Monday (3/9/15) - I got up early to pack, say by to the family before the kids went to their morning activities, and attempt to purchase a Lollapolooza ticket. Even though this was the last morning I would be waking up in this house and greeting the family, it really wasn't that emotional. I really enjoyed the month I spent with Romi and Gabi and the kids, and I learned SO much from them, but I think after a month of rooming with a 2 year old, I was ready for a new experience. And I got the vibe they felt the same way.
I left most of my stuff at their house and only brought a backpack with the things I needed to Iguazu. It was only going to be 1 night there so I didn't need to lug everything. I didn't end up buying the Lolla ticket, but I made it to the bus station at about 10am for my 10:30 bus, and I found my terminal. They told me the bus would be between 10-20 but they didn't say which one, so I went up and down the line and found the "Rio Uruguay" bus, asked the guy if it was the correct bus and he mumbled something, ripped my ticket and told me to enter. I guess it was the right bus, I was trusting them because if it wasn't, I was pretty screwed. I would have no way of knowing if the green outside my window was the green in the right direction or not, I could just hope.
The bus was very fancy though. I had heard about how nice the buses were, and nobody was lying. My "cama" seat reclined all the way back to about 160 degrees and made it very easy to sleep. They played 4 movies, all violet action movies, 2 in Spanish and 1 in english, which they played twice. The movies definitely helped to pass the time. And in the end, 20 hours really wasn't that bad. I probably slept 6-7 and the driver actually had to wake me up when we arrived. I almost missed my stop, which would have been the absolute worst.
I left most of my stuff at their house and only brought a backpack with the things I needed to Iguazu. It was only going to be 1 night there so I didn't need to lug everything. I didn't end up buying the Lolla ticket, but I made it to the bus station at about 10am for my 10:30 bus, and I found my terminal. They told me the bus would be between 10-20 but they didn't say which one, so I went up and down the line and found the "Rio Uruguay" bus, asked the guy if it was the correct bus and he mumbled something, ripped my ticket and told me to enter. I guess it was the right bus, I was trusting them because if it wasn't, I was pretty screwed. I would have no way of knowing if the green outside my window was the green in the right direction or not, I could just hope.
The bus was very fancy though. I had heard about how nice the buses were, and nobody was lying. My "cama" seat reclined all the way back to about 160 degrees and made it very easy to sleep. They played 4 movies, all violet action movies, 2 in Spanish and 1 in english, which they played twice. The movies definitely helped to pass the time. And in the end, 20 hours really wasn't that bad. I probably slept 6-7 and the driver actually had to wake me up when we arrived. I almost missed my stop, which would have been the absolute worst.
Tuesday - I woke kind of startled, but made sure I had all my things, exited the bus and found a bathroom. It was 6:21am, barely bright outside. I had already worked out my plan to find my hostel (apparently half a block from the bus station), settle for a second, leave some things at the hostel, gather information about the park, and make an early bus. The park opened at 8am so the timing was great, and I didn't really feel tired.
I found "Mango Chill" hostel after asking an attendant at the bus station, and it looked very chill. However, the front door was locked and closed and there was no doorbell or other option, so I knocked a few times, but no one answered. At this point it was about 6:40am so I figured they would open at 7am or sometime semi-soon. So I chilled outside for a little and relaxed, and sure enough at 7, the door opened and the friendly staff greeted me. Manu arrived at 7am to open the place every day and he was extremely helpful. I checked in, charged my phone, reorganized my bag, took my time, got a locker to put my things in, and was ready to go. Turns out another girl named Vicky from England had the exact same situation as me as she strolled in the hostel at about 7:20 and was staying there that night. So we decided to explore the falls together because the buddy system is always best. We stopped by the local bakery to pick up lunch (we wanted to avoid paying the touristy prices at the park) and some water, and caught the next bus up to the park. We probably arrived at about 9:30 or 9:45.
We started with the "Paseo Superior" which included a 650 meter walk and then views of the falls. One of the reasons these falls are so amazing is because they're right in the middle of the rainforest. And we could feel it, we were walking on a path through thick woods, humidity, insects, and buzzing life. Views of the falls just kept getting better though. Words really don't do much justice, and to be honest, pictures don't really do much justice either. But I'll try and post a bunch here so that I can share as much as I can.
