Peace Corps, Paraguay and a Purpose. : Iguazu Falls, Argentina

This is a continued post from when Rachel and Jessica came to visit Paraguay a couple of weeks ago. To read about the whole trip check out the post before this one. We left Paraguay on Tuesday morning and spent Tuesday- Thursday afternoon in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina visiting one of the natural wonders of the world, Iguazu Falls! This post and these pictures will do no justice to just how spectacular and incredible the falls really are, I would highly recommend it you find yourself anywhere near Brazil, Argentina or Paraguay that you make it a priority to go visit them.

Tuesday- We woke up in my house with a light drizzle that quickly became a downpour. I didn't mind that the one rainy day was our 5 hour bus day. We packed our bags quickly and headed to my closest town to catch our 5 hour bus ride out east. We took a double deck bus to a city called Cuidad de Este ( the East City, how original). Rachel and Jessica tried the traditional bus food of Paraguay, chipa and loved it! We slept a bit, chatted and enjoyed the ride. Once we arrived at the terminal we took at taxi to the ferry that crosses the Iguazu River. When crossing into Argentina from Paraguay you can either take a bus or a ferry. The spot where the ferry departs Paraguay is called the 3 frontiers. When you are in the middle of the river you are actually in the middle of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. It was a really incredible experience to see all three countries from one point. The ferry was about 10 minutes and we arrived in Argentina!

We got settled into our cute little hotel, Yreta Apart Hotel , I recommend it if you are looking for accommodations in Puerto Iguazu. It was close to the terminal and the downtown centre. There was a pool, nice staff and the best shower I've had in a while! Just make sure you have pesos to pay with, they do not accept cards or dollars, I wish I had known that before. We went exploring that afternoon around town and got some food. That night we had a nice dinner at a local restaurant, enjoyed some live music and got a good nights sleep. Wednesday was the big day and we needed to be rested!

Wednesday- I had arranged for a tour guide to pick us up at the hotel at 9am. He had a car and would be with us all day. He was great and such a big help. If you are interested in him or knowing more information please contact me. We had your typical south american style breakfast and were off to the falls. The weather was perfect. It had rained the day before and was still calling for more rain...but we got so lucky and the sun was bright and beautiful and stayed out all day!

The Iguazu water falls are huge, incredible and so powerful. They fall between the border of Brazil and Argentina and divide the river from the upper part and lower part. The word iguazu in guarani means big water. It is said that the falls were found by a spanish conquistador in 1541.There are 150-300 waterfalls that very from 197 to 269 feet depending on the water levels. They are in the shape of a U and can be viewed from two different parks in Brazil and Argentina. Argentina has a larger portion of the falls and more walkways for viewing the falls.

We spent the whole morning walking around the park. It was incredible. I have never seen something so beautiful and so powerful. We got to stand under the falls and feel the water rushing over us. We were misted and it felt so magical. We took the boat tour of the falls and literally sat under the water as it poured over us, it was execrating, to say the least! We were soaked and it felt so good. We were amazed and in awe. I can't really describe to you exactly what it was like. You will have to look at these pictures and go check it out for yourself. I definitely recommend the boat tour. You can take it on either the Brazilian side or the Argentina side and prepare to get soaked!

We could have stayed there all day just taking in the views but we got pretty hungry after all that walking. Our lovely tour guide took us to a local empanada place and we had the most delicious lunch at the cutest little market. Then we continued the touring and went to the Iguazu Ice Bar. Yes you read that correctly we went to an ice bar. We went from bathing under water falls to parkas and ice sculptures. We spent 30 minutes in the ice bar with an open bar. We had a great time. The rest of the day we were exhausted and sun burned.. well not me..but Rachel and Jessica... who would have thought Rachel would get sun burned? We had another delicious dinner on the town, walked around and shopped a little and headed back to the hotel for a much needed good nights sleep.

Thursday- We slept in a little, packed our bags up and headed downtown for some last minute shopping and ice cream. It was getting hot quickly and ice cream at 10am seemed appropriate. We made friends with the sweetest puppy that followed us into the ice cream shop, we gave him some water then headed back to the ferry. We said farewell to Argentina and got our passports stamped out. As we crossed back into Paraguay I prepared terere and shared it with some new friends I made on the ferry. It felt so appropriate. We hitched a ride with a couple up to the customs office, at this point I was not a fan of carrying my 65 liter backpack in the 100 degrees and neither was Rachel or Jessica. We stamped back into Paraguay and continued our adventure to Encarnacion.