Back on the bus!

Mark and I just spent 2 nights in Puerto Iguazu, just outside of Iguazu Falls National Park: The bus ride from B.A. to here was nearly 17 hours, but since we were riding first class it was very comfortable. The seats fully recline, and the leg rest lays parallel to the ground, transforming into a bed. I managed to sleep off and on for about 8 hours overnight, which was nice. The food wasn't too bad either- hot vegetarian dinner, and a small, albeit junk foody, breakfast. Our hostel is only 2 blocks from the bus station, so we didn't have to schlep our bags too far.

Anyway, the first night here we were lucky enough to catch the last full moon tour of the falls in December. It was incredible! First we caught the local bus into the park (less than 4 dollars round trip), then walked in the dark with our group to a narrow guage train that took us to the catwalks leading to the largest of the falls, la Garganta del Diablo. The walk was pretty creepy, but very cool, lit up by just the barely rising moon. By the time we crossed over the giant Iguazu River (which is the natural border between Argentina and Brazil), we finally reached the falls.

This flower only opens at night

The sight was breathtakingly beautiful. Because the moon was just rising, it was very large and orange, and it shone on the falls so that I almost couldn't believe what I saw. Actually, it was quite scary to stand on the catwalks because they extended all the way to where the water begins to plummet. And the spray from the bottom was so powerful that it reached well above the falls into the sky. Amazing. I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately, because there just wasn't enough light for my little digi. You'll just have to go to see it for yourself.

Standing over the falls in the moonlight (scary)

The next day we went back to the park to see the falls in the light of day. It was hot and insanely humid, and we hiked all over for a good 6 hours, before heading out to the Diablo for another look. We spent only about 10 minutes out at the falls before the dark clouds and powerful wind forced us to head back. We didn't make it to the train before it began to pour, soaking us from head to toe. We didn't even have time to put our ponchos on :P The day was amazing and exhausting, leaving us little energy to even eat dinner before we crashed for the night.

Coati meandering through the park

Looming clouds that brought torrential rain

Today we're getting back on the bus, another long one, through B.A., to Mar del Plata.