a night and spent the rest of the night in the hotel! Whew! Although the dinner was "interesting", it gave us a funny memory to share. Overall, the day was amazing and I'd love to return to Iguazu!
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