Today was easily the best day of the trip so far! It started off with breakfast. There was a fancy spread with things you might find on a charcuterie board alongside medialunas (Argentinian croissants), but most of us just went for cereal. It was simple, but it felt right.
After that, we finally got to go to Iguazu Falls. This was the place everyone had been waiting for. On the bus, our tour guide told us we would be walking somewhere between five and ten miles and that we would be out there for six hours. To be honest, I thought that this would be terrible. However, time passed quickly, and I enjoyed all 20,000 steps and all 6 hours.
We hiked three trails to see different parts of the waterfalls. While we walked, we joked around. Whenever we saw a small waterfall, someone would say, “Oh wow, this is what we came for,” and we would all laugh. But then we reached the first huge waterfall. It was unbelievable. The water rushing down, the sound, the view, someone said, “Is this what it looks like when you enter heaven?” and for a second, that is exactly how it felt. The next two trails brought even more views that were just as incredible. It felt like something out of a dream.
After all the trails, we visited the point where Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil all meet called Tres Puntos. It was really cool standing in that exact spot and looking out across three countries at once. There was one quiet, sad moment when we saw a sick stray dog nearby, and it stuck with a lot of us. Still, we enjoyed our time there, took pictures, and spent time together.
When we got back to the hotel, everyone started debating whether we could go in the pool. After lots of talking, we finally agreed we could. Only six people actually got in, but that didn’t matter. Others played ping pong and card games nearby. Everyone was just having fun being around each other.
Later that night, a large group of us ended up in one room playing UNO. The room was packed, but nobody complained. It felt like the perfect way to end the day. -Arush
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Today we began with breakfast at the Raíces del Plata hotel where we ate medialunas (croissants) and many other yummy pastries! Soon afterwards we met our tour guide, Óscar, and boarded a bus that took us to the Iguazú National Park. Óscar explained how the falls lie along the Iguazú river which is one of the widest in the world. The Iguazú river also creates a natural border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
Once we reached the park, we took a train to see the Devils Throat and the Brazilian side of the falls. We learned that Devils Throat is where the majority of the river empties and we also saw the Brazilian watch center from our side of the waterfalls. There was a lot of mist and wind which made it quite chilly; however, it warmed up as the day went on.
After taking many photos, we left Devils Throat to start the Upper Trail where we hiked along the tops of the Argentinian falls. During this hike we ran into a large group of Coatis which are raccoon-like animals from the same family, Procyonidae. A couple of them even reached for our purses and bags! We stopped for lunch, and I had some asado pork sausages and choco torta. Outside of the restaurant we saw many Capuchino monkeys surveying and doing tricks to get snacks from nearby tourists.
We then began the Lower Trail where we saw all the Argentinian falls from below. At this point in the day, the sun had come out and we saw a beautiful rainbow along the falls. Next, we left the Iguazú National Park and drove to Tres Puntos: a section on the river where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet. While we were there, we visited a small market and took many “golden hour” photos!
Finally, we returned to the hotel and some of us decided to go in the pool despite the chilly weather. Sophie and I dominated during chicken fights which made the cold temperatures totally worth it. We quickly took showers and warmed up before heading to dinner. Lastly, we were given an hour to hangout before bed and the whole group played Uno and Spoons. -Riya