Mendoza to Iguassu

As with our flight to Mendoza, today’s trip to Iguassu routes us first through Buenos Aires (whose domestic airport I now know like the back of my hand). With the layover, it’s another 6 hours of travel, but of all the places we have been so far, this is the first we have come to with a specific destination in mind, which makes the butt in seat time a little less painful.

The falls themselves are in a national park, and since the only one hotel within the park itself is a Sheraton, I have to force Angela kicking and screaming to stay there. It has been a bit of a haul to get here, but walking into the lobby, with floor to ceiling windows looking out over the falls, you quickly forget whatever hardships came before. The whole hotel is built to take advantage of the location, with this set as the view from our balcony for the next five days:

The trails start just outside the hotel door, so while we hadn’t really planned on exploring much today, it is too convenient to not at least check things out a little. There are two primary paths through the park, one below the falls, and one above. With a limited amount of time left before things close up for the day, we opt for the lower trail, which is marginally closer.

It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for a good waterfall, but these are in a class by themselves. The scale here makes even Niagra Falls seem less impressive, even though they are bigger by volume (and granted, it has been a while since I was there last, so time may have diminished their impact). What we didn’t bring this time, unfortunately, was a camera 🙁

Near the end of the trail is an overlook right near the bottom of one of the falls. I couldn’t be happier. Standing at the end, with no one else around, the roar of the water is all-consuming, and the blasts of spray and air coming from the rocks at the base threaten to tear the hat from my head. It is an awesome display of nature’s power, and despite getting soaked, it is impossible to resist.

In now squishy shoes, we head back up the trail to the hotel to plan for the days ahead. High on the agenda is a visa for Brazil, so first thing tomorrow we’re heading into town, hopefully returning later in the day, visas in hand. That will leave us three solid days to wander through the park and uber-touristy boat ride through the falls. Given the view, I suspect we’ll also find some time to just relax a little on the balcony with our Kindles.