Iguazu: Nothing else can ever be beautiful

Ok...well maybe I won't go that far. On second thoiught, maybe I will. Because I'm not sure that anything on this earth can capture the meaning of beauty the way these falls can. They are simply beyond. Beyond anything I have ever seen or experienced.

This is the shoddiest post ever, but I wanted to post a few pictures before I have to board my plane and Lord knows if Ill ever have internet on my computer ever again. Immediately below are Las Cataratas (aka the falls). ENJOY!

I PROMISE to add more to the dialogue of this post, but while I have internet on my computer, I want to bring you the pictures. (There are also pictures added to my Mendoza post!)

La Garganta del Diablo (the Devils Throat):

As promised, I bring you the details of my Iguazu adventure. Wednesday I decided to seize the day and go straigth to the falls for the afternoon. After all, that's why I was there. I hopped a local bus and took the 15 minute ride to El Parque Nacional de Iguazu. I arrived to the park at around 3:30 and the last train to La Garganta del Diablo left at 4pm. So I figured, why not see the Devil himself right off the bat? The little train to La Garganta squeeked into the station (think of those little kiddie trains at Six Flags) and we teetered out of the station. On my 25 minute ride, I got a little nervous. There was a lot of jungle, but it wasn't as rich as I had been expecting. It was more forest-y and less rain forest. But I kept my hopes up.

I vacated the train and followed the catwalk towards La Garganta. It was so quiet and the river was very smooth and calm. I wondered how deep the water was. It looked pretty shallow, but then again the pig pillars holding the catwalk up were pretty massive, so perhaps I was steeped in deeper water than I thought. As I continued walking I saw ahead what looked like a little whirlpool. NOT a little whirlpool.

The closer I got the bigger it got until it was a full blown hole in the middle of the earth.The cascades of water just plummeted into the abyss of mist. I couldn't see anywhere near the bottom of the chasm, so I have no idea how high up I was. I can only imagine. Water was just gushing at an ungodly speed (haha, get it because it's the devil's throat). I was overwhelmed by the power of this spectacle. Especially since at first I thought it was a whirlpool. But it was just an endless amount of water pummeling the earth, pouring into the emptiness of La Garganta. I was sprayed with a decent amount of mist. You could say the Devil himself spit on me. Extremely powerful. Not really paradise, but powerful.

After spending an hour just staring wide-eyed at it, I had to head back on the last train out of the park. I couldn't wait for the next morning when hopefully I would see the magnificence that had been hyped up.

I woke early on Thursday morning and met two American girls, Laura and Kate, who are currently living and working in Santiago, Chile teaching high school English. They are awesome.

We took the bus into the park and immediately signed up for our Gran Aventura. We took a 25 minute open-air van ride through the jungle. We saw a lot of trees, I mean a LOT of trees and two tucans from afar. Apparently there are over 300 species of trees in the jungle and most of the wildlife was not awake at 10 am. So we got off the van and got prepped for the nautical part of our adventure. I'm an idiot and forgot my bathing suit, so I stripped down to the bra and jeans and threw on a life jacket. We started down the Iguazu river. Just the cliffs around us were pretty. And then we saw it: Las Cataratas.

A rainbow arching from the river up over the falls, the lush greenery of the jungle and 2 million liters of water pouring out of the earth into the river per second (at least that's what I think our tour guide said). It was absolutely stunning. We rode up really close to the falls and the sound of running water filled my ears. Amazing. Then we rode into the falls. It's not as impressive a view since it's kind of hard to see when you're being doused with water, but basically I swam IN the falls. I was IN the falls! When they said get ready for La Ducha, they meant get ready for La Ducha. (For those of you who don't know La Ducha means The Shower.)

