Foz do Iguaçu

 Foz in Portuguese means mouth of a river and Iguaçu in Tipi-Guarani means great or big water. This designated UNESCO world Heritage site features over 275 falls. This morning Gabriel a guide for G-Adventures took us on a tour of the Brazilian side of the falls. They are absolutely magnificent. We were hoping to go for a helicopter ride and to the bird sanctuary but a heavy rain prevented that so perhaps tomorrow or the next day. I think the only way to describe the falls is visually. What would be the words to describe such a spectacular sight? Roaring, gigantic, plummeting, green, mist enshrouded?

Dennis speaks…

Today we visited Iguassu Falls and it was spectacular. If you look up largest waterfalls in the world you have to be more specific. Height, length, volume? We’ve now seen three that qualify in some way: Iguassu, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and of course, Niagara Falls somewhere in North America. 😢 We can’t say United States anymore without bringing up many questions, expressions of horror, etc. We’ve seen all three. They were all fantastic but Victoria Falls would top my list. 

We had planned on a helicopter ride over the falls today but rain set in and squelched that plan so we’re shooting for the day after tomorrow.

Tomorrow we’ll again see Iguassu Falls but this time from the Argentine side. Two countries, Argentina and Brazil border it and Paraguay touches it as well.  

Stay tuned for more information on the helicopter ride if the weather permits. Until then, contanto—(so long in Portuguese). Impressed? If not, “voce pode beijar minha bunda.” That’s “you can kiss my a—s,” also in Portuguese. 🤭

An Exhausting Entrance into Iguassu Falls

 Thinking we needed time for the airport lines we left our Mendoza hotel at 12:30 AM for a flight leaving at 3:15 AM to Rio de Janiero. We arrived at the airport, went straight to the Trip Store to buy a luggage tag and get my bag to be checked wrapped. When I picked it up in Mendoza after arriving from Ushuaia, the tag was gone and the zipper was broken. Dennis fixed it but I didn’t trust it. Finally we were on the plane and soon sleeping until… Flying in this part of the world at this time of year seems to often  produce unexpected white knuckle turbulence. It has happened on all of our recent flights. Dennis still prefers it to bus travel. Once in Rio we were told we had to recheck our luggage, redo security, etc. etc. But finally after about 18 hours we were in our hotel. Our G-Adventure starts tomorrow.

Today we walked about in the city of Foz do Iguaçu. And then booked a dinner cruise on the Iguazú River and the Paraná river. As we arrived music was coming from the boat. Very soon people began leaving the boat some dressed almost entirely in white with dashes of blue and many in colorful patterned outfits. Two Catholic priests joined the leave taking also dressed in white cassocks. They were all taking part in a religious river celebration, the Festival of Our Lady of Navigators. It is one of the largest religious festivities in southern Brazil. The Catholic Church synced it with the Afro-Brazilian celebration of lemarjá, goddess of sea and water.

Once we boarded, the cruise was very relaxing. Both rivers flow through red clayed banks filled with dense emerald, olive, sage, lime green trees and undergrowth interrupted at times with a cascading waterfall. Fishermen and picnickers dot the banks. The breeze cuts the sticky heat.

The food on the catamaran was scrumptious. Sorry, I just can’t use delicious again but it was. Not only did it taste good but it was beautiful. 

Finally the sun began to set behind the trees and it was time to get back to the hotel and get organized for tomorrow.  

A word from Dennis…

Yeah, the plane ride from Mendoza to Iguassu Falls, Brazil via Rio De Janiero was a doozie! Eighteen hours with a 7 hour layover in Rio. Sound exotic? Ahh, nope. That’s a lot of butt time and the older I get, the less padding I have back there. 

There were a few hiccups when we arrived here but between G-Adventures and Cindy, they worked out and we’re happy. 

As she said, the cruise was very relaxing and perfect following a long day of travel.

And on we go…🙂

Flavors of the Beagle

For our last day, a gastronomical adventure to the small town of Puerto Almanza followed by a dash down the Beagle Channel to visit the penguins. On the way to the village we made stops to of course, view the powerful and beautiful vistas. And we had a coffee break with typical pastries.

Pablo & our driver Jose

Mata, though not traditional

Horses everywhere

The village is very small and perched on the shores of the Beagle Channel. It is a traditional fishing village. There are several restaurants there and they all feature seafood. We drove through the village to the restaurant A’Kum where we had mussels, sea bass, flan, and vino blanco. More than we could eat. 

Our next stop was exploring the Beagle Channel and remnants of the almost war with Chile. We met a veteran of that war. He was very pleased to meet a veteran of the Vietnam Conflict. 

Tres amigos

Finally it was time to go to the port to board the boat to take us to visit the Magellanic and Gentoo penguins. The Gentoo penguins do not migrate but remain where they make their home though they may travel 50 - 200 km for food.

It was a lovely day. Tomorrow is relaxing, checking into the flight, and packing.   

For now—Adios!

4 x 4 x 7

 We started the morning climbing into a 4 x 4, which for me was a challenge. Fortunately Dennis got in first, so there are no pics! With the driver there were 7 of us. Dennis who was in the middle had the most uncomfortable seat. Alfredo the father of the family with us was in the front passenger seat. He was over 6 feet tall. In the middle back seat was Eugenia, his wife, and behind us sat Miguel, their son-in-law and their daughter Michaela. What a wonderful family. The next time I was to clamber in, Christian our driver and guide showed me how to do it and it worked perfectly. We were going off road to spend the day near two lakes, Escondido and Fagnano, crossing the Andes with the lakes separated by lunch.

