Day 6 and 7 - Puerto Iguazu and the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls
Our travel day from El Calafate to Puerto Iguazu was not my favorite day. Hannah had developed a cold as we arrived in El Calafate and it was peaking in its grossness and malice the day we flew from El Calafate to Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu so I had a fussy, at times feverish baby on my hands who also had a gross case of viral conjunctivitis as well as a snotty nose. Bleh. She also slept on the way to the airport, woke up as soon as we reached our gate, only slept for fifteen minutes on the first several hour flight and then fell asleep for the last fifteen minutes of our last flight. Sigh. It was an afternoon full of fussy baby juggling for Daniel and myself and we were beat. And sadly so was Hannah.
When we landed, they told us we had to wait at least 10-15 minutes before we could disembark for some weird reason, so Daniel took Hannah to play in the bathroom sink. ...You do what you have to do!
We finally reached our oasis in Iguazu, sweaty and super crazy hungry but delighted to find out that the loft we had reserved and the apartment we had reserved for our other four friends were actually adjoining spaces - so we had basically rented out a two story cabin. We were nestled in the jungle and our balcony actually overlooked lush green trees, offered the sounds of rushing water, and a small view of Brazil just across the river. Our rooms were gorgeous and spacious and offered several balconies, which Hannah loved. The other awesome feature? There was a delicious restaurant on site that delivered dinner free of charge - so we were able to let Hannah sprawl out and crawl around and play AND eat a delicious restaurant level meal. HUGE win! The mini bar was also the same price as the restaurant drinks, so there was no incentive not to just serve ourselves. Overall it was perfect for the first night and we were able to put Hannah to sleep and then eat dinner and casually hang out while she slept.
Naked baby of the jungle enjoying our balcony!
Gearing up to head out to the falls!
Without getting into all of the details...finding a rental car was tricky. We could not rent a car in Argentina and drop it off in Brazil. We had to rent and return from the same spot, so the logistics were tricky. We also had to worry about border crossing rules specific to each company, widely variable cost, and availability. In the end, on Thursday morning Daniel and Chris took a taxi across the border into Brazil and went to the Foz do Iguassu airport and rented two cars from Hertz. Then they re-entered Argentina and picked us up to head out to the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls. Everything about this day took longer than expected. We drove out to the National Park, parked our cars and sunblocked up, and then began trying to navigate our way through the park. It was several different trail systems, each of which offer different views of the falls. Many of the trails cannot be easily accessed unless you take a train out to them - the train runs through the park, but you have to wait in queues to catch each of them and they are SO SO SO SLOW. To get to the best trail/boardwalk (The Devil's Throat) you have to take the train to one station, get off the train and back into an additional line, wait accordingly, and then take a second train up to the top trail.
Chris got a good picture of these mischevous critters in action - meet the Coati
As our first train pulled up to the mid point station we all noticed a flurry of furry critters scampering around and Hannah pointed and shouted "dohg"! They were the size of a medium/large adult cat/small dog...with anteater like noses and raccoon tails that stood straight up in the air. They were an animal called a "Coati" and they were wild and free, incredibly unabashed by humans, and flocking this way! Hannah LOVED them. She was excited every time she saw one and wanted so badly to pet them and to follow them. We hopped back in line and headed to the top station and trail. Once we reached that trail we took a few minutes to eat and got to observe the flocks of coatis in action. They are definitely cute...but also a nuisance. They beg and fight over scraps and a local worker kept coming by with a stick that had a water bottle full of rocks on it and shooing the coatis back into the jungle. While we were eating, I had Hannah in my lap and reached into my green bag to get more food for her...in the process her Burts Bees Diaper Rash + Powder cream fell out of the bag, and before I could pick Hannah up and then lunge for the cream the coatis descended on it, snatched it up, and ran away into the jungle. Seriously?! Wow.
Hannah on the train
taking the snails pace train through the jungle
sleepy Hannah and me with my new bought-it-for-my-birthday hat (okay, I forgot a hat and was freaking out about being in such direct sunlight and my birthday is a good excuse not to hate myself for buying a hat at tourist trap prices)
Daniel snuck into the jungle and got it back for Hannah. Such a good dad - but he was really worried about getting swarmed by the furry buggers when he crawled into the jungle. Tom documented the valiant rescue effort.
