The world`s largest waterfalls belong to Argentina and Brazil. It takes some effort to get there, but we struggled our way up the tiny arm furthest north in Argentina on a 24 hour bus ride from Salta. The bus ride was tedious with no functioning air conditioning at 40 degrees, a leaky window where water was bubbling towards my seat and hungry tummies due to forgotten breakfast (while Argentinian bus tickets are at least within the European prize range!). The pool of our hostel in Puerto Iguazu made up for the pain and after a humid sweaty night we were ready to explore the falls.
The falls are set within jungle, and if you have not believed in creation before, you might want to reconsider after seeing them, so perfect they are. If the huge and plenty cascades themselves don’t convince you how rich nature is, surely the big ants with the golden ass will! I am not kidding and I have never seen anything alike before, but the ants there really have golden asses, which shine and sparkle in the sunlight. How beautiful they are! When we got to the first Mirador and the falls unfolded in front of us, goose bumps went over my skin from head to toe. The beauty of the place was hardly to contemplate. We were blown away by the noise of 250 cascades dropping down a plateau, the spume of the water spraying on us, dozens of scavenger birds circling above us and colorful butterflies being home to the jungle. We spent the whole day exploring the falls on the Argentinian side. To some of them we could get very close, feeling the threatening power of the water right in front of us. The most powerful set of waterfalls are the so-called “Garganta del Diablo” (Devil`s Throat) where a massive amount of water drops down and produces a huge fog of water so you will not be able to see the bottom. The place has a magical magnetic force and it’s not often that you can experience duality of life so closely next to each other, the paradisiacal beauty and the deadly strength of the water in one.
On the second day we visited the national park on the Brazilian side, to once more stare at the cascades that seem to be set in something I imagine Eden`s garden to be like. The Brazilian side offers views and panoramics from different ankles than the Argentinian side. I thought after already looking at the falls for a whole day, I might get bored looking at the same waterfalls again for a second day. But we were just as thrilled once more to see and enjoy them, and soak up all their energy. Obviously, the Iguazu falls are flooded with tourists and it takes some imagination to picture this paradise in its original form. But the park is full with other curiosities such as the coatis, funny mammals with striped long tails and a long nose, and many of them had babies that were just adorable.
I am very much at the end of this wonderful trip through South America. Certainly there is no more time to get stuck at places and just sit and enjoy, and so, after 2 days in the jungle of Argentina, we are off on the next long bus trip: 18 hour to Buenos Aires, the final destination.
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