These falls are famous, and if you’ve ever seen a wildlife documentary about South America, you’ll have seen stunning footage – most likely taken from the smaller but less spoiled Brazilian side. And most likely taken a long time ago, or in carefully selected spots, because what you hardly ever see in footage or photos is just how filthy the water is, from top soil being washed away from denuded rainforest, or how degraded the forest close to the falls is. (It’s clearly all secondary forest, and that together with the constant presence of humans at least at this time of year, explained the absence of monkeys.)
But bearing all that in mind, Iguazu Falls is a mind-blowing place. Not as mind-blowing as Antarctica, but still one of the wonders of the world. To get there from Buenos Aires, one has to fly, and the flight we took was unpleasant because of shitty passengers, a pretty nasty ‘snack’, and turbulence. (The return trip was worse because we were put in a row without air vents, and that, combined with the turbulence in which we were in a holding pattern for far too long, made me vomit from travelsickness for the first time since I was ten. Not fun for me or those around me 🙂 )
The other complication as I mentioned elsewhere was that I had a badly sprained ankle (torn ligaments and all), so even though there are some lovely flat walks and we were there for three days, I only saw the scenery close up on the third day. Consequently, Doug took almost all the photos you’ll see below. I didn’t mind because walking in 34° heat with 99% humidity isn’t really my thing anyway, and this was the view from our balcony (the one with the self-locking door, ask me how I know!) Continue reading “Iguazu Falls”
