Iguazu Falls, Tafi Del Valle, and Cafayte - Argentina

Spectaular. Iguazu Falls truly is a wonder of nature.

Firstly though, we survived the bus there which was no hard feat when you are sitting in the upstairs front seats of a double decker bus and have a panoramic view of the landscape along the way. The further north we travelled, the more lush the scenery was. Plantations of sugarcane, bananas, orchids and just trees and grass and greenery everywhere, with rich red brown soils that bleed everywhere onto the highways.

Arriving in the middle of the day, we were grateful the hostel we stayed in had a pool as the humidity was intense. But perfect blue sky summer weather and we headed to Iguazu early the next day on the local bus. Its about 30 mins from the town centre of Puerto Iguazu. The entry fee is about $30 aus to enter Parque Iguazu on the Argentinian side and walking through the gates almost felt like a amusement park. But you quickly disperse from the entry and the shops, and lose any crowds around you. There are 3 trails you can walk which meander through the park before you see the falls. And when you do, its breathtaking and so beuatiful, and really loud with such an immense amount of water. We took the lower trail first upon advice and you can so close to the falls that you get wet (not so much on the Brailzian side which we didnt go to). Footbridges take you around every vantage point possible and needless to say, we took hundreds of photos as its just so picturesque and lush. You can take a free boat across a section of the falls and then hike up a mountain in the centre for amazing close views. And then, you can swim! How cool to swim in Iguazu Falls! There is a train which takes you to the Garganta del Diablo (Devils Throat) which is the main semi-circular section of the falls where the world literally seems to drop away. Its awe inspiring and we were either lost for words, or could simply mutter basics like ´wow´.

So we had a greta day, did all the trails, and saw lots of wildlife including spiders, and millions of colourful butterflies that land on you as they please, and birds with blue crests, and these animals (cant remember what they called, but they have short legs, a long tail which sticks up and a long pointy nose and are about the size of a wombat maybe). They are really quite tame and cruise about the rainforest. We came across about 20 of them and they could smell something sweet in jebs bag so they were right into and we had to really fight to get the bag back. Very cool.

We had wanted to go from Iguazu to Salta but the bus was full so we took a bus to Tucuman instead (still 22 hours). Have to tell you about the bus food for this trip...for dinner there was 3 different types of sandwichs all with ham and cheese! And, we had already had the same thing for lunch! And they cut the crusts off bread here. Gotta laugh...

Tucuman is just another city, so we deicided to get on another bus for 2 hours north and go to a small town called Tafi Del Valle with a population of 4000, and and an elevation of 2000. The bus ride was amazing as you drive through an amazing rainforest valley which looked like it was out of a fairytale. The lushest place i think ive ever seen, there was no sense of where one tree finsihed and the next began. Everywhere was just green and mossy with a big creek running through the middle of it. So glad we didnt go straight to Salta, because to arrive in Tafi was a blessing. There are mountains surrounding this valley and we hiked one for views of the area with a Dutch doctor we met. It rained all night which was unfortunate, so we left the next afternoon and came to Cafayte which is where we are now. The bus ride again was scenic but this time the vegetation changed to arid landscapes with huge cactus marking the hills everwhere you looked.

Cafayate is a wine producing region and is also surrounded by big mountains. We did a small wine tour yesterday. The best grape in Argentina is called the malbec. Wine here tends to be very dry and my favourite tasting was of the rose which is unsual for me. Last night, the hostel we are staying in put on a huge bbq feast, local wines and tunes. Ahh life is hard...gotta go now as we are taking a trip through the canyon area.

