We drove across the border with Argentina and were delayed by a full vehicle scan. We found a little store to change some Bolivian Bolivianos into Argentina Pesos at a great rate and headed east on Rt 81, a thin yellow line on our map. It was a great road, with little traffic and took us across the country towards the falls. We found that Argentinians close up shop daily from bout noon to 4 or 5PM. Some close on Mondays, too. So we got to our first stop and found everything but the ATM shut up. We parked on the plaza and met another vanlifer couple from Belgium who encouraged us to see both sides of Iguazu--Argentina and Brazil--but pass by the Paraguay city of Ciudad del Este near there. They claimed Route 40 along western Argenina was the most scenic route south, but Jason had had enough of the mountain driving for a bit and we headed across the plains to the falls.
We barely made a dent in the distances on the map, and stopped in Corrientes to buy the mandatory insurance that we hadn't yet procured and spent a night along the waterfront.
Passing through the Tupiza badlands in southern Bolivia we had plenty of fabulous rock formations to thrill us.
Red rocks and white rocks were both filled with spires and towers and fantastic shapes created by eons of wind and water.
On the way to Iguazu Falls, we encountered our first time of having to wait in line to buy gas at a YPF station. The previous station refused to sell us gas and we had to get some here. YPF always had the cheapest prices, but we soon learned gas stations ran out of gasoline and/or diesel regularly.
Still using ox carts in this country. And donkeys and horses, too.
Inside Iguazu Falls park, we took the train to the Devil's Throat walk (which was closed due to too much water flow!). Here, Jason is taking a picture of something off the side of the train.
Cute little train crossing signs where pedestrian walkways crossed the path.
Jason looking at the first of many huge falls pouring water along the pathways.
The spray blurs the shot of the falls across the way.
The color of the water was orangish-brown from the runoff of the soil.
The falls are quite extensive and there are so many of them! Makes Niagra Falls look puny by comparison.
Lots of water pumping out over these falls.
Jason with falls as backdrop.
Water flowing over the edge from above.
You can see the crowds in front of us, all taking pictures of the waterfalls, like us.
The spray is enormous from this volume of water falling over the edges.
They just keep going and going....
Walking over the river of water just before it fell over the edge was pretty amazing. Probably not for those with vertigo.
Looking back over the edge.
The water is fairly raging before it even reaches the fall's edge.
You can just see the power in the water here.
Branches of trees somehow held on.
Greenery held on to something on the shore or in the rocks where they were rooted.
Roaring rapids before they plunged over the ledge.
You'd never survive the plunge over the falls here.
Jason capturing the falls.
There are hundreds of falls here, many combined in this big water flow.
With all the moisture in the air, it's not surprising to find some mushrooms.
A monkey cavorts in the trees above the walkways.
Typical....the crowds this day always had phones in the air.
The raging river wound its way through the jungle before plunging over the rocks.
Water in the forest before the falls.
A small lizard sunning itself on a rock and sign.
Water through the chutes.
Flowers in bloom, too.
That's a tourist boat in the middle of the river, taking folks to get wet at the falls.
Two tour boats inching up to the falls.
Big crowds at the viewpoint where you could see the boats. Throngs of people took some of the fun out of the day. Seems everyone wanted to be the first ones in the park.
A closer view of the fall from above. It falls over two levels.
Another impressive view of a curtain of water cascading over the rocks.
This standalone fall from the group above would be spectacular in its own right anywhere else in the world.
Countries around the world would love to have such spectacular water flow
Karen in front of one of the curtains of waterfalls at Iguazu in Argentina.
Immense power and might are palpable here.
Jason in front of another area where the pool of the waterfall was surrounded by foliage.
A huge wall of water falls over the rock ledge.
Twins.
Another view of the twin falls.
An orange butterfly against the green of the forest along the walkways in the falls.
The line of people waiting for a chance to get their pictures.
A coatimundi searching for food along a walkway.
The coatis have gotten used to people and now search for food in the food court where folks eat their lunches. Brave and aggressive if you try to retrieve your food from them, there were signs everywhere warning not to feed them and not to try to touch them.
They aren't afraid to touch you, though. This one kept trying to climb over Jason's thigh to get to his camera, thinking it might be food.
He climbed the nearby table and his companion found a plastic bag with crumbs to try to consume. Their noses are like mini nozzles for sucking up little bits of food.
This monkey had a baby on its back, newborn by its size.
She didn't sit too long for photos.
This big grey and white iguana was trolling the food court by the train station and crawled around under the tables and around tourists' feet.
Something about Argentinians--they love their yerba mate drink! People everywhere carry their thermos of hot water and their mug (called a gourd) with a strainer/straw in it, sipping it and pouring more water over the choppeed green leaves. There is a whole process for brewing it properly and a cultural ritual about drinking it in groups of friends and family, and they carry their drink stuff all around with them all day. I find it annoying enough to carry my backpack everywhere, but these folks have hand-tooled leather carrying carts for their yerba mate and thermoses. We're gonna have to try this stuff. About 90% of the people drink it here instead of coffee or tea.
The Iguazu Falls were mesmerizing and when we finished the circuits, the crowds were way down, so Jason did the circuit again by himself while I waited at the train station food court. I watched a straggling string of bright yellow butterflies follow an air trail only they could detect. It only took Jason an hour to make the entire loop again, and he was held up by some disabled folks in wheelchairs that he couldn't get by on the walkways. We went back to our power line road for the night and decided to visit the Brazil side the next day.
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