Pretty Places: Iguazú

This time we took a few days and went north, up to Iguazú Falls, which is currently a candidate for one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World (there’s an on-going vote). I just got back this afternoon.

When atomic bombs had just roared into the world’s consciousness, people had no idea what they would do. They were terrified of all sorts of things: that atomic bombs would reverse the earth’s magnetic poles, or, my favorite, that they would blow a hole in the earth so big all the ocean’s would drain through. Iguazu Falls looks like this. All the water is just dropping away, cascading forcefully into a void of white mist. A few sparrows flit in and out of the fog of spray, the only small black marks on an endless white. 

Walkways have been set up so you can get close to the immense series of falls, and stand atop the point where river turns to falling rapids. Other walkways give you full views of the fall. Looking out at the palm trees, thick growths of vines and tall forests that cover the islands,  my friend Shaina said something I couldn’t agree with more, it was like being in the land of the dinosaurs. Still for me, while the views were fantastic, walking across an even metal platform to get there made me feel even more distanced from the experience, even more like a tourist.

I have a thing about texture. So much of daily life is visual, and everything seems to be smooth: chairs, tables, the computer mouth, the glasses, book covers. Modern society has a plethora of colors but little variety for the other senses. The point being, I wanted to feel that I was somewhere new, not just see it.   

We managed to shake things up a bit. We took a boat ride across one of the rivers. It was a peaceful affair, nice but not super exciting. That was our next boat trip. A speed boat brought us right under the falling water, so it pounded on us, making it almost impossible to open our eyes, hard for some people to even breath. I loved it. The water is relentless, and soaked us through, a welcome change from the humidity.

Back at the town we cooled off with some oddly flavored ice cream, including Kiwi and Yerba Mate.

Our second day was charged with thunderstorms, which cut short our trek through the jungle itself. This dirt path went to a waterfall where you could swim around, but we never got that far. Not swayed by my insistence that we probably wouldn’t be hit by lightning yet, a friend decided it was time to turn around. The mud was red like we’d found Mars, and the jungle grew thick around us. It seems tame from a wide path, but it must have been terrifying to be the first to hack through plants so thick they cut out almost all light.

As we began to head back, a coapi (kind of like a long-nosed raccoon) ran across our path. I had lost my camera case in Santa Tierra, so was storing it in a sock and a plastic grocery bag. I began to pull it from my pocket, thinking a coapi on our path would, honestly, make a nice addition for Facebook. The plastic rustled. The coapi turned. We’d been warned these creatures get violent around food and not to feed them. (Presumably coapi are like geese, in that if you offer geese a piece of bread, the birds assume this is it only because you have an infinite storage of bread to give them. If you do not then feed the geese to the point of bloating, they assume you are holding out on them and express this in a fit of bitey rage.). And coapi have sharp teeth. And claws. The animal walked over to my friend, and we both held very still. Possibly he (she?) smelled leftovers from lunch in her bag. I moved away and my plastic bag, now in my hand, inadvertently rustled again, which drew the coapi to me. I held the bag away from my body and let him examine it, thinking he would see it wasn’t food, and let us be. The coapi came to his hind legs and pawed the bag, and I let him take it. He tore it open and found a very non-tasty sock. The problem started when he grabbed the sock in his mouth and began to hop away, back into the jungle, taking my photos and pricey camera with him. Fortunately, when I stamped the ground he dropped it and wandered off a bit.

a different coapi, earlier on

Our third and last day, we found that rainforests do, in fact, rain.  It downpoured, which kept us inside a lot, playing endless matches of foosball. (Not really complaining there). There’s not much to do inside in Iguazú, unless you go to the shopping mall or casino. We braved the rain and went to Guira Oga, an animal rehabilitation center. Here, jungle animals who have been kept as pets or smuggled around are rehabilitated. (One set of monkeys had previously been pets. There mother was shot and they were drugged with water laced with wine then taken to be sold). They may be released again into the wild, but more likely they’ll just be taken care of in a more natural way and their children will be put back in the wild. Injured animals are also taken in, including one bird who’s jaw had been shot off by a hunter.

