Puerto Iguazú and Iguazú National Park

Ok, good news! The hostel I'm in now (in Salta, northern Argentina) has a fantastic Internet connection, so I can give you a small sample of photographs taken in both Buenos Aires and Igauzú.

To continue from where I left off, my following day at Iguazú Falls National Park was nothing less than incredible. Neither this blog nor pictures will do it justice, but the fact that it is four times wider than Niagara Falls might give you an idea of its grandeur! The name Iguazú actually means 'big water' in the indigenous Guaraní language ('I' means water, and 'guazú' means big); there are 275 falls running over a total frontage of 2470m.

The day involved extensive walking, but I also paid for a few additional activities which I'd heard about from people in Buenos Aires! One was a trip on a small powerboat in and around the falls which approaches /partially enters a few of the waterfalls, with the highlight being 'El Garganta del Diablo', or the Devil's Throat - the largest and most well-known one (which I also got to stand right over by one of the walking routes). We didn't even enter it fully and got absolutely soaked! I also went on a small boat trip, gliding down the upper tier of the falls, looking for interesting flora and fauna; unfortunately, there wasn't a great deal but loads of butterflies and bizarre trees. Theoretically, there are also jaguars, tapirs, monkeys, anteaters and pumas. Yet I didn't meet anyone who saw these at any point. Nevertheless, the evolution of animals nearer and within the water is supposed to be unique; due to the seclusion of the falls, there is a distinct lack of larger predators which has led to a slowed and extremely different evolution to what we have seen in other areas of the continent and world. As such, all water-creatures have remained small (alligators, fish) and the one water-bird that I saw was entirely different to most - it was also killing and eating its 'prey' (an equally odd fish), thrashing it around in the air and pecking it to death before eating it whole! (And it was pretty big too). I was also lucky enough to get across on a free boat to a central island in between the falls, where there are additional walks and a hidden haven of what I now think were 'American Black Vultures' (looked into it on Google).

The rest of my time that day was spent chilling out at the pool, having an amazing meal (steak+more), and a few drinks. I decided to stay in Iguazú another night as it was such a nice village, and I didn't fancy another long bus journey just yet. The following day I went with a couple of others to the point at which the main rivers cross, and thus dividing Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. This was the biggest effort of the day, and then I planned and booked up my next part of the trip - Salta, where I am now.

I took the direct bus, which meant 24hrs with no changes instead of more with (although with a slightly lower level of comfort). However, with 3 out of 5 films (dvds) freezing half way through I was more of less left to sort out my own entertainment. Music, books, and mobile phone games got me through the gaps in between films though!

We arrived in Salta at what I thought was one hour late at 11am, but a few hours ago I discovered that it was actually 10am, because we were no longer in the daylight saving zone. Nevermind...! I'll write more on Salta in the next post, however, as I'm staying another night, and then planning on doing a day trip to somewhere outside of Salta before moving onto Bolivia through a few small, mountain villages.

Adios!