Iguazu Falls Argentina and tons of photos

Iguazu Falls Argentina. WOW! What a beautiful National Park. It puts Niagara Falls to shame. There are beautiful easy walking paths through the park that lead to lookouts along the way that just keep giving better and better views. The paths are through the jungle and easily followed. It sure beats the tacky tourist shops along the road in Niagara Falls. The sound of the rushing water is incredible.

A twenty minute $1.50 bus ride gets you out to the Falls from the quaint little city of Puerto Iguazu. Once there you pay your $25 admission into the National Park and hop on a little site seeing train that takes you to the walking paths. If you get your ticket stamped on the way out they will let you back in the next day for $12.50. I will be heading back for some more scenery, fresh air and exercise. You can do 8km walks or multiple 1km walks all giving excellent views of the falls. Iguazu Falls lies in both Argentina and Brazil. I was on the Argentinean side as I don’t have visa to get into Brazil.

We arrived in Puerto Iguazu in the morning and lucked out again with the hostel giving us our room early. We had taken a 12 hour night bus that brought us into town at 10am. It was a comfy bus with reclining leather chairs that would remind you of lazy boys. The bus trip cost $72 and included a hot supper with wine, coffee, tea or pop, breakfast, English movies with Spanish subtitles and a steward.

I am just back from day two of visiting Iguazu Falls, incredible views. The weather here is incredible too, blue skies and lots of hot sunshine. Yesterday I am sure it was around 35 it was really hot and today maybe 28 degrees Celsius.

I took different paths today at the National Park. One went over the river that led to the falls. You were able to get right up close and on top of it in places. If you are into birds then this place is a must for you and butterflies. I have never seen some many in one place, alive. (Mom and I saw lots of dead ones in Panama all pinned up.) Their wings are brilliant purple, blues and reds, but the photos I got are of yellow and orange ones.

The falls are very expansive and consist of numerous falls all put together. The section I saw today is similar in it’s horseshoe shape to Niagara, but there are large parts on each side that you cannot see in the pictures, therefore making it larger than Niagara Falls.

Click on the link for tons of waterfall photos from Iguazu Falls, Argentina
.

Salto Uruguay

Recheck the Montevideo pictures from the last post if you would like to see photos from the Barbeque, I added them after I did that post. Their hospitality was exceptional.

Last night the Aussies and I took a night bus to Salto Uruguay after the barbeque at the hostel. We arrived at 5am in Salto, hung out at the bus terminal for an hour and got a cab to the hotel. The hostel in this town is not open for the season yet and cancelled our reservations via email that we had made online. Still checking my credit card to see about getting that $7 deposit back  The hotel is a budget hotel I think it is rated one star. It is good though. Really good if you consider they gave us our room right away (before 7am) and we were able to grab a couple of hours sleep. It is $20 a night for a single room.

Today Shelley and I visited the thermal pools outside of Salto. We hopped on the local bus for 70 cents and went out to the thermal pools. It cost $3.50 to get into the pools. I expected a more natural setting than what the photo above shows, but whatever. The pools were filled with water from the hot springs and marked with their temperatures. They ranged from 37 – 39 degrees Celsius.

Not much is open in South America on Saturday or Sunday, but we did find an amazing bakery today and had a feast on little sweets. It was so fresh and yummy.

Off to Iguaçu Falls in Argentina tomorrow via bus. It should make for an interesting story as we can’t get a hold of the schedule because we will be getting the bus in Argentina not Uruguay and the bus originally starts in Buenos Aires (~13 hours away) and we can’t find out the time it will be where we need to get it until we get over to Argentina. So we will cross the boarder in a taxi and go from there. It could be good connections or a long day of waiting around.

Montevideo Uruguay and UPDATED photos

This is a picture of the garbage pickers in Montevideo. Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay and it has very interesting areas. I mean some posh beach areas, not where I am staying and some interesting poorer areas. This hostel leaves a lot to be desired, but there are some lovely people at it. The hostel owners are having a barbeque in the street tonight so we bought some meat, ribs on their recommendation and sausages. Having a barbeque in the street is a dying tradition they said so they are trying to bring it back, remember this is the capital city and they have set up their barbeque in the middle of the road.
Click on the link for Montevideo Uruguay pictures