Rosario, Argentina

Rosario in the province of Santa Fe, and is considered the third biggest city in Argentina. It lies on the Western shore of the Panama River so there is a fishing industry here and to give myslef a break from meat, we went for dinner last night on the river and ate fish. It kinda tasted like roast chicken though. Not that im complaining! It was really tasty and good and fresh water fish tastes different anyway, but yeah, it kinda tasted like chicken. We have been eating very well here (albeit with little greens) and not always the regular backpacker diet as you may expect from Jeb and i. At least you can do it fairly cheaply here. But you also realise what you miss about home and food is one of them. In particular, we are missing brocooli and good salads, and spicy foods and thai. The fruit it pretty good, but vegies not so. Its all meat, potato and cheese, so a breakway fish meal was great last night even if it did taste like chicken.

Rosario is the birth town of the revotionary leader Che Guevara, and we stopped by his house yesterday. Its just a signpost on the street now, and there is also a mural monument, but he really was born here and Rosario can wave their hands high about that title. We also checked out the Flag Moument which is a massive structure and overlooks the river. The city is a little cleaner and nicer than Buenoes Aires and apparetnly has a cranking night scene, but we have mostly chilled here for 2 days as the hostel we are staying in is new and has almost no-one here so the peace and space has been appreciated.

Our bus to Iguazu Falls leaves at 7pm tonight, and we arrive at 1.30pm the next day. The seats fully recline and we get feed and attended to so should be a pleasant road trip even if it is 18 hours.

San Telmo, Buenos Aires

San Telmo is a section of Buenos Aires which is especially famous for tango. It´s just outside the city centre, and we stayed here for 4 nights. But alas, we did not tango...instead, we did the reggae-tone beat til early hours of the morning in true Buenos Aires style for Jeb´s birthday. Buenos Aires really doesnt sleep and the action does not kick off til after midnight and in clubs it all starts happening about 3am. Gives a new meaning to the word siesta, and we have definitely settled into the routine of sleeping late as a result. Dinner also does not happen til after 9pm so an adjustment of the clock is necessary.

The drink of choice (ok, lets be honest...one of the drinks of choice) for the bday evening was Fernet which is a popular drink in these parts of the country. Medicinal tasting liquor, with a hint of mint and herbs and a strange aftertaste...the only thing i can compare to is jagermeister. But you drink this with Coke and people love it here. So when in rome...

On a Sunday in San Telmo, there are famous antique markets where people flock to snag a bargain and experience the area in its quaint glory. Antiques dont interest me much but it was cool to wander through the streets and check out very old chandeliers, paintings, vases, watches etc, and watch street perfomers and tango dancers do their stuff in the cobblestone streets.

Futbol is a phenomenom here in Argentina, and a item on our agenda, so Sunday we went to a Boca Juniors game which is the most popular team in the Argentinian leagure and home to the legendary Diego Maradona. The area of La Boca is actually very impoversihed and quite dangerous at night with some sketchy slums and favella areas. Tix are all reservered for members of the stadium and there are more members than tix. We had heard some horror stories of people getting robbed and riped off and i wasnt confident of my spanish to haggle with scalpers so we opted for a tour option where tix were guarenteed. Was truly an experience and the vivacious fans go absoultely nuts. A concrete stadioum felt like it was moving amid the continous cheers, songs, jumping and dancing. Very squishy and packed but dry at least considering it was pouring rain and alot of people werent so lucky being under cover. Boca won 3-1 with all the action happening in the last half...very cool, glad we got to experience one of the most craziest futbol teams in the world in their home stadium.

But enough of Buenes Aires...we felt like we had seen everything and wanted to get out of the main city. BA is great but with its European architecture and big city feel, we wanted to move on to more Andean and inigenous areas. So on a bus today to Rosario which is still a major city north west of BA, but we on the move north. The seats on the bus for this 4 hour trip were awesome and they were only a`semicama´. This means you gets snacks, lunch, your seat fully reclines with lots of space and it comfy. For the next class up and not much more money, you can fully lay flat in the bus and sleep like a baby. We are heading to Iguazu Falls on Thursday in this kinda seating which is greta becuase its about 18 hours or so.

Thats definitely enough from me now...ciao x