Daniel after emerging from the jungle of swarming coatis
After that we were finally off to Garganta del Diablo - The Devil's Throat. Iguazu Falls is an extensive waterfall system that spans further than the eye can see...it is an incredible sight. The very roaring heart, the most tumultuous center of this fall system is called Garganta del Diablo. And from the Argentine park you can walk a boardwalk/raised bridge trail that extends over 1,100 meters - an extensive walk that will talk you right out to the very precipice of the Garganta del Diablo.
I should also add that this boardwalk was wiped out by major flooding during the rainy season 1-2 years ago and has just recently been rebuilt and is newly accessible. ...We saw some of the pillars left from the old trail as we headed out.
the extensive boardwalk heading out to Garganta del Diablo
It looks so innocent doesn't it?
so simple...but...SO incredible!
By the time we set out on the boardwalk it was mid afternoon - EVERYTHING had taken longer than expected - renting the car, getting to the park and getting into the park, taking the trains back to this trail, grabbing a "quick" lunch, etc. so we were feeling the time crunch and decided to speed walk the boardwalk so we could spend more time at the site and then make it down to the other trails. So, we trekked the 1,100 meters and soon found ourselves reaching the platforms amidst an absolute thunder of rushing water. As we slowed down and worked our way to the leftmost corner of the platform, we each had our own moment of true awe. ...I think the words out of my mouth were "holy holy shit..." (I am originally from New Jersey after all). Not only did the platform extend out to the edge of the Garganta del Diablo (which we hadn't quite worked our way to yet), but...as far as you could see to the left and across the gorge heading left...there were waterfalls...everywhere. It was utterly, dizzyingly spectacular. I looked behind me to see what Hannah thought only to discover, sure enough...she had fallen soundly asleep. The coati excitement and the speed walking had lulled her to sleep.
I made it! ...and Hannah is sleeping hard in the ergo
Natalie, Meredith, and Chris enjoying the view
Iguazu Falls in all its glory
risky risky use of a selfie stick
Daniel with the edge of the heart of the Garganta del Diablo over his shoulder
We soaked in the views and steadily inched our way to the right...to the corner of the platform that overlooked the Garganta del Diablo. And that was truly breathtakingly insane. By far one of the absolutely most amazing sights I have ever ever seen.
Garganta del Diablo
Garganta del Diablo - doesn't it just take your breath away looking at it? We took this from the platform standing on the very precipice of this insane wonder!
We speed walked back to the station and hopped the painfully slow train to the middle station. From there we prioritized and chose the lower trail, the blue trail over the red trail. The red trail was an upper trail, which would have been more of the same - along the top of the falls. The lower trail would give us other perspectives. From here we realized that the falls around the Garganta del Diablo were only some of the falls - there was an entire other section of massive, breathtaking waterfalls we had not even realized existed! We could also see some of the trails on the Brazilian side that we would be doing the following day. We took our time as best we could, enjoying the different views and right at the end found a place where we could really get thoroughly misted/doused and finally cool down - just as a park worker pretty much escorted us off the trails. He followed us/politely chased us off the trail and we headed out of the park - which was quite a walk since we tried to manage to get out without getting back on the sooo slow train.
View from the lower trail - the Garganta del Diablo is to the left, the right is an entire additional round of waterfalls!
Snacks, diaper changes, and chilling for a moment with miss Hannah
really terrible attempt at a group photo haha
family picture at Iguazu falls!
That night we all dipped in the pool to finally truly cool off and then all hung out and ordered from the restaurant together. By hanging out together, not in a restaurant, it was a lot easier for everyone to take turns playing with Hannah and our friends let us actually chew and swallow our food! It was so nice! We each picked a different dessert and had a little dessert party and enjoyed recounting the best parts of the day. Bound for Brazil to see more of the falls in the morning! :)
Chris indulging Hannah in her narcissistic obsession with videos of herself
ah, room service from the Romantique restaurant, how we were so grateful for you. Great food with great friends
and OMG passion fruit mousse. ahhhhhmazing.
oh yeah...the airlines lost our child carseat carrier. AGAIN. Daniel almost ALMOST missed the connecting flight in Buenos Aires trying to track it down...but...unlike Turkish Airlines...LAN airlines had it in our hands within 24 hours of when it was lost. Thumbs up LAN, thumbs up.
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