A coffee break

After our coffee break we continued through the pass to the other side of the Andes to the site where Christian would prepare lunch for us. I suppose I am not a very competent blogger, as I prefer photos to my words. Describing the Andes as stark above the tree line or majestic seems inadequate. I prefer to show you. Lake Escondido was found at the bottom of the twisting road we traveled, bouncing all the way. Christian is a wonderful driver, avoiding huge potholes and mud holes as much as he could.

We traveled on through the pass to our next  destination, where our lunch was cooked by Christian at a small building sheltered by towering trees. Once the fire was started we left to go to Lake Fagnano.

Lake Fagnano was beautiful though I didn’t venture too far down the trail to the shore. The wind was fierce. So I stayed at the top of the trail and took photos. It is a beautiful lake very long and deep. 

Back at the shelter, Christian completed lunch preparations and served us a remarkable lunch of chorizo, steak (cooked perfectly to medium rare), carrot salad, and Malbec. Everything was prepared on site. He shredded the carrots there, seasoned the meat, chopped tomatoes to add to the salad and dressed it beautifully. He didn’t bring anything even partially prepared, It was all done fresh. He refused any help and at the finish of the meal, he only allowed us to bring him the dirty dishes. 

After that we returned to Ushuaia with most of us nodding off on the journey back. Disfrutamos pasando el dia en maravillosa compañia,

El señor Dennis dice…

A few sentences about Ushuaia—I don’t know if we’re in the actual “last town in South America” before leaving this continent and heading to Antarctic but if it isn’t, it’s pretty damn close. There are a few other contenders claiming this distinction.

Weather here has been wonderful as it’s summer. Temps in the high 50’s to mid 60’s and thus far, rain gear has stayed packed in our back packs.

We’ve taken a few day trips in the five days we’ve spent here, the most exciting being 4 wheeling in the mountains. Including our driver Christian, there were seven of us packed in the jeep like sardines. We hit the off road portion of our tour about an hour outside of Ushuaia. Immediately after we left the pavement, the trail led down at 45 degrees with water filled ruts up to the floorboards. Good news? It was water tight! Holy s—t!! I think we were all in each other’s laps more than in our spots, except for Christian, thankfully. 🙂 We banged up and down the mountains for the better part of two hours, with a couple of breaks along the way. 

I woke up the next morning with aching joints I never knew I had. Worth it? You bet! What a memory. (For Jerry, I’ll compare it to Paco and Cyprus when I get back home.) Today’s a day of rest, heading to a museum and then packing for the flight tomorrow. ✈️ 

   

At the End of the World

Since leaving Buenos Aires we have had a few adventures, beginning with the EZE airport. We thought we would only need to be there an hour early for a domestic flight. But knowing ourselves and our tendency to get a bit mixed up, we decided to leave 2 hours early and be there by 6 AM. We arrived at 6 AM only to join a line of about 200 to check in as the website for check-ins wasn’t working. At 7 AM we were at a friendly agent’s desk who took our luggage and then told us we had to go to the cashier to pay for the bags. According to our boarding passes, boarding was to start at 7:15. We still had to go through security and then get to gate 24. After an anxious wait to pay we were in line for security along with another 200, including a high school soccer team or as they told us football. No way were we going to be at the gate on time. Then voila! We were through security and the gate was right there through the security doors. And we were in Zone 1 for boarding. We got in line, passes and passports in hand. As the agent scanned mine, Dennis in a panic turned around, he had left his carry-on back in the line to board. Back he went, very relieved when he saw the bag, grabbed it and was back getting scanned to enter the next hurdle better known as an airport bus. By 7:50 we were seated on the plane and ready to go. How did we manage?

At Ushuaia we were greeted by people from Tierra del Fuego with a sign: Cynthia Mosca. Dennis loved it. And onto our hotel.

Since our first day here we have been busy. The city is alive with flowers and Dennis is especially envious of the lupine. They are everywhere and in so many colors. Unfortunately Indiana is too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer for them to thrive. Our room in the Hostal del Bosque is very comfortable with a great view. The restaurant has a very accommodating staff and serves very nice food. The wine pour is generous and the mixed drinks leave no mistake about the liquor content or so I’ve been told.

Our first tour was of the National Park. Our guide Pablo, took us on several short hiking trails and for those who had gotten their tickets ahead, a train ride. At first we were disappointed that we didn’t do that but then realized that what Pablo showed us was much better than a train ride.

From here we went to watch for the train. along the tracks was a wide open meadow. Wild horses were meandering under the trees busy nibbling the tender greens completely impervious to us. 

And then around the bend came the train…

After that we were off again this time to another part of the park.

Orchids

And the day wasn’t over. Pablo dropped us off at the Puerto Turistico where we were to take a catamaran to tour the islands to see cormorants, sea lions, and penguins among other things. Some of these we did see but the boat broke down before we got to the penguins. We were able to limp back to port. This turned out to be fortunate because instead of taking a refund we got credit for another tour which will include the penguins plus other small towns in the region and a taste of typical cooking for this area. We seem to have unusually good luck in reversing what would be a crisis.

I cannot believe we are at the end of the world or as one young lady told us, this is the beginning!

A final word from Dennis~

Just a few short comments—yea, leaving Buenos Aires was quite an adventure. Nothing starts the blood flowing like thinking, we’re f…ing gonna miss our plane!! On the other side of that adventure is arriving somewhere you’ve never been before and don’t speak the language. How do we get transportation? Shuttle? Uber? Where do we go? How about that shifty little guy who’s more than happy to grab our bags and start running off with them. (OK I added that for color but it has happened.)😝 Cindy arranged earlier to have someone waiting for us near baggage claim to pick us up and take us to our hotel. They were worth their weight in gold. I could have kissed them and I guess Cindy too. Brings a tear to my eye 😢.