We went from the superior pass to the inferior pass and there were just great views all around. The waterfalls aren't really that tall, but they are so wide that you can't see it all from one view. They seem to just go on forever. At one point we were standing directly over a massive waterfall, then we were standing basically directly next to it. Then, we embarked on the boating experience where you take a boat literally right underneath the falls. There was so much water that I couldn't open my eyes because they would have been gauged out by water power. It was really great, we were one with Iguazu, for sure.
Then as we dried, we decided to whip out our lunches and eat on a rock with a direct view right in front of the falls. Vicky's idea and extremely clutch.
Left on the schedule we wanted to check on a "swimming spring" on the other side of the park and then at the end head to the top to "Garganta del Diablo" (aka Devil's throat), to which last train was at 4pm. So we headed toward the spring and found walking through this part of the forest to be a complete adventure. There were insects everywhere, massive ants, chirping and rustling from the woods, and the feeling like we were in the middle of the jungle. Because we were. We got to spot some monkeys though as we strolled along, and I saw a couple of the largest spiders I have ever seen in my life. We eventually made it to a little waterfall in the middle of the forrest and hiked down to the bottom where there was a little natural pool. We joined the 10ish people already enjoying the chilly water, and it was very pleasant. We climbed the rocks to sit directly underneath the waterfall from above and just counted our blessings. It was tremendous. We met and mingled with other travelers, and I ran into a guy from California named Gabi who actually shares the exact same itinerary as me, so I plan to meet up with him in Buenos Aires for Lollapolooza and then we are going to do the Patagonia region together. Very good fortune happening to run into him at this mysterious waterfall.
Afterwards, we hurried back to the train to catch the last ride up to the Garganta Del Diablo, made it successfully, and enjoyed breathtaking experience basically on top of the monstrous waterfall on the opposite side of the park from where we had been previously. Pictures really don't do it justice.
I found "Mango Chill" hostel after asking an attendant at the bus station, and it looked very chill. However, the front door was locked and closed and there was no doorbell or other option, so I knocked a few times, but no one answered. At this point it was about 6:40am so I figured they would open at 7am or sometime semi-soon. So I chilled outside for a little and relaxed, and sure enough at 7, the door opened and the friendly staff greeted me. Manu arrived at 7am to open the place every day and he was extremely helpful. I checked in, charged my phone, reorganized my bag, took my time, got a locker to put my things in, and was ready to go. Turns out another girl named Vicky from England had the exact same situation as me as she strolled in the hostel at about 7:20 and was staying there that night. So we decided to explore the falls together because the buddy system is always best. We stopped by the local bakery to pick up lunch (we wanted to avoid paying the touristy prices at the park) and some water, and caught the next bus up to the park. We probably arrived at about 9:30 or 9:45.
We started with the "Paseo Superior" which included a 650 meter walk and then views of the falls. One of the reasons these falls are so amazing is because they're right in the middle of the rainforest. And we could feel it, we were walking on a path through thick woods, humidity, insects, and buzzing life. Views of the falls just kept getting better though. Words really don't do much justice, and to be honest, pictures don't really do much justice either. But I'll try and post a bunch here so that I can share as much as I can.
We went from the superior pass to the inferior pass and there were just great views all around. The waterfalls aren't really that tall, but they are so wide that you can't see it all from one view. They seem to just go on forever. At one point we were standing directly over a massive waterfall, then we were standing basically directly next to it. Then, we embarked on the boating experience where you take a boat literally right underneath the falls. There was so much water that I couldn't open my eyes because they would have been gauged out by water power. It was really great, we were one with Iguazu, for sure.
Then as we dried, we decided to whip out our lunches and eat on a rock with a direct view right in front of the falls. Vicky's idea and extremely clutch.
Left on the schedule we wanted to check on a "swimming spring" on the other side of the park and then at the end head to the top to "Garganta del Diablo" (aka Devil's throat), to which last train was at 4pm. So we headed toward the spring and found walking through this part of the forest to be a complete adventure. There were insects everywhere, massive ants, chirping and rustling from the woods, and the feeling like we were in the middle of the jungle. Because we were. We got to spot some monkeys though as we strolled along, and I saw a couple of the largest spiders I have ever seen in my life. We eventually made it to a little waterfall in the middle of the forrest and hiked down to the bottom where there was a little natural pool. We joined the 10ish people already enjoying the chilly water, and it was very pleasant. We climbed the rocks to sit directly underneath the waterfall from above and just counted our blessings. It was tremendous. We met and mingled with other travelers, and I ran into a guy from California named Gabi who actually shares the exact same itinerary as me, so I plan to meet up with him in Buenos Aires for Lollapolooza and then we are going to do the Patagonia region together. Very good fortune happening to run into him at this mysterious waterfall.
