Tag 30 - Puerto Iguazú

The reason for our stop in the north of Argentina is the Iguazu Falls. These are among the top attractions in Argentina and Brazil and are the largest waterfalls in the world. We were excited to see what awaited us and had booked tickets in advance for the park opening at 8 a.m. So the alarm went off early for a change and after breakfast we headed to the bus stop in front of the hotel. From there the city bus took us directly to the entrance of the national park. From there a small, ancient train drove to the starting point of the three different hiking trails in the park. An employee gave us a few tips in perfect German on how to escape the crowds and where we could get the best view (with a rainbow). We went through the forest past huge spider webs and the first small waterfalls before we could hear and finally see the masses of water from the "Cataratas". The brown water fell for ages down the cliffs over a width of 2.7 km - around 1.5-2 million liters per second. Due to the sun's rays and the rising mist, lots of rainbows formed. The paved paths led us along the cliffs and we had an incredibly great view of the waterfalls the whole time. The second path then led us along the upper level of the waterfalls and was also incredibly impressive. Unfortunately, the path was closed because heavy rainfall last year damaged the path. At that time, around 24 million litres per second were probably flowing down the waterfalls. The temperatures rose and due to the high humidity, we were already sweating after just over two hours in the park. Luckily, there was the option of a short boat trip to the waterfalls, complete cooling off included. We drove through the rainforest to the jetty in a jeep and got a first taste of what to expect on the boat trip. Valuables have to be put in a waterproof bag, as do shoes and everything that shouldn't get wet; life jackets are mandatory. Shortly afterwards, we were sitting in a speedboat with thirty other people and speeding up the river towards the waterfalls. When the captain put on his rain poncho, it was already clear what was going to happen. He maneuvered the boat to the waterfalls and huge amounts of water splashed over us into the boat. Within seconds we were soaking wet. He did a lap and repeated the whole thing - luckily we had packed a change of clothes. After two more laps in a smaller waterfall, we slowly made our way back to the jetty, where we left the boat dripping wet.

The cooling down was very good at over 30 degrees and we drove back to the park in the jeep. Our stomachs were rumbling again and before we started our way back to the hotel we went to the restaurant. The bus took us back and we spent the rest of the evening on the roof terrace and in the pool.