July 18-21: Iguazu Falls (Puerto Iguazu, Argentina)

Iguazu Falls, originally uploaded by Andrew & Yvette's world travel.

All we can say is wow, w o W, w O W, W O W

We hiked the trails covering the falls and at every turn, all we could think of was how can it possibly get better than this? And yet somehow, when we rounded on to another corner, the view was more amazing than the last: the butterflies dancing through the rainbows, the swifts slicing through the falls, the water cascading thunderously to the ground. We saw the falls at both the Brazilian and Argentine side. The difference being the Brazilian side gave a panoramic view while the Argentine side allowed you to see the falls up close individually or in other words, the Brazilian side is the seat while the Argentine side is the show. Regardless of the side however, the net effect was the same: W O W. Although I’ve never been to neither Niagara nor Victoria Falls, I believe it when others say Iguazu Falls is the most mesmerizing.

In addition to all the hiking, I also took some time out for the Nautical Adventure. This adrenaline activity involved riding a boat that goes through the San Martin and Devil’s Throat Falls. Although the sun was hiding in the clouds and the water was super cold, I joined the group in repeatedly chanting “UNO MAS, UNO MAS.” We went through the falls several times and despite having a poncho, I still came out soaked. There was just no way of escaping getting drenched as the falls crashed down my body and the waters whipped about in frenzy.

In addition to visiting the falls, we also took a tour of the Itaipu Dam which sits on the Brazilian and Paraguayan border. The dam supplies clean energy and continuously provides for 90% of Paraguay’s energy needs and 25% of Brazil. We took the informative 2 hour tour which allowed us to see the engineers in the control room, the working turbine room and the walk bridge above the dam.
We came a day early however and missed the dam opening. The area had been receiving a significant amount of rain and was due for another storm the night we visited. Had we come the following day we would have been witness to a manmade waterfall, more powerful in force than all the 80+ falls in Iguazu combined, when the dam opened to ease/release the water buildup on the other side.

Although Iguazu Falls was “que lindo” and Itaipu Dam an engineering marvel, the highlight of this trip was 1) finding out our driver was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and 2) attending the Sunday meeting. We made a lot of new friends but we didn’t shake hands or kiss. Gripa A (swine flu) was gripping the congregation, or rather the country as a whole, and physical contact was discouraged as a precaution. Now, we were told this by our initial greeters but after the meeting, we had a lot of people extend their hands and give me the requisite besos on the cheeks. Needless to say, given the warning in the beginning, this sudden friendliness made us a bit paranoid. Over the next two days, we confused our tiredness with Gripa A and needlessly swallowed a whole lot of pills.

Our next stop in Argentina was Mendoza but we were tempted to spend a night in cowboy Paraguay where the DVDs are cheaper than the ones in Thailand and the 2 for 1 special is the “buy a gun, get a grenade for free.” Though the country also beckoned to us with the promise of another stamp on our passports, we (wisely?) passed up the offer.