I take a bus for 24 hours from Salta to Puerto Iguazú, home of Iguazú Falls. The buses here are so comfortable that 24 hours doesn´t even faze me anymore.
The falls are at the very northeasterly tip of Argentina on the border with Brazil and Paraguay and are, as I learn, a contender for the New 7 Wonders of the World contest (what happened to the old 7? Are the pyramids not good enough for people anymore? Zheesh!) I can see why because usually, I´m not much of a waterfalls person, but I am moved by Iguazú. The landscape itself is dramatic, even if the falls weren´t there. It´s all lush jungles and palm trees with rivers meandering through. There is a constant spray of water that shrouds the surrounding areas in a dramatic mist. It all feels very exotic and makes me want to float down it in a canoe that I´ve made out of a fallen tree or a big, old-fashioned paddle boat. Also makes me think of Werner Herzog and all his jungle movies (Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo, The White Diamond, etc, etc, etc... the man definitely has a thing for the jungle).
The falls themselves are seemingly endless and so powerful. I´m amazed that there´s enough water in the world to be able to constantly pour down like that! Visually, it is a spectacle, but add to this the sound of the water crashing down and the feeling of the hot sun on your shoulders and the cool mist of the water on your face and body. In some areas, the mist is so strong that it´s like a shower and you get drenched! The water gets in your eyes and literally blinds you.
The only thing that ruins the experience of the falls is the sheer number of people at the park. Obviously the falls are not my little secret. Everybody knows about them, everybody knows that they´re so great and everybody wants to see them. Unfortunately this makes for some very crowded areas and a bit of overdevelopment in my opinion. There´s even a train that takes you to the trails! I would have preferred more of a virgin experience, but I suppose it´s a service to humanity to have the falls accessible to everybody.
The whole time I´m there, I´m imagining what it´d be like to be the first person to discover the falls, before all the trains, tourist shops and viewing platforms were in place. Even with all that stuff there, it´s a powerful experience to come so close to something that could, with no remorse, wipe you out in a second if you got in its way.
