The Isaac's Trip to Argentina 2014: First Day At Iguazu

14^th February – First full day in Iguazu

Today, the plan was to visit the Iguazu Falls and experience the views from the Argentinean side. The day began with an early pick up at 7.50 a.m. from the hotel and where we were taken by mini bus to the Iguazu National Park.

After buying our tickets, we took the small ‘eco’ train through the forest to start the ‘lower’ trail through the park. We hadn't originally planned to take the boat trip up to the Falls, but since everyone on our group was going, we decided to join in also.

Before boarding the boat we were given thick waterproof bags to put all our belongings into which needed to be folded over and sealed very, very carefully. After being given some time to take photos from different viewpoints, we were told to put our cameras away. We were taken very close to the falls, right under the spray - and got thoroughly soaked! It was like the most powerful, power shower you have ever experienced. Most of the time I had to keep my eyes closed and hold my breath. It was really good fun though, and was quickly followed by a fairly fast trip down the rapids, swerving steeply to avoid some rather large rocks. Very exhilarating! The guide clearly found the whole thing highly amusing and jokingly asked if we had lost anyone overboard! I had brought some extra clothes to change into, but there wasn’t really any time to change properly before we were climbing back up into the forest to catch an open sided bus for a trip through the forest itself. I then realised that the people who were really prepared had taken all their clothes off and had done the boat trip in their swimming costumes. Although it felt really strange walking about in soaking wet clothes, literally clinging to your body, they did dry out remarkably quickly. (Walking boots passed the waterproof test with flying colours. My socks didn’t even get damp!)

We stopped for lunch (and to dry out) and then did two different upper level trails in the afternoon. The scenery was just breath-taking. I stopped taking photographs, because it just didn’t do the views justice. Instead, I videoed some of the falls, just so that I could record the noise and the sheer power of the flow of water. The most memorable experience was standing at the Devil’s Throat which was really spectacular. The worry was that there was so much to take in, I just wouldn’t be able to remember it all.

Of course, it was also Saint Valentine’s Day and in the evening we found a lovely restaurant back in Iguazu which had a special Valentine’s menu. We had such a lovely evening, but the experience did turn out to be a little surreal. But that is another, rather long story for another time.