It was interesting to see the animals, all in large caged off areas. They were in pens in a jungle, but it wasn’t the same as seeing wild animals. The difference was, they weren’t afraid of us, and, more importantly, we weren’t afraid of them. I saw several coapis in the rehab center being treated for diabetes they had developed after eating tourist’s chocolates and processed food. My first instinct, glimpsed their fuzzie heads, was to think how adorable they were, before I recognized them as threatening little camera-thieves.

My favorites were seeing a toucan (not as big as I would have thought) and a type of monkey that looks like a bush. The bush-monkeys were huddle in the rain, just two furry spheres squatting on the handrail. Apparently the female monkeys are the territorial ones and will claim an area and a mate. We were warned not to get too close or the she would get angry; regardless whether your human or even another species of monkey, these females will see you as a threat. The bush-monkey had been give a trainer to help rehabilitate her (I’m not sure what the problem was) but the trainer was a woman, so she’d have none of it.

Traveler’s Tips


How to Arrive

Our bus was Crucero del Norte, and the best we’ve been on. The food varies from tasty chicken to airplane food (in a flash of Americanism, I dreamed of salad, and received fast food French fries and a Milanese covered in cheap cheese. Still, they give you alright food). The bathrooms are both clean and have toilet paper and soap (most bars don’t even give you that much). The buses to arrive and to leave both arrived pretty much on time, even according to American standards.

Where to Stay

We stayed at Hostel Park Iguazu. It was decent, with a full-sized pool, a foosball table, 2 computers, and hammocks. At least one of the desk attendants knew English, and the rooms, though small, were fine, save from 2 cockroaches.

(After our failed attempts to catch cockroach, a friend went to the desk, and not even trying Spanish, announced, “Bug. Big one.” The attendant gave her two plastic cups and a can of Raid. She came back: “It got away into the ceiling” she told him. “Why don’t you keep the can?”, he said.”)

What to Do

The tours we did are common and you’ll see a “Jungle” stand at the park offering them. The boat Eco tour down the river isn’t worth the price for just it (we got it in a deal with the other trip, costing only 35 pesos more). It’s not very exciting, and you can only hear the guide if you sit really close to him (and speak Spanish). You might see animals, but you might not. We didn’t.

The under the waterfall tour can be done for about 135 pesos or so, which we did, or combined with a  on the rapids ride and a jeep ride through a jungle, for 200-something pesos.

We were planning on paying 200 pesos to walk the Devil’s Throat (Garganuta del Diablo) path at night, but it got rained out. They’re very good at giving you your money back if you cancel.

I recommend Guira Oga, the animal refuge we went to. It cost 40 pesos, and is offered even in the rain. Our guide only spoke in Spanish, and wasn’t great about waiting until everyone was there to hear her, but you see cool animals, and it’s certainly worth the price.

You can get tickets to the falls and to Guira Oga at the bus terminal in the town for 10 pesos each way. Tell the bus driver when you get on if you want him to stop at Guira Oga.  You may be able to only pay 4 pesos just to go to Guira Oga, but the terminal will charge you 10 if you buy from them. I believe you can just hand the bus driver cash directly.

What to avoid
Even though the park's water fountains advertise 24hour purification, don't risk drinking the water. A friend of mine made this mistake, and it more or less took her out of commission for a day and a half. (I can't promise that this was the culprit, but we can't think of any other reason). She threw up that night, and didn't feel well enough to hike much the next day.

Brazil
If you're like me, your guidebook told you Americans can waltz into Brazil without paying a fee, if they only plan to stop over for the day. This, it seems, is a cruel cruel lie. According to our hostel and everyone we asked, Americans need to go to the Brazilian representative and apply for a pass into the country, which may take about a day to get and may costs about $100 or $140 (my memory fails me). This is a reciprocation fee, which Brazil charges because the US does the same to it. The majority of the falls are on the Argentinean side, and while going into Brazil means you see Iguazú from all angles, it doesn't offer you much that's new or different. At the very least, that's what I've come to feel after talking to traveler's coming over from the Brazil side: Argentina's section is just larger and more impressive. If you feel daring and don't have a problem with illegality, you can try taking a taxi into Paraguay (which is free), and from there travel into Brazil.

Paraguay
I didn't go there myself, but I've been told that area of Paraguay close to Iguazú is appreciated for very cheap goods, but not for sightseeing. Argentineans and tourists will cross over to stock up on clothes and souvenirs.