"Poor Niagara:" Iguazú Falls

Hola todos,

First things first, some updates:
First: We are already one week into April, which is absolutely insane. This means that I have less than a month left here in BA (just over three weeks, actually). This reality of being so close to the final deadline of departure has been slowly hitting me, so I've been spending a lot of time checking out things on my "BA to-do" list and getting out of the school and my home so that I can have no regrets!
Second: my mom visited BA! It was so much fun and I had a blast showing her this city in which I have built a life for myself. Additionally, we traveled to Iguazú Falls together, which was crazy cool! (And, without further ado, here is the post...)

Rumor has it that, upon seeing Iguazú Falls for the first time, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed: "Poor Niagara!" I visited these incredible cataratas (waterfalls) recently and, although I haven't seen the Niagara Falls of New York, I can imagine that Iguazú is pretty hard to beat.
I got very upclose and personal with the Falls- I took a boat trip that took us into some of the cascading water! (But I didn't get any photos of this part because I didn't want to drown my camera...)

Here is a quick map- my mom and I bused over 17 hours from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú, the town nearest to the Iguazú Falls National Park.

Before heading to the Falls, we went to the Tres Fronteras monument in Puerto Iguazú. From here, you can see three countries, thus the name Tres Fronteras (which means "three borders"). I am standing in Argentina, the land in the background on my right is Paraguay, and the land in the background on my left is Brazil!

Walking through the Iguazú Falls National Park is like walking through the Amazon! (Technically, although Iguazú is not located in the Amazon, it is located in a rainforest.)

You can see the mist from the Falls rising above the tree line- we are still pretty far away from the Falls at this point.

My mom and I at the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), the largest and most famous part of the Falls.

You can't see the bottom of the Garganta del Diablo because there is too much mist! The incredible power of the Falls continually awed me. Although they look incredible and, from a distance, seem peaceful and pretty, this raw power of nature could easily kill you. It's all about perspective.

(Garganta del Diablo again)

The little creatures were everywhere... And they were not afraid of tourists! One even jumped up onto the table where my mom and I were eating lunch and stole a whole pack of cookies! Don't be fooled by their cuteness and friendliness.

The Garganta del Diablo from further away- plus some greenery to frame the view.

Whoa. What. Iguazú Falls cannot be called a "waterfall" because there are simply too many separate waterfalls within the Falls National Park!

Hello, excuse me? Yes, sorry. I'm lost. I was travelling through Argentina and somehow made it here, to the Garden of Eden or something. Can you help me find my way back?

(There is a rainbow by my right arm!)

This picture that I was lucky enough to take is the perfect example of the crazy beauty of the Iguazú Falls National Park .

It's absolutely crazy to think that I got to experience this little piece of paradise, and to think that I wasn't even able to see the whole park. If you go, try and take two days to walk around to all of the view points (there is even one spot where you can go sit at a beach and swim in an offshoot waterfall!)

I took my last long South American bus ride and stayed in my last hostel... well, at least for now. But that doesn't mean my Argentina adventures are done! I still have a few more weeks here, so check back for future posts about my last few weeks here!

Besos,

Tina the Exploradora