We were sopping wet. So we decided it would be worth the 15 minute hike to the sanitarios. One hour later we arrived at the bathrooms. You see, it may only take 15 minutes at normal hiking speed. But on our way up the rocky mountain path we stopped every five steps. The view just got better and better at every turn. What's amazing is that the falls actually looked different at every turn. We couldn't put our cameras away and we kept adjusting to get the most picturesque photos. But let's be honest, none of them do these falls justice.

I thought to myself, "What was G-d thinking when he created this place?"

"I think I'll put 500 waterfalls in two layers, one cascading over the other, with rainbows at every corner, the most lush greenery in the universe and top it off with a hole in the middle of the earth GUSHING with water. That'll do it."

I swear, now anywhere without a rainbow just seems unimpressive. Arching over the falls, catching the sunlight perfectly, reflecting on the most pefect pure blue sky with specks of black birds swooping over head. Sigh. We made it past Salto Bosetti (for the first time), which is one of the grandest and longest of the falls that you can easily get close to. We sauntered past Las Dos Hermanas, two twin falls in the middle of the jungle. They were more elegant in this secluded little area. We made the final bit of the trek and got to the bathrooms to dry off. Climbing and maneuvering around the rocks, my pants are apparently not as flexible as I am. I had a huge hole in the buttox area...hmmmhmmm. At least no one noticed, haha. Luckily I came prepared and changed into leggings. I went to Iguazu and lost a pair of pants. Not many can say that one.

Then it was about lunch time so we grabbed some sandwiches. Well, Laura grabbed two. The little animal that 10 minutes before we were gawking at ("oh it's so cute") stole her sandwich. Just hopped up on her lap and tore open the plastic and had at it. I ate standing up.

We decided to go back down the way we came and actually stop at Salto Bosetti and continue on to La Isla San Martin. I was just in awe. I honestly have never been so taken with anything in my life. It took my breath away. This place is out of a fairytale or Never Never Land. Never never can you imagine this place until you come here. You can't even fathom it while you are here. I was in awe of the beauty on this earth. Paradise. Using that word to describe anything else is just wrong. I could barely bring myself to leave. I almost cried when I did.

La Isla is incredible. It's kind of like a jungle gym of forest. You hike up a gajillion stairs in this bubble of jungle and come out the side and the falls are just striking. It's also a bit more gentle, I wanted to hop over the stantions and play in the rocks and falls. And there's a view called La Ventana where there's a natural cutout in the cliff that you can view La Garganta from far away. Spectacular. We decided we had to make it to the Upper Circuit before the day was out since that was supposed to be the most beautiful.

It's true. The Superior Circuit is even better than the lower. You stand above the falls and and look down over the beach on San Martin and over the Iguazu river and stand eye to eye with the DOUBLE rainbows. Incredible. Simply inexplicable. By 4pm the girls were wiped, but I stayed behind to trek the bit of thet Lower Circuit we had skipped earlier. After seven hours in the park, I was wiped and headed back to the hostel. The three of us had a delicious dinner, played some pool (which I am terrible at, but learning) and went to sleep to start over on Friday.

Fridays are apparently lucky. If last Friday was the BEST DAY EVER in Mendoza, this most recent Friday was my happiest day ever. I was just filled to the brim with joy. I started off the day with a trip into a jungle conservatory called Guira Oga which is guarani for La Casa de Los Pajaros which is spanish for House of Birds. I spent about 1.5 half looking at gorgeous birds. The Tucan was six inches from my face. Its feathers were velvet I swear.

Then I rushed off to the falls to absorb them one last time. I booked it to the Superior Circuit since I only had about three hours today. The park was so much emptier, which was surprising since it was the beginning of the weekend. When I reached the first bridge I just couldn't handle it. You'd think that the second or third time around you would be less impressed or more accostomed to the sight. But I was not. In fact, I just started singing. It's like the music just rose from the pit of my stomach. Music was the only way I could express the emotions running through me. And so I sang.

And then I ventured back to the Island to relax for a bit. I just sat on the beach taking it all in. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful three day getaway.

I miss Iguazu. And the rainbows.

BESOS!!!