July 7 and 8, 2019 Iguazu Falls: That A Whole Lotta Watta

Yes that is a real rainbow at the foot of "the Devil's Throat" at Iguazu Falls

"Makes Niagara look like the kitchen sink."

---Eleanor Roosevelt

In 1991, I travelled to Buenos Aires to present a paper to the PanAmerican Trauma Conference. I was with my work partner, Kennan Buechter and his then wife, Ruth Higdon and with an OB/GYN colleague friend of Ruth’s, Carlos, who just wanted to hitch along on a friend trip. We stayed an extra 4-5 days after the conference to explore Buenos Aires. Sort of. Basically, the boys were predominantly interested in drinking and people watching, and Ruth, who was about to take her Gynecologic Oncology boards was interested in visiting cathedrals and praying at altars and getting holy water sprinkled on her and touching the tomb of Eva Peron in the Recolata cemetery for whatever mystical power it held for passing medical certification tests.. This is particularly amazing, since she is a failed RLDS and for all I can tell, at the very best, agnostic. Nonetheless, she was (and for all I can tell is) a very spirited and convincing trip companion.  Iguazu Falls is on my bucket list and was then, but instead of going there, I was a team player who went searching for Nazis in Tigre and San Isidro (I don’t think there are any. Our first guide on this trip told me they were in Bariloche.) and for  a visit to the Holy Cathedral of Lujan, a large Gothic style cathedral with gargoyles and flying buttresses in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Or at least in 1991, Lujan wasn’t much of a town.

This church has a wooden crying Mary in it and is a place you go for miracles. 

I totally missed out on Igauzu and have been kicking myself ever since. So this time, I made sure that did NOT happen again. And it is now easily reached via commercial aircraft. 

Boy am I glad I took the time to come here. It is really hard to describe this wonder (which isn’t on most 7 natural wonders of the world lists, but perhaps should be). At the confluence of Brazil, Argentina and sorta kinda Paraguay, the Iguazu, Parana, and San Antonio Rivers coalesce to form a huge Delta and the falls pour over the rocks there to form the largest waterfall system in the world. 

Igauzu which means "big water" in Guarani spans a chasm 1.7 miles long, contains 150-300 separate falls, depending on rainfall and water levels. Most of the falls are 200-250 feet high.

 I can give you some facts about it and will do so, but there is really no way to accurately portray what you will see and hear at Iguazu using words or photos. You just have to go there and observe it. And please do it soon, because the gargantuan amount of water pouring over those falls is slowly eroding out the underlying rock and one day (probably not in our lifetime), it will just be a big bad river with no water falls. Indigenous peoples obviously were aware of the falls long before Spanish explorer, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca placed them on a map for Europeans in 1541. The area became Argentina's first national park in 1934. The Park has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1984.  Most of the waterfalls are on the Argentinian side, but much like Niagara, the view is better in another country, in this case, Brazil. The falls can be best seen by accessing the walking paths on both Argentinian and Brazilian sides of the park. There is an eco-train on the Argentina side to help get folks out to the falls area and generally avoid the onslaught of cars into the fragile environs. 

This train is your ride to various trailheads.

There is also a boat ride—a Maids of the Mists copycat, that will drench and thrill the riders. We didn’t take it but those who did found it exhilarating and a good way to get closer to the falls for photos. A summation of seeing the falls is go to Brazil to see the beauty and Argentina to understand the power.

A plush-crested jay

This Greta Oto clear winged butterfly took up residence initially on Paul's ballcap and then it rode it my hand for about 30 minutes before getting camera shy from onlookers.

The park is also a refuge for wildlife including jaguar, puma, many species of butterflies and birds and the coati.

The coati are fed by the tourists (which is illegal, but no one seems to stop them from doing it) and therefore are something of an annoyance. They can hear a Doritos bag opening a mile away and will barrage the unsuspecting eater. We were told NOT to take any food with us while out hiking to keep them off of us, as they sometimes bite and injure people. That seemed like advice well-taken!

 

The very cute, moderately annoying, and sometimes dangerous coati of Iguazu

We stayed in the town of Puerto de Igauzu on the Argentinian side which is anything but a cosmopolitan mecca. It is quite small and rural. There are plenty of hotels, posadas and even hostels of varying degrees of luxury or basicness. In fact, one of the hotels made the Conde Nast top 50 hotels in the world this year! Unfortunately, we were not staying at that one. We were at Panoramic Hotel which did indeed have a lovely view of the Parana River. It was clean and it had hot water, so in my opinion, a score!

Not exactly the 5 star property it was advertised as, but clean and comfy (after they finally turned the heat on). Too cold for the pool!

The restaurants in this tiny village were actually quite good. The first night we went to Aqva was showcasing regional food such as the river fish, parrilla meats, and the ever present pasta. Paul had gnocchi made of yucca and I had local river fish-- it was good. We shared a fresh heart of palm salad as well which was delicious. The second night we went to Il Tuscano which was totally Italian and featured housemade pastas. If there was an eatery in this town we’d tell you not to miss, it would be Il Tuscano. Service and food were excellent. We also enjoyed some lovely Argentinian pinot noirs, as the pirate has been on a “kick” to try that instead of Malbec. I think I enjoyed the pinots even more than the ever-present Malbecs and found them to be softer and more like the French style as compared to the very fruit forward California version.

 

My classic dish at Il Tuscano--sphaghetti mixed in a cheese wheel with lit cognac

Pasta hanging to dry with chefs in the background at Il Tuscano

There is a Gran Melia hotel inside the Argentinian side of the Park and a beautiful pink hotel on the Brazilian side that I might select if I were to come back and not go on an organized tour. I would recommend at least 2 days there to cover both Brazilian and Argentinian opportunities well. A third day wouldn’t hurt, but I doubt you’d need more than that.

 

The pirate offers a toast to the wonders of Igauzu

We enjoyed two beautiful days in I can’t urge you strongly enough to go there and enjoy this amazing place.

A borrowed panorama shot. There is really only one place along the hike to see it all.

 "It is said that a beautiful maiden named Naipí lived in a village near the river. Her great beauty caused even the gods to fall in love with her. A god disguised as a mere boy approached her parents and requested her hand in marriage. Finding him suitable, the parents immediately agreed. To the god's misfortune, Naipí had a mortal lover, Tarobá, with whom she fled in a canoe through the Iguazu River. In rage, the god sliced the river forming the abysses of the cataracts and creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to eternal misery.  Some say that Naipí was turned into a rock next to the great waterfall, while her lover, Tarobá, was turned into a palm tree on the waters' banks, ever to gaze at his lover without being able to touch her. Others end the tale saying the couple fell into the gorge and perished. The mighty Iguazu Falls rage are the continuous tears of the rejected god." ---Native legend. 

Paul's Ponderings:   Wow, what a great time at Iguazu....this was among the trip highlights.   The falls are incredible and well worth a visit.    The town is small and pretty manageable and the Italian restaurant was just fabulous in particular.     This ends our Agentinian sojourn, mostly, other than the return.    Now it's off to the UK, with a lengthy airplane ride in between of course!