Episode 31: Iguazu Falls

Well, after our trip back over the border and our run in with the crazy Geordie guy in our hostel who recently left his job in Spain where he was paid in cocaine (:/), we headed over to Iguazu falls. Naturally it's now much easier to get around given that everything's in Spanish, and at the entrance I actually managed to argue my way to the Argentinian price (3 times less than the normal price) despite not having any documents - get in!

The Iguazu Falls is perhaps the epitome of the phrase "a picture speaks a thousand words". The scale of them is simply overwhelming and it's interesting to note that whilst the presidents of Brazil and Argentina (the falls lie on the border of the two countries) technically "own" them, they surely cannot help but feel that in reality this natural phenomenon really owns them.

After following a few of the trails around the falls, we decided to (quite literally) take the plunge and jump on a boat into the heart of this wonder of the world! If you ever find yourself in Iguazu (which you all should), then we'd definitely recommend taking the boat - it literally goes into the middle of the enormous plunge pool of the main waterfall, meaning you get totally soaked - but it is an amazing experience just looking up and seeing such a brilliant piece of nature above you.

The falls are in fact part of a larger national park and whilst they are of course the main attraction, the wildlife was pretty memorable too. I don't think we'll ever forget the mischievous coaties who lurk around all the cafes and literally jump on you the second you take your eye of your food (see pictures below!)

After the excitement of Iguazu, we spent a pretty uneventful Shabbat in Salta, where the Chabad Rabbi welcomed us and the token 20 traveling Israelis into his home. They were very hospitable, but it was also sad to see not one other person in Shul on Shabbat morning - it was literally me and Nick! On Friday afternoon we took the cable car up to see the views of Salta (impressive, but nothing on the views of Rio), and on Saturday night we took the overnight bus to Tupiza, Bolivia, which is where we are now. As close to a ghost town as either of us have ever seen, Tupiza reminds me a bit of Cuba in the sense that
it is a place that time itself seems to have forgotten. There was however one interesting commonality among the few Bolvians we have seen so far - they all have jet black hair! Perhaps it's a local fashion trend but either way it makes it very easy to pick out the foreigners!

Salta and Tupiza aren't exactly worth going out of your way to visit, but they've been useful stop-overs before we head off (not a moment too soon!) on a 4 day salt flats tour which is set to be one of the highlights of the trip!

Episode 31: the salt flats