On the road to Iguazu Falls and Iguazu Falls, (April 23 to April 25, 2011)

Our first day on the road from Humahuaca was brutal. 710 kms from a desert to hilly and green. 500 kilometers were driven on a straight road, not very entertaining, but we still believe that driving our own car is the best option to discover a country such as Argentina. We try to find a hotel in a small village and the best hotel recommended to us by some locals scares us away... We end up 140 kilometers further in a very decent hotel in Pampa de Los Guanacos. The following day, another 670 kms . Another tiring day. The scenery has changed when we reached Resistencia, hotter and much more humid. We will end up this day in Posadas, a city without much charm on the riverside of the Parana. On the other side of the river, it is Paraguay.

Above Paraguay by night !
We finally arrive in Puerto Iguazu, and book a room in Hostel Peter Pan. I wonder, later on, if this hostel is not a community to give a second career to prostitutes. You should have seen the ladies helping the clients out here : breasts ahead and passing over the bras, with a hip swing! Alain does not mind...

Iguazu Falls under a bright blue sky and a very nice temperature of around 30 degrees without too many tourists. Did you know that  the name "Iguazu" comes from the Guarani word  meaning "water", and ûasú, meaing "big". Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. Numerous islands along the 2.7-kilometre  long edge divide the falls into about 275 separate waterfalls and cataracts, varying between 60 metres and 82 metres high.

It's just magic ! The park is splendid, and although it is very well maintained, Nature is king ! We will see coatis,

multicolored butterflies by hundreds !

We have different views of the falls from the lower trail, to the upper trail and in the end, Garganta del Diablo Falls ! About half of the river's flow falls into a long and narrow chasm : Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo). The Devil's Throat is U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide, and 700-meter-long.  Wow ! wow !

People around us stare at the falls in awe ! when they see the power of the water and the size of the falls crashing down, they just stand there and don't talk any more. Nature with its overwhelming power at work !

We are thrilled by our day, not any disappointment. For both of us, a dream came true !

This is where we are at the end of the day.

Tomorrow, we will be on the Road Again To...