Afterwards, we hurried back to the train to catch the last ride up to the Garganta Del Diablo, made it successfully, and enjoyed breathtaking experience basically on top of the monstrous waterfall on the opposite side of the park from where we had been previously. Pictures really don't do it justice.
We made it back to the hostel at 6:32, just in time for the 6:30-7 Happy Hour of free drinks (of one kind, can't remember the name). This was my first hostel experience, but it was really great. They people were fantastic, they had a pool and a lot of great hang out areas, a fun and relaxing atmosphere, I was clearly spoiled by my first experience.
I signed up for the BBQ dinner hosted at the hostel which I had read great reviews about, and hung out for a little. Dinner really was great as we all got to share our experiences from all over. I was the only one from USA, but I met some Aussie guys and they convinced me to go to the casino with them after dinner.
Later, at about 12, their girlfriends had called it a night, and we caught a cab to one of the three casinos in Puerto Iguazu. These guys were a ton of fun and we had an absolute blast playing Roulette at Casino Iguazu. We sit down, first roll, Tom puts one $2 chip on number 23, and sure enough... Tom was $70 richer after one roll. After that, we were all playing very freely. I was having a blast just watching and hanging out, but Tony insisted that I play as well so once he was up $200 USD (like nothing, he's really good at Roulette), he handed me a stack and instructed me to bet big. So I now had my own money. After more banter and really just good ole fun, we left the casino, everyone with more money than they came with, and I was really glad they convinced me to go. Tony ended up winning $300 USD, A LOT of money in Argentina.
I signed up for the BBQ dinner hosted at the hostel which I had read great reviews about, and hung out for a little. Dinner really was great as we all got to share our experiences from all over. I was the only one from USA, but I met some Aussie guys and they convinced me to go to the casino with them after dinner.
Later, at about 12, their girlfriends had called it a night, and we caught a cab to one of the three casinos in Puerto Iguazu. These guys were a ton of fun and we had an absolute blast playing Roulette at Casino Iguazu. We sit down, first roll, Tom puts one $2 chip on number 23, and sure enough... Tom was $70 richer after one roll. After that, we were all playing very freely. I was having a blast just watching and hanging out, but Tony insisted that I play as well so once he was up $200 USD (like nothing, he's really good at Roulette), he handed me a stack and instructed me to bet big. So I now had my own money. After more banter and really just good ole fun, we left the casino, everyone with more money than they came with, and I was really glad they convinced me to go. Tony ended up winning $300 USD, A LOT of money in Argentina.
Wednesday (3/11) - I slept in a little, ate breakfast, dilly dallied, and decided to check out Guira Oga, a facility where they capture/save injured or threatened animals from the wild and care for them. It was a nice little experience, the tour was in Spanish, but the guide made it fairly easy to keep up. I snapped some pictures of the animals, but some of the other guests were clearly more excited to be there than I was.
I headed back to the hostel, packed up my things, grabbed some food, and hopped on my 2pm bus back to Rosario. This time I was seating upstairs in the far front right with a tremendous window view and it was great. We ended up stopping and transferring and waiting for about an hour in a city in northern Argentina, which was frustrating, but who was I to complain? Everything ended up being fine and we got to Rosario at the exact time we were supposed to.
I headed back to the hostel, packed up my things, grabbed some food, and hopped on my 2pm bus back to Rosario. This time I was seating upstairs in the far front right with a tremendous window view and it was great. We ended up stopping and transferring and waiting for about an hour in a city in northern Argentina, which was frustrating, but who was I to complain? Everything ended up being fine and we got to Rosario at the exact time we were supposed to.
**Please excuse all of the typos - I am really just trying to get as much info on record as I can. In reality, I am over a week behind on my experiences, I am currently in Buenos Aires and almost done with my time here :(