Tues., 1/1/13 - Happy New Year - Ushuaia to Buenos Aires
All four OAT groups disembarked to four buses for the short ride to the Ushuaia airport. We all flew to Buenos Aires and checked into four different hotels. We are back for the third time to the Bel Air Hotel. At least we are familiar with the neighborhood.
We repacked again and will leave two bags at the hotel while we are in subtropical Iguazu. We watched some of the Rose Bowl Game on TV with the commentary in Spanish. The game helps make it seem like January 1!
Wed., 1/2/13 - Buenos Aires to Iguazu
Today we flew to Iguazu on another Lan Air flight and got the same box of cookies and crackers we have been given on every other Lan Air flight. We met our local guide at the airport and went straight to the Brazilian side of the falls. To cross the border we had to get off our Argentinian bus and get on a Brazilian bus. Our passports had to be collected and shown at both border entry stations.
We finally entered the Iguazu National Park. The bus took us on down to "The Path of the Falls" stop and we walked the cement trail and steps to view the falls from the Brazilian side. This means that you are seeing most of the falls on the Argentinian side from a distance.
Sixty percent of the water from the Iguazu River (Iguazu means big water) flows over the Devil's Throat fall. The boundary between Argentina and Brazil is in the middle of that gorge. The falls average a 120 feet drop but many drop in sections. The longest drop is 270 feet. There are about 275 falls if you count each section and altogether the falls stretch across three miles. The rock is all volcanic basalt. The river is rain fed from 750 miles across the Brazilian plateau and not from either snowmelt or the Amazon Basin.
At the end of the path is a walkway that goes out toward the Devil’s Throat gorge. You get wonderful views of the falls but also get seriously wet. The views of the falls began to give us an idea of the tremendous amount of water flowing over these falls. The beauty and force are amazing.
These two were in the window box outside our hotel room in Buenos Aires
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Iguazu Falls - Brazilian side, National Park sign |
Map of the Brazilian falls and Park
Argentintian falls that you see from the Brazilian side
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Argentinian falls from the Brazilian side
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Argentinian falls (San Martin) from the Brazilian side
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Argentinian falls from the Brazilian side
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Argentinian falls from the Brazilian side
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Argentinian falls from the Brazilian side
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Argentinian falls from the Brazilian side
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Argentinian falls and the Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo) from the Brazilian side |
Argentinian falls and the Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo) from the Brazilian side
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From the Brazilian side - the Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo)
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Walkway to the Devil's Throat |
Walkway to the Devil's Throat
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Falls adjacent to the Devil's Throat |
Falls adjacent to the Devil's Throat |
Looking down river from the Brazilian side
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The Devil's Throat
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Falls adjacent to the Devil's Throat |
Falls adjacent to the Devil's Throat
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Along the path we saw several of the raccoon-like South American coatis and lots of butterflies and birds.
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South American Coati
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South American Coati |
South American Coati
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Spider and web |
Butterfly
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At the end of our tour, everyone got back on the Brazilian bus and rode to our hotel in Iguazu, Argentina. It is at the far end of the town. Later we walked a block to look across the rivers to both Brazil and Paraguay at the Triple Frontier Monument at the convergence of the Parana and Iguazu Rivers. There was a small craft market at the park but we did not buy anything.
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Triple Frontier Monument
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Triple Frontier Monument - looking at Brazil - the monument is on the hill, under the trees
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Triple Frontier Monument - looking at Paraguay
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Triple Frontier Monument - Argentine monument |
