April 3, 2007
Day 552
My parents at Salto Bosseti.
It had been nearly a year since I last went to Iguazu Falls, but the flashbacks began as soon as I left the hotel with my mom and dad this morning. The bus station, the ride past the five-star resorts on the way to the park, all of the people from Buenos Aires drinking mate, it was all the same.
After we entered the park, we started with the lower circuit, a walk that took us to the bottom of the waterfalls on the Argentine side. After we saw some of the falls, it started raining. That was unlucky. Yesterday was hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We got ready to board the boat to San Martin Island and it started raining even harder. Even wearing ponchos we were all pretty soaked soon thereafter. The rain stopped intermittently, but it kept coming for most part all day.
We walked around the island for awhile, which gave us a good look at the Argentine falls across the river. A powerboat drove some brave souls under the falls every few minutes. Next, we went to the upper circuit and had a look at the waterfalls from above. By that time the rain had turned into a consistent drizzle, but it still was pretty cold. I hadn't felt cold in a long time.
Later, we took the train over to the Devil's Throat walkway. The long boardwalk took us over the river through jungly terrain. We saw a cayman, lots of butterflies, some aguties, and a few coatis. Most people treated the coatis as though they were cute little puppies, but my dad just shooed them away and said "Get outta the way you." I thought he was being cold-hearted, but I later saw how smart he really was... The Devil's Throat was once again amazing, but Iguazu didn't seem as good this year as last. I'm not sure if it's because I'd already been there or because it was raining.
One of the many falls at Iguazu.
We still had some time left after we had seen all of the main falls, so we walked to the macuco trail. It was about 4 K's in each direction through the untouched wilderness of Iguazu National Park. At the end of the trail was yet another waterfall with people swimming in the natural pool at the bottom.
By the time we left the park, the rain had stopped completely. I could tell my mom was a little disappointed that we missed seeing the tripartite border yesterday, but then I noticed that the Iguazu bus went all the way there after passing through the bus station. We decided to go there to end the day. It wasn't too exciting of a location, but it's not every day you get to see three countries at once. Later we went back to the hotel and to bed early again because of the long day of walking.
The photo album for this entry is here.
