Iguazu Falls, 2

After a hearty parilla lunch, we headed for the lower trail from to see the mostly Argentine side of the Falls. The next day, we did the corniche superiore, so to speak. We were very glad to have seen the whole incredible show. Jan. 18-19.

Temps and humidity were both pushing 100; this is the jungle portion of our South
American trip; sub-tropical, really; in a week we'll be in the Andes and back in
polar tech

The lower trail takes you right there

La Criada de la Neblina

Looking up to a viewing stand on the upper trail

The Maid of the Mist heads into the tumult

Another on deck

We had to get wet to get this double rainbow shot; but the water felt good

Dressing more appropriately the second day

Looking down on the lower corniche

Nearly 3k of waterfalls

!

Looking back up river

A last look at the plunge from above

Iguazu Falls, 1

The Iguazu Falls are generally considered the earth's greatest waterfall complex. Of course, there are many ways to describe waterfalls...height, width, volume of water, whether seasonal or perennial, how many steps, etc. Iguazu are neither highest nor greatest volume, but, at nearly 3 km, they are certainly the widest. The Falls are basically in a fish-hook array, with the hook on the Brazilian side. On the Argentine side, there are three basic trails for viewing the falls, a long boardwalk to the Devil's Throat, the hook, down which pours 50% of the water. The upper and lower trails take you to view the longer stretch entirely on the Argentine side. Of course, there are Maid of the Mist types of excursions, flora/fauna excursions, jungle excursions. It is all in a sizable and popular national park, although many hundreds of miles from most of Argentina. How all this happens is that the great Iguazu River comes down from jungle Brazil and, at the Argentina and Paraguay borders, the basalt plain that carries it gives way to sedimentary rock. Thus the extent of the falls. It certainly is one of the most impressive sights and sounds we have experienced, and we spent two days experiencing the Falls, in addition to the two partial days coming and going from Buenos Aires. Jan. 18-19.

Arriving early, we headed first for the Devil's Throat, hoping to avoid crowds

The Argentine side has these neat catwalks that take you out over the river right
up to the falls

First sight of the Devil's Throat

Still working on our ussie technique

The Devil's Throat

What follows is mostly an assortment of views at the Devil's Throat

The Brazilian side and its viewing stand

Pano

Pretty exceptional place

By the time we were back to the train station to get to the Devil's
Throat boardwalk, it was totally packed

Buenos Aires Out-Takes

We really like BA, at least the four days we saw of it. We hope to return. Jan. 13-16.

Among the large and unusual tress we saw

For scale

Among the weirder things: this is a food truck-themed
restaurant; that is, a stationary restaurant meant to replicate
the food truck experience

Really; with a functioning telephone inside

Interesting architecture on any block, in Recoleta at least

Much of the culture is Italian, and it is claimed that the 2nd
best pizzas and gelatos in the world are in Argentina; we found
this helado store to be fairly wonderful; oops, wrong side of
menu; trust me, the gelatos were second only to Amorini in
Paris

Don't go to Buenos Aires to diet: this is an
appetizer, which sufficed for dinner for the
both of us

The national infusion is mate', a sort of
caffeine-rich tea; fill a special calabash cup
with it, pour on the hot water, and drink
through a special silver straw; repeat

Up close

Thus

At the airport

Not that La Madeline

The Rio Plata, that is, the South Atlantic; we'll be seeing rather
more of the Pacific on this trip

9AM at the security area for flights north to the tropics...these
are aerosol can of bug spray confiscated from entering
passengers; interestingly, we saw not one mosquito in Iguazu
Falls, very much in the jungle

Big decentralized city

Couldn't even begin to find the "center"