Iguazu Falls...Amazing!

Ever since we started planning this trip, Steph has said over and over how much she wanted to go to Iguazu Falls. I'm sure the lure of massive waterfalls was there, but I think what really excited her was when she heard they have a lot of butterflies there. Well I guess we were there at the wrong time of the year, because there weren't a whole lot of butterflies (tho the ones we did see were pretty cool), but the falls more than made up for that. Iguazu Falls lays at the border of Argentina and Brazil, with Paraguay very nearby. Coming from Buenos Aires, we ended up in Puerto Iguazu, which is on the Argentina side of the "cataratas" (waterfall in Spanish). While Steph had been hyping up the falls for months, I had tried to ignore them and not expect too much, hoping to be blown away when we got there. As we walked through the park the roar of the falls slowly grew louder and louder, until finally we came out on a fairly unimpressive waterfall. I mean it wasn't bad, just not nearly amazing. I don't know what I was thinking, because I knew there was more to it, but still I let myself get disappointed. Could it really be this lame? Well, no. With emphasis, no. We turn the next corner to see over a mile and a half of waterfalls spread out before us. A mile and a half! It was incredible.

the first waterfall...kinda unimpressive

that's better!

There were a bunch of different trails that you can take. Above the falls, below the falls, almost under the falls. There is even an island that you can take a ferry to where you'd get really wet, but the boat wasn't going for some reason. The sheer amount of water, especially in some bottleneck locations, was just incredible. I'm confident it can be riverboarded, if only they'd let me...

The pictures really don't do it justice. We put together a video to give you a better feel for the experience, but you'll have to wait about a year until it finishes uploading (that's a joke, next time we get good internet speed I'll post it). The Argentinian side is known for it's up-close views while the Brazilian side offers a better panoramic view. We loved the Argentinian side and felt like it gave us a much better feel for the power and size of the falls, even if the Brazilian side made for a better picture. So the next day, after taking a bus to the town of Foz do Iguacu (Portuguese name for Iguazu waterfalls), we decided to pass on the Brazilian side. I guess we were feeling lazy and tired, but we don't feel like we missed anything. From Foz do Iguacu we were considering taking a bus to Rio, but it's 20 hours! Ugh. Not happening. We thought we'd have to pay around $250 each for the one-way flight, but ended up finding a last-minute deal for about $130 each. Yeah, we'll take that. We're very excited that we have officially taken our last South American bus! Some were really nice, like I've mentioned, but we're just over it. The trains of Europe await. But first, Rio de Janeiro...coming soon.

Don't cry for me Argentina

Whoa, sorry we are really behind on the blogging. I promise to try to do better in the future, but for now a quick recap of our time in Buenos Aires. First, getting to Buenos Aires from Mendoza we took an overnight bus. The buses in Argentina are amazing! Similar to the ones we took in Peru, but even nicer. There are different classes just like on an airplane. The cheapest is semi-cama, which means semi-bed, so the seat reclines about halfway back. Think business class on an internal US flight. Next class up is cama, where the seat folds back about 160 degrees. This is what we took from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. They've never let me behind the curtain, but I'd guess it's similar to business class on an international flight. The big daddy class is called something different by every company, usually something with one or both of the words "VIP" and "Suite" in it. These are huge seats that fold all the way back flat and even have curtains for privacy! It'd be like taking the nicest first class flight possible, except the tickets are only about 20% more instead of 300% more. You don't get quite the service as you'd get on a plane, but they bring you drinks, hot meals, snacks, plus there are movies and sometimes even wifi.

Suite VIP! This was before we realized you can put the leg rest up to make a flat bed

So, on to Buenos Aires. We ended up staying just two nights in Buenos Aires, not because we didn't like it but because we were running out of time. On the contrary actually, we loved it and can't wait to go back. It was the first "iconic" city that we've been to on this trip. We got to see the famous pink building that Evita and Argentinian leaders preach to the masses from. We got to see the "widest boulevard in the world" (at least a block wide). Not to mention all the amazing old churches, buildings, and monuments scattered around the city. As usual we walked and walked all over the place and really enjoyed the energy of the city.

Steph was singing "don't cry for me Argentina..." all day, but she didn't know the rest of the words

they were having a massive protest so there were flyers everywhere

about to cross Av. 9 de Julio. doesn't look like much but it was brilliant at night

Unfortunately we never even got a taste of what the city is most famous for - the tango. Not that we didn't try. There was a lady all set up to perform a free show on the sidewalk one day, but she spent about 15 minutes jabbering in Spanish about who-knows-what so we gave up and left. Apparently there was a Tango Festival going on, and some people told us about free shows in the early evening outside that big pink building I mentioned earlier. We showed up and couldn't find anything going on. So, next trip we'll have to see the tango.

One of the sights we enjoyed the most was Recoleta cemetery. This is a really popular tourist spot, but I thought it was going to be lame. Who cares about going to a cemetery? Turns out it's not a cemetery like you'd usually see, with a big field and a bunch of gravestones, but a tightly-packed network of mausoleums of all different shapes, sizes, architecture, and (most interestingly) level of upkeep. Some of them were quite literally falling apart while others were immaculately kept. Some had statues, domes, and carvings. Some were nothing more than four brick walls. Some had coffins. Some had urns. Some had both. Doesn't sound that great, but they were creepy and fascinating and a real photographer's dream. We took hundreds of pictures. The real draw is Evita's grave, which of course we saw, but found it far less interesting than the rest of the place.

The Argentine peso is pretty weak, so we were happy that everything in Buenos Aires was about 30% less than US prices. The city was safe, fun, vibrant. We had a great time. Though we debated staying 3 nights, you can see all the main sights in just a day or two, and didn't want to risk missing out on anything in Brazil. Plus, we're already talking about coming back to Argentina so we can go down to Patagonia and the Lakes District, which look amazing. Anyways, we said goodbye to Buenos Aires and hopped on a 16-hour bus journey (I know it sounds bad, but I'm telling you these buses are great. Combine with sleeping pills and 16 hours goes by in no time) to the northeast tip of Argentina - Puerto Iguazu. Stay tuned...