Donde Esta Renae? Chasing Rainbows at Iguazu Falls

I went chasing rainbows last weekend and found my pot of gold at a waterfall called Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s throat). I know people have always said, “Don’t go chasing waterfalls”, (which seems rational enough) but apparently those people didn’t know about Las Cataratas de Iguazu because I would have to strongly disagree with them. In fact, I would actually tell you, “YES…GO chasing after waterfalls, take a speed boat under the avalanches they produce, zip-line through trees in the jungle and go rappelling under them blindly off the edge of giant cliffs because this last weekend I did all that and definitely experienced the best 3 days in my life.

My latest adventure took me 1076 km (that’s 669 miles for all you Americans out there who don’t know the metric system) to one of the new 7 wonders of nature called Las Cataratas de Iguazu or in english, Iguazu Falls. The falls lie on the border between Brazil and Argentina, whose boundaries are separated by the Iguaçu River. “Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541” (Wikipedia), who my friend Bryan is convinced insta-pooped his pants when he discovered it. (And yes, I just cited Wikipedia.) The waterfalls are about 1.7 miles long with 275 separate waterfalls varying in height from 200-270 feet, all of which fill the jungle with magnificent rainbows throughout its entirety, leaving you with an overwhelming and passionate sensation that gives you an immediate respect for the perfection in nature and the beauty if offers. So you can imagine that after hearing these amazing facts and stories about gods slicing rivers and Europeans soiling themselves I was pretty pumped for this trip. But first I had to take a grueling 20 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. 

I ended up going on this trip with a group called BAIS (Buenos Aires International Students) in which I FINALLY was the only American, with the others principally being from Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Puerto Rico. Because we had a private bus, we were able to stop at the San Ignacio Ruins on our way. The San Ignacio Ruins remain as an example of the outstanding civilization of the mystic Indian culture of the Argentine Jungle with archeological wealth, sculptures and the layout of the cities all unified at the Jesuit Missions International Circuit.              

Side entrance to the church.

After the ruins we went to a restaurant where we ate some empanadas and tried some lemons that deceived us as being oranges.

We stayed at a hostile called the Hostile Inn in Puerto Iguazu, and it was NICE. The first thing we noticed upon getting off the bus was the HEAT and HUMIDITY (35 degrees Celsius with Florida-like humidity). The second thing we noticed was the ginormous pool they had, which made the heat a little more tolerable. The hostile was GREAT. They had 6 computers, billiards, foosball, ping pong and the food was actually really good. For Argentina they had a big breakfast (corn flakes, bananas, apples and LOTS of bread with jam, butter, creme cheese and of course...dulce de leche on the side). On our first night we had all you can eat pizza and on the second night we had an all you can eat asado (basically...BBQ :] ). After the asado they had 2 samba dancers who danced for a bunch of guys they called up and then grabbed a bunch of ladies (me being included) and taught us how to dance samba, which we then did in front of EVERYBODY. Afterwards we basically had a huge samba dance party with the entire hostile and even formed one of those cha cha lines. 

After enjoying the pool for a bit upon arrival in Iguazu, we decided to check out the Triple Frontier where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay all meet up. It's not very often that one has the opportunity to observe three countries from a corner separated by two rivers and there really is nothing I can say to describe the phenomenal feeling that I had as I sat on the edge of the cliff watching the red sun set over the three countries. (It kind of reminded me of the opening scene of lion king, especially since it shows these huge waterfalls, reminding me of the falls of iguazu, except the sun was setting instead of rising as in the movie.) This was the same feeling I got when I was watching the falls of Garganta del Diablo, which I will explain in a bit and if it hadn't been for the other people in my group forcing me to get up for the group picture before leaving, I probably would have stayed in that spot until it got to be pitch black and I couldn't see a thing, because I really didn't want to get out of that moment.

Each country had a totem on their side with their country's colors on it that can be seen from each side...this was Argentina's totem.

 

Paraguay is to the left and Brazil is to the right.

 

Now...back to the real point of this blog: IGUAZU FALLS

Before we get into the Falls, erase your memory of any other waterfalls you have seen in your life and think bigger, better, faster, stronger, MORE, MORE, MORE. With my mom being from New York, I’ve been to Niagara Falls before and although they’re cool to see too, THERE IS NO COMPARISON between the two! My favorite part about the Iguazu Falls is that they’re jungle. You walk down a dirt path lined with exotic birds and plants to see a million different views. The falls are so big that in order to get to the other side you have to take a 10 minute train ride to get to the biggest waterfall called Garganta del Diablo, which has over half of the water flow of the entire falls and is what most people come to Iguazu Falls to see.

