Iguazu Falls

Leaving Santiago, we crossed the rugged and majestic Andes. Yes, these are its natural colors.

Bound for the town of Iguazu, on the Argentina/Brazil border, we changed planes in Buenos Aires and didn't see that city but from the air. Maybe there will be a next time.

Judy picked a nice place for our last few days in Iguazu, Argentina. Fine dining, too, and with the exchange rate, a bargain.

capuchin monkey

Iguazu National Park, in the northeast corner of Argentina, covers 261 square miles. Argentina is largely farmland outside the park, so the jungle here provides a refuge for many species. We saw a few.

heron

caimans

plush-crested jay

Iguazu Falls is the centerpiece of the park, and with several thousand visitors a day, it's a bit like Disneyland, complete with a train to shuttle hordes of people from one place to another.

The coatimundis run in packs through the food courts and train stations, looking for crumbs and handouts.

The high point of a visit is running up to the base of the falls in a boat and getting drenched in the voluminous spray. After we did this once, people in our boat chanted "otra vez, otra vez," so we went in again. It was great fun. This happened in front of the section of falls at lower left in this photo. They give you a dry bag for anything you don't want soaked, and I wore a rain jacket with partial success.

After the boat ride, we hiked trails with amazing views and couldn't get over how a lazy, shallow river can transform into a mighty beast as it succumbs to gravity. The Garganta del Diablo section, in the distance above and in this video, completely saturates the senses. Along its thundering 2.7 kilometers, Iguazu has the largest average flow of any falls in the world.  [another video]

Brasil has its Iguacu National Park, and the following day, we went through immigration to see that side of the falls. Also very impressive.

Across the street was a surprisingly diverse and well-kept bird park. Part of their mission is monitoring and conservation of rare plant and animal species and re-introducing some to the wild. These guys are common, though.

scarlet ibis

blue and yellow macaws

toucan

Chilean flamingo

Returning to the hotel, we stopped at an overlook of the confluence of the Parana and Iguazu rivers. For this photo, I was standing in Argentina; on the left is Paraguay, to the right, Brazil. The falls are in the Iguazu, upstream to the right.

And that's the wrap-up of our adventure. All that's left is a flight back to Santiago, a night in a hotel, and the all-night flight to DFW and home.

Hope you enjoyed the journey, too. Where to next? Don't know, but that's part of the adventure. Feliz viajes!