Iguazu falls and Mendoza

Hi all,

We´ve had quite a time since my last post. The Iguazu falls are spectacular. I don´t know what the specific differences in size, height, etc are between Iguazu and Niagara falls, but Iguazu is, by far, the more impressive sight. The Iguazu falls go on for kilometers. You can easily spend a whole day going from viewing station to viewing station and not see them all. Moreover, the viewing stations bring you right up to the tops and bottoms of different parts. When standing on the platform for the Devil´s Canyon you are right at the edge of the falls looking down. For other falls, you can be right at the bottom. Moreover, the falls are surrounded by lush vegetation and wildlife. You constantly see Condors circling in the air, Couti´s walking around the park, and the occasional monkey swinging in the trees. We even saw some toucans fly past! So far, Iguazu falls have been the highlight of the trip.

The lowlight of the trip, however, has been the hostel we stayed in at Porto Iguazu. If you ever visit the falls, DO NOT stay at Hostel Sweet Hostel. There were many problems, including the fact we had to switch rooms from the first to the second night. But even worse was that, on the third morning, they told us we could not stay a third night because they had rented the room out from under us, even though we had reserved for three nights. Can you believe that? I have never been kicked out of a hotel room before because I better deal came along for the owners.

On our final morning in Puerto Iguazu, we walked to the waterfront monument representing partnership between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, situated at a river intersection which separates the three countries. From here, you can see all three countries at once. The highlight of the walk however, was a little dog that followed us the whole way there and back, which took over an hour. The bizarre thing was he never really acknowledged us. He didn´t make eye contact or wag his tail. He just stayed really close to us, would run off for a bit, and then run back. When he left, we didn´t even realize it until later. I wonder what was going through his head.

After Puerto Iguazu, we spent a day flying and bussing all the way across the country to Mendoza. We loved Mendoza. We found the best Hostel ever, called Hostel Confluencia. We originally planned to stay a couple of days, but ended up spending five days there, and could have easily spent more. Mendoza is in the heart of wine country, so we spent a day biking around to the different wineries, olive orchards, and chocolate factories doing tastings.

The following day, we drove to the Andes to do some trekking and ziplining. The hike was unremarkable, but we rappelled down a cliff at the end, which was a good first rappelling experience. Moreover, the views of the Andes were great. It is bizarre to be in a desert hiking in shorts and a t-shirt and see snow on the next range of mountains.

Much better than the trekking was the zip-lining. I had never been before, and loved it. It was surprisingly scary for all six rides, especially the last one, which was about 400 meters long over a river.We also visited Mendoza´s many plazas and huge public park. However, Evelyn was not happy with me after we tried to take the bus and ended up somewhat lost on the far side of the park. We found our way back though, but missed out on visiting the park´s zoo. Last night, we took an overnight bus to Cordoba, where we are now. We had a frustrating morning, as we walked around for about two hours trying to find a place to stay. The Hostels here are poorly signed, spread out, and busy for the weekend. We have a place to stay now though, and are going to bed after spending the day visiting old colonial churches and civic buildings, as well as the excellent weekend crafts market.