2008 Argentina – Iguazu
21st January 2008
Thomas drove us to the airport, which was a relief as I was finding all the travelling a little hard going in my old age. Our next destination was Puerto Iguazu on the Argentine side of the famous Iguazu Falls. The flight took nearly two hours and this time our airport transfer was efficient and friendly so we were happy that our waterfall tours were booked with the same company. Our hotel, Los Helechos, was what we travellers refer to as ‘Crap.’ It was recommended by Federika´s cousin who had booked another hotel which was so bad that he and his wife walked out and went to the Los Helechos instead. God know what the other hotel must have been like. It was very hot and we had the choice of a room with a big fan in the ceiling or one with air conditioning which we had to pay extra for. Neither of us liked air conditioning but the ceiling fan was so noisy that it felt like the whole room was going to take off. We tried the air conditioning but it had an awful damp smell so in the end we opted for the good old-fashioned open-window method and were both so tired we slept like babies anyway. Outside our hotel was a large neon sign saying Hotel Los Helechos. During the day no one noticed anything unusual about the sign but at night, only three lights were working so the sign read “HEL.” I am sure it was a coincidence but I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had told me that some well-meaning locals had climbed up and removed the bulbs necessary to give an accurate description of the hotel. 
The town and its shops were quite tatty for such a famous tourist attraction but everything was very cheap so I suppose you can’t have everything. There were lots of very old cars which looked like they were held together by rust and elastic bands. There couldn’t have been any kind of annual inspection of cars like in most countries or if there was, it must have been limited to counting the wheels and checking that there was a steering wheel. On the plus side, it had an excellent internet cafe. Unlike Brazil, most people spoke English. I did try to speak Spanish when the opportunity arose and was pleasantly surprised on the rare occasion when someone understood me but with Spanish being Federika’s first language I didn’t get much of a look in.
Following a regal hotel breakfast of bread, jam, and coffee, we went on our first tour of the waterfalls. There were two main tours, one on the Argentinian side and one on the Brazilian side which was the one we started with. It involved walking along a long, narrow wooden path suspended above ground. It was awkward at times as there were so many tourists that in some places there wasn’t enough room to walk side by side. It was well laid out with a magnificent view of the waterfalls at nearly every turn. Sometimes there was a huge range of waterfalls in the distance and sometimes there would be one right next to us so we got wet with the spray but it was hot so we were dry in no time. Some of the more spectacular viewing areas had queues but it didn’t take long to get to the front. 
Thanks to Federika´s excellent planning, we were able to do the Full Moon Tour. This was only available during the three or four days of full moon each month and only when there was no cloud. They took a maximum of 160 people so we booked well in advance. Most of the trail was what we had seen during the day but it looked completely different at night and was a very special experience. Apart from the waterfalls, there were large expanses of still water which reflected the moon.
Next morning we did a full-day tour of the Argentina side and what a day it was. We were picked up at the hotel at 7.30 am and taken to the national park entrance. From there it was a 15-minute train journey to the start of the walk to the Garganta de Diablo waterfall (the devil’s throat.) It got its name from the days when local Indians went fishing in their boats and were never seen again. They concluded that if they went too far down the river, the devil appeared and swallowed them up because of their sins. The viewing area was at the top of the waterfall and we were practically hanging over as we watched the water falling over the edge into what really did look like the devil’s throat. The power was so great that it created a lot of spray and although everyone got soaked, the sun was so strong we soon dried off. 
There was a two-kilometre metal, catwalk which took in the extraordinary site of all the waters leading to the waterfalls. We were lucky to see a couple of toucans in flight but apart from that there was not much in the way of wildlife. Next, we took a train to the Upper Trail where there was another long walk but fortunately, most of it was in the shade. We walked closely to many of the waterfalls and again there seemed to be no end to the spectacular sights. We reached a clearing where a large 4×4 open truck waited to take us on a 20-minute ride through what they ambitiously called a jungle. The truck left us at the start of another short trail which led to the main event, a boat ride that took us to the base of the waterfalls.
On the boat, they gave us life jackets and some plastic bags to put anything that needed protection from the water. We sped quickly along the river that led to the edge of a huge waterfall and waited in anticipation. The driver was a bit of a showman and hovered around the entrance so we weren’t sure just how far we would go. We were only inches from the waterfall and getting wet from the spray when he turned the boat around. We were all relieved to be pulling away but after stopping and waiting a few seconds for dramatic effect, he reversed into the waterfall until it felt like someone was emptying a million buckets of water over us. Everyone was screaming and laughing and of course, it was fantastic fun. One of the crew sat at the front of the boat filming us which made a priceless souvenir.
Again we were soaked but after a long walk up a steep hill in the hot sun, we soon dried off. I was surprised at how well-organised the tours were. There were multilingual guides strategically placed so it was impossible to take a wrong turn as there was always someone to guide us onto the right path. They picked us up exactly on time and everything went like clockwork. It was an exhausting morning, so after a splendid lunch, we returned to the hotel for an afternoon nap and a casual stroll around the town. The perfect day.
Next morning we checked out of our hotel at 10 a.m. and had five hours to kill before our taxi took us to the airport. The hotel had a pool, and we had planned to hang out there but it was more like a dirty puddle so we gave it a miss and pottered around the shops instead.
2008 South America
