Argentina for the Day

Back into Argentina we went with Gabriel leading the way to the other side of Iguassu Falls. He picked us up a 6:45 to beat the traffic into Argentina. We were joined by the two UK women, Alison and Sheila and the woman from Canada, Enid. Today three more joined this merry band—two young women engineers from Denmark (who only snickered once about Greenland) and a young woman from Australia who has been traveling in South America for six months. We arrived at the border and the park. There we were stopped by a small band of cavorting South American Coati. With their striped tails and big eyes they jumped from tree to fence rail. And undaunted by humans with their long pointed noses up in the air it was as if they ware about to say, “This is our playground, get out of the way.”

From there we joined about two hundred others on the coaches of a park electric train. It carried us to a 1000 meter bridge over the rushing water of the Iguazu River to view the falls as they plummeted down into the abyss and joined the Paraná river. It leads to the Devil’s Throat. Along the way we encountered at least 3 species of butterfly, one resembled a Monarch, one was black and white with a dash of red on the edge of the wings, and one was only black and white. They were very fast little creatures and it was impossible to focus and snap in time to capture them.

We continued on to the falls, heading toward the clouds of mist. the closer we got, the wetter the walkway. finally there was the roar of the water, each drop racing the others plunging down into a great ball of water and then pushing off and racing into the river. Farther down the walkway the mist was so dense I had to put the camera away to protect it.

Walking back, it was necessary to step into the shade whenever we came upon it. The reward for stopping? My back heaved a sigh of relief but there was a greater reward. Perched in the branches of the trees were beautiful birds—yellow, black, white, a dash of bright blue. I was so caught up with them that Dennis had to remind me that we were part of a group and had to keep moving. Crossing another section of the walkway we spotted a dashing black and white cormorant with outstretched wings lifted to the sun.

The vastness of the green is broken by these birds, animals and butterflies, along with the flowers—purple yellow, black, white, blue, and pinks dot the green. The iron rich red soil produces thick dense vegetation. Looking at this thick dense vegetation I remembered the story of the girl who dropped out of the sky into the jungle still strapped in her airplane seat. The   survival story of Juliane Koepcke was made into a movie, Wings of Hope by Werner Herzog. I looked at this tightly packed jungle and couldn’t imagine how she even moved, much less made it to safety.

Dennis is off on another trek with our newly assembled group, following Gabriel to yet another view of the cataract. He is armed with the camera and I’m sure he’ll come back with photos and stories. After his Portuguese all I can to do is warn you—beware of his Spanish!

To top off the day we took a helicopter ride over the falls. It was my first time and I think it will be my last planned one. I found the few bumps a bit scary and the banking with this fabulously fat or pleasantly plump one buckled in nest to the door unnerving. But what magnificent views!

Today before we started packing we went to the Bird Sanctuary. It was started by a British couple to provide shelter for endangered species of birds and to take in rescued birds. It was a photographer’s paradise. It’s open with only some areas of netted space and a few contained spaces. It is beautifully designed with plenty of places to stop and rest and even to cool off. I’m going to try to restrain myself and only put in a sampling of the birds and butterflies. To see them all, you’re invited to come to the house to watch the video and sample an empanada or two.

Life in Iguassu according to Dennis—

First of all, I’ve got to give Cindy credit for trekking the Iguassu Falls. She’s been having quite a bit of back pain for the past few months and I was concerned about how much she’d actually be able to walk. She was a trooper and despite the pain, exceeded my expectations. 

She knew when she’d reached her limit and gave me the camera saying, “I can’t do it, you go on and take lots of pictures.” She didn’t throw her arm up over her brow and break down in tears sobbing—but what was I to do? This was a moral dilemma. Go on without her? Gabriel, our guide assured me he would stay with her and she would surely meet me after I completed the trek. But??

What would a man with character and love in his heart do? What would you do? After throughly searching both character, heart and soul—I made what I consider the right choice. I went on without her. You can thank me for some of the pictures you’re seeing of Iguassu Falls that you wouldn’t have otherwise seen. I guess you could say, I did it for you! But please, don’t shower me with praise, cuz that’s just the kinda guy I am. Always looking out for others. 🤣