 

 

Once getting off the train, you have to walk 1200m on these metal platforms that are built into the river to reach Garganta del Diablo in which you are literally on the edge of the waterfall looking down as the platforms bring you on the top of the waterfall. With 13 million liters of water spilling over every second, the roar of the falls is SO powerful that you can hear them well before you’re even able to see them. The feeling is so unreal and it was so incredible that I spent the next 30 minutes ferociously taking pictures of the waterfall convinced that each picture would be better than the last. Finally, mainly because the battery in my camera was about to die, I gave up on the pictures and then just tried to soak it in. The idea of millions of gallons of water pouring over each second is infallible to the human mind and watching it seemed to put me in a hypnotic state; this was the same state that I was in while watching the sun set over 3 countries at the triple frontier. I didn’t want to move and when I let go of trying to understand the vastness of the falls I arrived to a place of peace. I realized not being able to understand something does not mean I can’t enjoy it for what it is.                                                          

Garganta del Diablo

I had come to the falls with the plan of doing whatever I could to experience the beauty and power that they have to offer, so when I found out that there were boats rides that take you beneath the falls, I had no hesitation in signing up for it.There are two options when choosing a boat tour around the falls. The first starts with a long 4×4 ride through the jungle before you get on a boat and tour the falls. The second is a fast & furious, 10-minute, A.D.D friendly adventure that skips everything but gets you completely soaked. So while the rest of my group chose to do the 90min “Grand Adventure” as it is called, I chose the second option called the Nautical Adventure and it was perfect.

They pick you up in a 20-person life raft and take off straight towards one end of the falls. Once in close range, the driver yells “photos, photos, photos” and you have a few moments to snap your best shots. Seconds later he instructs us to pack everything back into the waterproof bags as he positions the boat for power wash. Next thing you know the boat lunges forward and suddenly you’re getting dumped on by the amazing force of the water. They literally took us right beneath the falls so that other than white mist, I actually couldn’t see a thing and had to focus on trying to breath in air rather than water. The boat then zips in and out, each time going deeper and deeper into the falls. Just when we thought the shower was over the driver speeds off to the other canal of the falls to rinse and repeat. The result? One drenched, laughing and relieved adrenaline-junkie college student. It was the perfect way to see the falls up close and personal. 

 BEFORE

AFTER

SKIP BRAZIL...CHECK OUT THE RAINFOREST

The next day, BAIS was going to the Brazilian side of the falls. As an American citizen I would have had to pay $140 dollars to get a Brazilian VISA just to get a different prospective of the falls from above, so instead I decided to follow my addiction for adrenaline rush or a killer adventure and found a place through the hostel to go canopying, repelling and trekking through the Argentine rainforest. I then invited the Puerto Ricans who also weren’t going to pay to get into Brazil (since they have U.S. passports as Puerto Rico is a territory of the States) as well as the Chinese girl in our group as apparently Chinese citizens have to pay to get into Brazil as well. So the next morning they picked us up at 8am in a jeep where they then took us to another place where we got into a huge jeep with about 20 people and went riding through the rainforest. 

After trekking through the jungle, listening to the sounds of insects and birds and learning about the nature and wild life it has to offer, we were given some safety equipment and a short lesson of how to stop ourselves before running into a tree while canopying. We were told that while canopying we would get the unique experience and sensation of moving through the jungle as a bird, but I definitely felt more like George of the Jungle, swinging through the holes in the tree, barely missing some branches and hitting others; especially since we had to move the handlebar we were holding onto, back and forth towards the end to create enough friction to slow us down enough so that the people working the thing, could try to stop us, although I never completely stopped and had to stick my feet out in front of me each time to “safely” end my journey. It was definitely better than any 3D George movie could give you.

We then did some more hiking until we reached a giant cliff overlooking a beautiful river, strapped into rappelling gear and were told to jump our way down. I felt like I was a 8 year old kid again with no patience wanting to push my way through whoever was in front of me to be able to experience it first…but sadly, a real 8 year old kid did exactly that and got his first bid on rappelling down the waterfall. Nonetheless, dropping off a ledge down the face of a rocky cliff with only a cord, plastic helmet and cheering tourists to support you was still fun…even after going third (there were actually two 8 year old kids in front of me).

The 20 hour bus ride on the way back wasn't too bad. I watched 3 and a half movies dubbed in spanish (Monster in Law, Thor, Harry Potter and half of Puss in boots) before eating dinner on the bus (by which they provided Milanesa, Carne Emapanadas, a Ham and Cheese Sandwhich, some crackers with cheese and a dulce de leche postre with some Mendoza wine (all typical argentine food), I then hit the sack and slept the entire way before getting back to my house, packing up my school books and taking my midterm exams one hour later. In the end, my midterms ARE OVER with and I had one of the best weekends of my life. If you ever get the chance to be in the South American, no matter where you are at...GO TO Las Cataras de Iguazu! It is a trip that will blow your mind and something you will never forget. 

VIDEOS
BBC's Planet Earth did an excellent job on displaying the Iguazu Falls. Here is their video for you to enjoy.

After reaching spending about an hour at Garganta del Diablo, we sang, danced and celebrated the beauty in what we were seeing.

My video of Garganta del Diablo.

Just hiking through the rainforest...you know. I'm SO GLAD I can finally understand everything being said.