Iguazu Falls

So now it was time for what I have considered the second major destination on my trip: Iguazu Falls! They certainly lived up to the hype, truly one of the most incredible sights I have seen my whole life. 

I was  excited as I took a little plane for a 2.5 hour flight to the falls:

It was great to be able to see Buenos Aires from above as the plane took off. As we approached Iguazu, the terrain changed into a dense forest with bright red lines running through it, which were the dirt roads; the land there is a red clay type color. When we were landing, I could actually see the falls through the window, and the mist rising above them!

The next day I left at 9am to take a local bus to the waterfalls. You walk along a long nature trail to get there, and the anticipation is immense. On the way, I saw some cute monkeys and long nosed critters:

I ended up spending most of the day with this friendly couple who were visiting from Buenos Aires, and their friend who they randomly ran into with no knowledge that they were both going to be there. The guy would only refer to me as "Gringo," it was kind of annoying, but they were all otherwise very friendly and kept feeding me and buying me beer, so I didn't mind.

We made sure to cover every single view of the trail possible, and spent about 8 hours walking along the various routes etc. This is the first set of falls:

The sheer volume of water is just unbelievable.

Note the rainbow on the bottom left of the following picture:

Next we would take a boat over to an island which gave us a closer view of this set of falls, as well as another set around the corner, and the chance to swim a bit:

There was a little fall in the land of the vultures:

After we got a view from the top of this set as well, the final stop was the Garganta del Diablo, the highlight of the park. So much water falling in one place, the falls all in a tight circle, truly magical. You take an old rickety train to get there, otherwise it would be an hour long walk. This is a video of an empty one passing us:

The amount of mist generated by all of the falls is incredible, it feels like a refreshing rain, but it is not raining, it is just the mist. Check out the structure on the top left in the first photo to get an idea of the scale:

Tucan!

Bird:

This is a giant butterfly:

Prehistoric-size catfish:

Scary spider hiding beneath walkway:

Days 15-17: Back to Buenos Aires

Now I got to take the ferry back to Buenos Aires, this time at night:

I was accompanied by the lovely Rocio, Naty, & Gaby, we had mate (of course), and I tried my first alfajores. They said that you're supposed to have a sweet snack before dinner, so of course I was happy to oblige, the alfajor was amazing, it is a layer of dulce de leche sandwiched by two cookies, and then the whole thing covered in chocolate. Delicious! Havanna is supposed to be the best brand.

The hand signal they are doing there is Argentinian for "copado," which means "cool."

Buenos Aires from the ferry at night:

There was a ridiculous musical act on the ship of one guy singing to pre-recorded background music. The passengers politely clapped and some children danced a little:

Next I would spend a couple days waiting to take the plane to Iguazu. I pretty much took it easy and took so time to do laundry etc.
On my first night back I was in San Telmo and went to a huge bar which was a lot of fun. It had just opened, and every night they highlighted the music of a 90's artist and played their music and videos all night. This night's highlights were Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots, and it was fun to see all their old videos and music again, and also to see the Portenos rocking out to 90's music.
I also took some long walks and saw the Buenos Aires Museum of Fine Arts and the Buenos Aires Museum of Decorative arts:

Buenos Aires Botanical Garden:

Next day, off to Iguazu!