If there’s one thing it is...IT’S IGUAZÚ!

Sabado 5/5/10

Today happened. That’s all we could keep saying when we left Iguazu Falls National Park on Saturday.

We rolled up to the park after a delicious breakfast buffet (boo-fet as they pronounce it here) at the hotel. It was my third breakfast in Argentina since I usually sleep through it at the Res.

We piled in the bus and headed to Iguazú falls. On the way our tour guide (who liked to repeat everything five times in both Spanish and English) showed us a picture from 2005 when the cataratas had gone completely dry.

Once we finally saw the falls, the impact of that picture set in. In guarani language "Iguazú" means "great waters". An understatement. I have never been to Niagra falls, but according to friends and Eleanor Roosevelt, Niagra aint got nothin on Iguazú. We walked past perfectly calm waters, but as we neared the falls we could not only hear, but feel roaring of the falls, similar to the sensation of the sonic boom when the space shuttle reenters the atmosphere. There were over 270 cataratas in the national park, all of which I saw were accompanied by a rainbow.

Towards the end of the day we had the option of taking a speed boat trip INTO the falls. An offer which I happily accepted. What Coqui, our tour guide from ISA, told us is that the boat drivers gages the duration of the voyage according to the enthusiasm of the passengers. So after one dunk into the pounding waters of Iguazu falls, and feeling like I had been at Wet n’ Wild with my clothes our group started a chant of “otra vez, otra vez!” Despite some dirty looks from people who apparently didn’t realize what they had signed up for, we drove straight into the falls two more times.*

On our way home we stopped at the river that divides Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. You can see all three countries at the same time.

*We bought the video of the ride and am working on getting it online!