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Argentina - Day 10
Day 10, Tuesday, 3/11
We started our day at one of the nice local cafes with a coffee co leche and walked a couple of blocks to get a lunch of empanadas before taking to the falls. The sweet corn and chicken empanadas were our favorites. We then grabbed a cab for the falls, which is about a 15-minute ride through the town and then a rain forest area. There are three main areas of the falls to inspect: lower falls where you look up at the water, upper falls where you look down, and Devils Throat which is the biggest fall of them all. Based on advice from our bartender at the hotel, we walked to the lower falls first. You could take a train there but we had days of empanadas to walk off so we went by foot. The first surprise, or “nature” we found as we walked through the rain forest was monkey nibbling on some fruit in a tree. It did not care that a hand full of tourists were taking pictures while it lunched. After a 30-minute walk, we reached some small falls – small by comparison of what was to come. With each turn in the path new falls appear and they seem to get bigger and bigger the further you walk. First you hear the thunderous sound as you get close, then you see the massive structures and feel force as you stand on the maze of catwalks that wind you through the park. At different points in the walk you get misted by the water and at other points you get out right soaked. There are magical rainbows, and hundreds of butterflies that sprinkle the canyon walls. There are lizards, tropical birds and curious creatures that I called cuchi-cariches which were a cross between a raccoon and aardvark. Our first day in the park, we saw a big family of them climbing out of holes, creeping on the catwalks and laying on the benches. After a long tour of the lower and upper falls we boarded a park train to Devils Throat the mother load of all the falls. Once off the train you walk over more catwalks, but this time the walk is over the river that pours into the falls. If you look carefully into the marshy water you can see alligators silently waiting for prey. Then you reach the end of the catwalk and the fall, which is amazing. It booms to the canyon floor as you get drenched in it’s wake. The water goes from river, to fall to mist that blows every which way. It was the best way to end our day.
