Iguazu from the Argentinean side
Part 2
You may remember in my last blog, we were exploring the falls on the Brazilian side. In this one we explore the Argentine side of the falls, to see the side with the largest surface area of the waterfall!
The day after we went to the Brazilian side of the falls, we crossed back over the border into Argentina. The border crossing was quite quick because we where on a tour bus which has a special card that allows them to go through the line quicker than normal people in their cars. Once we got to Iguazu Falls on the Argentinian side, we had several trails we could walk. To explain where we walked, I have added a map and inserted numbers in the order of the walks we did, we deliberately did some walks early in the day in order for us not melt from the unrelenting sun.
Our first walk of the day started by walking the lower trail, where we got to see Isla San Martin (San Martin Island). From there we could see the Devil's Throat on the left-hand side of Isla San Martin and Salto San Martin (San Martin Falls) on its right. I think that is one of my favourite places where we stopped because you can see everything. Salto San Martin is the second largest waterfall at Iguazu after the devil’s throat. On the lower trail we also got to see the Salto Dos Hermanas waterfall (two sisters jump).
After doing the lower trail, we took the train up to the Devil's Throat trail. Along the way we got the opportunity to see an ‘88 butterfly’ (Diaethria anna) which was really cool. The devil's throat trail was quite difficult not because of the terrain but because it was really hot and there was no shade. However, once we got to the devil's throat it was definitely worth it. The Devil's Throat is pretty incredible. It looks like the waterfall is going down a deep hole, so deep you can't see the bottom there's just mist.
We learned a little about the animals in this part of the world, there are these really cool birds which have nests behind the waterfall. There are also these other birds that will watch everyone and when someone pulls out food they swop down and grab it.
This is the bird that waits to steal your food
After our two big walks, we took the train back down to do the upper trail our final trial for the day. From the upper trail you are on top of the water falls so you can see a different perspective on many different waterfalls. There are so many waterfalls in the Iguazu National Park that many of them don't have names. After doing the upper trail we had a little break at a cafe and then we went home because our legs were dead after that day of walking. I think we did at least eight kilometres, maybe more.
That afternoon, we had to cross back over the border to go to our resort in Brazil. You might have noticed that I in Brazil they spell Iguacu with a c, differently to Argentina. On the Argentinian side they spell it Iguazu with a z. I've been writing it the Argentinian way most of the time.
The day after this adventure, we left the resort at around seven and we went back across the border into Argentina to fly to Buenos Aires. We stayed in Buenos Aires for three nights and then we flew back over the Andes to Santiago and took a bus to Valparaiso. Of course, when we got here not everything went to plan but that makes it fun and gives us stories to tell. We have been in Valparaiso for a week now. More on our adventures in Valparaiso in the next blog.
