Iquazu Falls!

Back from a glorious weekend trek to Iguazu Falls with pics to share! It worked out perfectly to do this trip from Buenos Aires and back, with mi comadre Suzie, and together we survived our first overnight bus rides... 18 hours of fun all the way to the Argentina/Brazil border. When we set out after school on Friday it began to rain - forecasts for weekend in Iguazu looked bad and whaddya know!? Buenos Aires - perfect. We were beginning to think our joint travel plans were seriously cursed with the weather, and rolled into Iguazu on Saturday afternoon feeling a bit discombobulated and disappointed with the grey, rainy skies. We got ourselves settled at our hostel (Hostel Inn) which is seriously THE backpacker haven. This has got to be the largest hostel in existence, with immaculate facilities (rooms not so much)and anything you could ever need. It was like an international airport terminal + a nice hotel quality pool, restaurant, bar, travel agent, internet area, kitchen, pool and shuffleboard tables, lounge area... we were impressed. I was so mad at this pool though. Terrible weather on first day and when we drove past it on on our way to catch our sleepytime bus it had transformed into a gorgeous and festive pool party. BAH!

We turned in early so we could beat the rush and get into the park right when it opened at 9, and when we awoke, que sorpresa! Blue skies and perfect weather! Seriously, the perfect day. At our hostel we arranged an hour trek to start that took us through the jungle in a jeep and then we boarded a boat for an up close and personal view of 2 of the main falls, aka a powerful shower that left me wet for the entire day. So fun! We didn't see any animals except a ton of coatis (raccoon-like animal that was all over the park) and the most amazing butterflies I have ever seen. So many shapes, sizes, colors, landing on me all day.

From 9-3:30 we covered the entire Argentinean side of the national park and were blown away by the beauty and size of the falls. I've never seen waterfalls this impressive, in such a lush, verdant environment. The crowds weren't nearly as bad as I imagined and it was perfect temperature for hiking around the 3 main circuits. I'm tellin' ya... put this place on your to-do list and hope for a day like ours;)










Back in BA I was finally able to get information about what had happened in Chile. Fortunately Buenos Aires is verrrry far away from the epicenter in Concepcion, although some areas of Argentina that are closer to the border of Chile did feel it. The areas most effected by the 8.8 quake besides Concepcion are Santiago, Talcahuano, Temuco, Valparaiso, and Vina Del Mar, and if this had happened next month I would have been very much in the thick of it. My plan was to enter central Chile through Santiago in April and head to the coast to visit Valpo and Vina, but clearly they have been removed from my itinerary. Unfortunately the death toll is inevitably climbing, aftershocks are possible, so many missing people, Santiago airport closed, and looting has begun. All these disasters... so scary and so sad.

This final week is going to pass quickly as I attempt to cover the remaining things I want to do here in BA and simultaneously get everything in order for my departure on Sunday. The real backpacking adventure will officially commence with my flight to the end of the world! I fly to Ushuaia, the southernmost tip of Patagonia, on Sunday afternoon.

But before that, a final ode to Buenos Aires coming soon...