Water, Water Everywhere!

Argentina – Iguazu Falls – Devil’s Throat

This week we left the arid, high elevations and plunged into sticky, humid climates. We started the week by flying to Iguazu to visit the waterfalls. The falls are in the rain forest, which is made even wetter by the relentless spray created by the cascading water. After a day, we flew to Buenos Aires for the remainder of the week. BA is cooler than Iguazu, but just as wet – not only is it surprisingly humid, it has rained every day so far.

1. Go

Plane – 1,343 miles. Salta to Iguazu to Buenos Aires. We opted for two 2-hour flights instead of two 20-hour bus rides. The extra cost is worth our sanity.
Bus – 61 km. We took lots of short bus rides this week – to and from the falls, from the airport in BA, and sightseeing.
Shuttle – 42 km. To and from Iguazu airport.
Metro – 21 km. To and from downtown BA while sightseeing.
Taxi – 11 km. To the airport in Salta.
Foot – 124,000 steps in 7 days (approx. 62 miles)

2. See

We were initially reluctant to add Iguazu to our trip. It was extremely out of the way, so it would cost a pretty penny to get there. In end we decided to add it in. The falls and the park were really impressive, but it’s completely overrun with crowds and coatis (like a raccoon with a long nose).

Iguazu falls are at the convergence of three countries – Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Due to visas, we stuck to the Argentina side only. Iguazu is made up of 275 distinct falls and is three times taller than Niagara falls, but holds no records (not the tallest, widest, biggest, etc). The park includes three raised walkways, one below the falls, one above, and one to the Devil’s Throat.

Argentina – Iguazu Falls

Argentina – Iguazu Falls – Devil’s Throat

The park also boasts a large animal population. We saw a toucan flying during our first hour! There were many other birds and thousands of butterflies.

Argentina – Iguazu Falls – A Pair

Argentina – Iguazu Falls _ Butterflies!

Argentina – Iguazu Falls – Blue Bird

For us, the two downsides to the park were the massive crowds and the aggressive coatis. Around one million people visit the falls annually and the walkways are narrow enough to cause congestion regularly. Much worse than the people are the coatis. The minute you enter the park, you see tons of them wandering freely with no fear of people. At first they look really cute, but then you see graphic signs warning visitors of the injuries they have caused (bites and cuts). We experienced their trickery and aggression first hand. We were having lunch at some cafe tables when a pack of ten coatis surrounded us. A few started climbing up our chairs, and while we were trying to get those away, another jumped onto the table and ran off with a bag of food! The rest of the pack ran after it, fighting over the package of cookies they scored. Luckily, the rest of our stuff was fine and we saved most of our food and, most importantly, no bites or scratches. It was upsetting since we like to be respectful, responsible tourists, but there was little that we could do, it just happened so fast.

: Argentina – Iguazu Falls – Crowds and Mist

: Argentina – Iguazu Falls – Coatis

Despite the grey skies, Buenos Aires has really impressed us. The Parisian architecture mixed with the South American flare is charming. It is by far the most sophisticated city we have visited. It reminds us of many European and North American cities – classic architecture mixed with modern architecture, clean and walkable streets, and a cafe on every corner (even a few Starbucks). The charm of Buenos Aires is in wandering the neighborhoods, catching tango street shows, sitting at cafes, and window shopping. There are way too many museums to visit in a week, but we have tried to hit some good ones. Several had Rodin pieces (one of Lindsey’s favorites). We particularly liked the Fortabat Museum – the private collection of Argentina’s wealthiest woman, Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat. It included a large variety, and even a piece by J.M.W. Turner (Pat’s favorite painter) “Juliet and her nurse.” She bought it in 1980 for $7 million, which was the most ever paid for a painting at the time.

Argentina – Buenos Aires – The Boca

Argentina – Buenos Aires – Window shopping in San Telmo

Argentina – Buenos Aires – The Kiss by Rodin

Argentina – Buenos Aires – Tango in the Street

Argentina – Buenos Aires – west of Plaza de Mayo

The Cemeterio de la Recoleta was particularly charming and eery to wander through. It’s a mini-city of crypts the size of garden sheds to garages. Some are well maintained, while other are crumbling, collapsing, and covered with cobwebs. The crypts hold coffins from multiple generations.

Argentina – Buenos Aires – Cemeterio de la Recoleta – Different Streets

Argentina – Buenos Aires – Cemeterio de la Recoleta

Argentina – Buenos Aires – Cemeterio de la Recoleta – Double Doors

Argentina – Buenos Aires – Cemeterio de la Recoleta – Cobwebs

Argentina – Buenos Aires – Cemeterio de la Recoleta – Old and New

3. Eat

And we thought Argentina couldn’t get any better! This week, we discovered the cafe culture of BA. Nearly every café has a deal where you get a coffee, 3 medialunas (slightly sweet croissants), and fresh orange juice for $5USD. It’s a typical breakfast order, but they serve it all day. We have relished these little coffee and snack breaks in this cold, rainy weather.

We also stumbled upon sausage sandwiches being served over the weekend in San Telmo – more delicious meat from Argentina.

Argentina – Buenos Aires – San Telmo grill

4. Drink

The coffee is really good in BA. Most cafés serve americanos instead of drip coffee. It’s a nice change from all the instant coffee we drank in Peru and Bolivia. We have obviously continued to imbibe in red wine… maybe a little too much lately.

5. Sleep

In Iguazu we stayed in a decent hostel with an open air kitchen. The other visitors were a little loud late at night, but that’s why we brought earplugs.

In Buenos Aires, we booked an Airbnb for the week. The location is perfect, but the apartment is meh. We enjoy that it is quiet, private, and cheap, but it’s damp, the kitchen is tiny and lacking utensils, and the solitary window faces the interior breezeway. We’ve made due, but we will be happy to leave.

6. Move

We are back to walking a ton. We had a 30,000 step day while visiting Iguazu falls. Pat has gotten in a few runs in BA (he loves to run in the rain). Lindsey has been focusing on weights and circuits, taking advantage of the large mirror in the Airbnb apartment.

Check out Pat’s CADENCE Week 10 post for details about this week.