• WHAT WE DID/SAW/EXPERIENCED • Time in Port: 33 hours (overnight No. 2 of 9)
• On Day 1 (1/23), we left the city for our much-anticipated journey to see Iguazu Falls: a Natural Wonder of the World
• Iguazu Falls plunges over hard granite to a gorge 260 feet below - making it twice the height of Niagara Falls – with 250 of these giant cascades!
• Our adventure began with a bump, before the bang: our ride (called “Good Times”) was 45 minutes late picking us up from the crowded, hectic dock. Ironic, in our tour operator’s e-mail to me, he wrote that, “the van will leave at 9 am for the airport to be there at 9:30 am … [B]e out of the ship at 8:45 am. Is always better to be there a bit earlier.” We were all out there, standing around waiting for our ride, from 8:45 am until 9:30 pm. When we got to the airport, we discovered that the airline (Lan) had overbooked the flight. By the time we got there (about 20 minutes prior to departure), Lan had given away two of the seats for our group of 12. Only 10 of us got to go! Pat and Mel from Canada were left standing on the tarmac. They didn’t have a “good time” at all! (The tour operator was EcoUruguay, aka “Discover Uruguay/Discover Iguazu Falls”, and its proprietor, Diego Kraidelman. “Diego” is a well-known “Cruise Critic” favorite, so I expect to hear that he did something great to make this up to Mel and Pat!)
• We took a 1.5-hour flight with Alan and Annie from KC, Judy and Mike from Prosser, WA, Mike and Naralle from Bisbane, Australia and Allison and Laurie from Sydney, Australia, arriving in a thick jungle near the borders of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Airport security was lax here, compared to home (they let you take liquids on board; they don’t make you remove your shoes; there are no body scanners). The airline’s “snacks” were bizarre, too – unsalted crackers and sugary cookie-like things. No cocktails were served.
• We arrived at about 12:30 p.m. and got to spend about nine (9) hours in Iguazu before our return flight at app. 9:30 p.m. They picked us up at the Iguazu Airport in an ugly white van with no air-conditioning.
• We grabbed a quick “sandwich” (if you want to call it that) when we arrived – it was (cold) breaded beef on a (not so fresh) bun – they resembled the sandwiches you get at 7-11 that have been sitting around all day and are bought only by desperate drunks late at night. Then, we headed off for our adventure: a day of strenuous walking and climbing (with lots of sweating), a battle to tolerate the heat, and incredible sights at every turn.
• First, we took a long walk to board an open-air train and then walked the long (and I mean long) walkway out to see our first spectacular waterfall/s, “Garganta del Diablo”, aka “Devil’s Throat”. We were greeted along the way by cute little critters, butterflies, fish and even a turtle.
• After returning by train, we trekked out to the famous “Upper Trail”. At least this walk offered lots of trees for shade. Everyone was extremely hot and sweaty! This time, we saw an Iguana, a very large spider, more cute creatures and gorgeous rainbows! And the waterfalls were, again, a-maz-ing!
• We walked, and walked, and walked – eventually making our way to the “Lower Trail” and even more fabulous waterfalls!
• Everyone was feeling adventurous, so we decided to take a boat tour (for an extra $65 each/person). We climbed down some steep, uneven stone steps and boarded a speed boat, which took us up, down and around the rivers and under a huge waterfall, over and over!! We got SOAKED – repeatedly! But we were so hot that it felt GREAT!! We finally felt “human” again.
• After our fun boat ride, we climbed back up a bunch of steps, and I think that was “it” for our group. They were wiped out. They took us for a long safari ride in these “Jungle” trucks, where everyone sits up top. They were pretty cool, too!
• We were supposed to tour the "Triple Frontier", where three countries (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina) meet and the two rivers join together in a unique scenic spot, but no one else in our group wanted to do anything more. Lucky me, they took just Bill and I while everyone else rested at a local Sheraton Hotel. This was another “neat” place. After that, they dropped Bill and I at a cool restaurant in “downtown” Iguazu, where we had the best empanadas that we’ve ever had (and a rum and coke)! Yum!
• We didn’t get back to Buenos Aires until about midnight and still had to shower and relax. We’ll get about 4 hours sleep before our big day touring Buenos Aires tomorrow. Good thing we’ve got a lot of energy!
• THOUGHTS/IMPRESSIONS
• Magical! Expensive ($809 each for the tour + tips and expenses), but magical. (It would have cost $1,339 each to book an even shorter day trip to Iguazu through HAL, but everyone on HAL’s tour got on the plane!) I didn’t get to see a tango show, because we got back so late, but I wouldn’t have missed these amazing waterfalls for the best tango show in Paris!
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