Colonia Uruguay

I went horseback riding in Uruguay and I was the only one who was given a whip. Seems to be a theme happening here?
I am currently in transit between Colonia and Montevideo in Uruguay. I am taking a three hour bus between the two cities. The bus which is nothing posh, actually it is a little old has WIFI. Hence how I am updating the blog. The bus cost $10 for those who like to know prices.
Colonia is a UNESCO world heritage site and quite a quant town. It has lovely old buildings, cars, great food and people. Shelley and James my Aussies friends and I seem to be on the same path for awhile so we have booked our accommodations at the same place and are taking the same transits. Yesterday we went horseback riding in Uruguay. It was fun, but poor Shelley fell off her horse, but she is ok, just a little shook up.
Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay and that is the next stop. My carnivorous friends would love South America they are all about their meat and it is so big, good and cheap. $10 – 15 for a full nice meal at a fancy restaurant is typical.
Click on the link for Colonia Uruguay photos

Argentina is all about the meat

Would you like to buy one of my whips? I am having a great time in Buenos Aires Argentina. I arrived to a four day national holiday. I am staying right in the heart of downtown and it has been interesting. Since today was not a holiday I got to see how busy things really are. Don’t get me wrong it has been busy the last few days with shops still open and people selling things or wanting to change your money everywhere but it was a nice reprieve from what it really is like. Buenos Aires is known for its Sunday markets so me and a few girls from my room took those in yesterday. They shut down streets and parks for kilometers. It took hours to just walk through part of it and I was with some shoppers. Leather is big here, so one girl got a new leather coat. I refrained. We had a nice lunch in a café surrounded by vines and greenery off the beaten track that had tango dancers to entertain us while we ate. There are tango dancers everywhere in Buenos Aires. I had to pose for a photo with the guy, thank god I didn’t have to dance with him and have him experience my lack of rhythm.
Today I took the metro to Tigre an hour outside of Buenos Aires with Shelley an Aussie girl. For the two of us our round trip cost $1, so 25 cents each way. So it was a cheap day. Tigre is where the city folk go to escape from the hustle and bustle. We walked the river and had a great steak lunch. You will have to check out the photo of the size of the hunk of meat. Argentina is known for its great meat cooked to perfection and cheap. Our lunch was on the upper scale as we ate in a restaurant with a nice location on the river for less than $15 for a huge steak, a salad, pop and bread.
I am off to Uruguay tomorrow by ferry with an Aussie couple I met. It is to be an hour ride and I will stay for a couple of days in Colonia.
Click on the link for more Buenos Aires photos
It is the same album there are just new photos added towards the bottom.

Ozzy Osbourne in Buenos Aires and the trip over

So the adventure begins and what an adventure it has started out to be in more ways than one. I will just tell you how the last transit day has been. I have at least another 12 hours to go before I reach Buenos Aries, Argentina. At this point I will be arriving 8/12 hours later than expected and will have gone through five airports. I am in Peru. Peru you say, yes my flight was to go to JFK in New York, just touchdown and pick up more. We were three hours late leaving Toronto which made changes to this “pick up.” They sent them on another plane and made us wait about three hours there for another flight, and then another two hours on the tarmac. Then that flight went to Lima (Peru), where I am right now and then it goes to Santiago, Chile then Buenos Aries, Argentina. Oh my lord. So should have got into Buenos Aries Argentina at noon and will get in at 8:30pm at the earliest. If no more changes happen, but I won’t count on that as at every airport today there has been some delay.

At least there is free WIFI here there wasn't in New York. Oh yes and New York. On the walk to the plane after you have gone through the gate they had a sniffing dog and 10 undercover cops with their badges around their necks asking questions. Are you travelling alone? Please come here, passport. Do you know you can leave as much money as you like in the USA but not take as much money as you want out? How much money do you have on you? If one of us was to search you right now would the amount you said be correct? Ok, thank you, carry on. Crazy and they were completely undercover, not the clean neatest looking men. So that was a new experience.

35 ½ hours after leaving the Hubbard’s in Richmond Hill I arrived in Buenos Aries at the hostel. By the end with all the changes there were four of us left from the original flight from Toronto. We looked at each other after the carousel stopped moving and we didn’t have our bags yet, so I thought this is going to be another first, no luggage. A first that didn’t happen. Our bags came on a different flight and were at the under end of the airport sitting on the floor in a heap. Well at least they were there.
So today… I was site seeing just like Ozzy Osbourne. Yep Ozzy and I were at the Cementerio de la Recoleta today at the same time. I saw these guys with long curly hair and thought that is a little different then at the front of them was Ozzy. A must see in Buenos Aries, it is a very cool cemetery. The monuments are grand and something to see. Evita is buried there.
Click on the link for Ozzy Osbourne and Buenos Aires Argentina photos

A little change in plans...

There has been a little change in plans. My dad was taken to the hospital the day I was to leave and is in Intensive Care (ICU) with pneumonia. He is getting great care and has come a long way since the day he was admitted but still has a long way to go. Please keep him in your prayers. For those wondering Antarctica will remain on my wish list.

Day by day he is getting better, so keep fighting dad.