New Years Eve was surprisingly laid back considering we were in Buenos Aires, the city that never sleeps. In fact, most people were probably eating dinner at midnight when we expected to ring the new year in. We heard there were fireworks in plaza by the obelisk but when we showed up it turned out not to be a formal display but rather a place where people gathered to set off fireworks they bought. There is a certain charm to that but it is a bit nerve racking to see children shooting each other with roman candles and bottle rockets that would be considered illegal in many places in the US. I did, however, like the hot air balloon/lanterns powered by a flame that people set off to float into the sky.




New Years Day was slow. Finally in the evening, some cafes opened up so we were able to get some pizza.

By the 2nd, the city was up and running again (or rather lethargically crawling due to the heat and the fact that most residents leave the blisteringly hot city for places like Patagonia leaving BA to naive tourists who are wondering why all the museums are closed. BA is a big modern city but also full of large buildings from the 1800s and early 1900s, a golden age of sorts where a lot of money and immigrants poured into the country.










The center has shiny shopping centers, restaurants and theatres. It is like New York City but with wider streets. Corrientes Avenue is even lined with theatres like Broadway. There seems to be a feeling of prosperity. It is a place meant for spending money, whether you like it or not ... very bad for budget travelers. There are lots of green areas, monuments, open plazas and pedestrian streets full of buskers. There are murals and lots of cool graffiti art.




It is a sophisticated place with lots of bookstores and museums. Rowshan pointed to islamic tiles in one of the metro stations.




The center is a bit too much like the US for me: devoted to shopping (and with lots of McDonald's: McCafe, Kosher McDonald's as well as the standard one). San Telmo is a bit more my speed with art galleries, quirky antique shops, and cafes.




At one point it was an artist neighborhood but judging by the number of buildings for sale, it has out priced the artists.




We wandered through what was once a central market but now had more handcrafts and antiques than food. Across from it was a supermarket. A bit beyond San Telmo is La Boca. That is where we went today. La Boca is probably where the artists who couldn't afford to live in San Telmo anymore fled to. I had heard it is a rough neighborhood but this wasn't too apparent during the day. Getting off the bus in La Boca was like suddenly stepping into a carnival in full swing. The buildings are painted in bright colors (traditionally the colors were leftovers from painting ships).




The streets are full of art, cafes featuring tango music and dancers, and lots of tourists. Besides the colors, I really liked the hand painted signs in La Boca (they also have them in San Telmo).







They are ornate and flowery and resemble 19th century carnival signs. They advertise everything: restaurants, museums, stores, and sites. I would have thought sign painting was a lost art due to neon, lit up plastic box signs and large print banners.













However, this is an art which is alive and well in Buenos Aires. I thought at first there must just be one artist but I saw numerous signatures. There were also lots of brightly painted paper-mache looking sculptures of people that added to the carnival atmosphere.

But La Boca is probably most famous for the soccer team, Boca Juniors. We walked by the stadium, stores devoted to fans, murals devoted to the team as well as numerous sculptures and cutout photo boards (the ones where you stick your head through the face hole so it looks like you are part of the scene) featuring Maradona.

As the bus approached the park, I wondered if we'd hear the falls before seeing them. After all, such a tremendous amount of water dumping over cliffs has got to make a tremendous noise. All we could hear was the bus engine.







Then we noticed a white plume of mist floating stationary over the tree tops: the falls. The park is fairly developed and reminded me a little of the Wild Animal Park in San Diego: clean, nicely made paths, shiny souvenir shops, visitor center and birds and other animals wandering around (OK the Wild Animal Park has more visible animals but Iguazu scores higher on jungle environment). We headed straight to the station where little trains (like at the Wild Animal Park) whisk you off to 2 stops: one where you can hike and take a boat to the Isla San Martin, the other is the trail head for walkways to above the Garganta del Diablo. Metal catwalks lead across the water which is uncannily smooth and calm.




There are turtles swimming and sunbathing on rocks as well as fish flitting about. The walkways pass over the open water and through tree covered islands. Off to the sides were concrete pilings and broken pieces of a previous catwalk destroyed by a flood. The jungle and water was peaceful with the only signs of the falls being the floating mist. As we got closer we could hear the rush of water.

The walkways terminated at a point overlooking the edge of the falls. Within minutes we were drenched. Everyone was but no one cared. All around, copious quantities of water rushed down. We couldn't see much because everything was obscured by mist generated by the falls. The numerous cataracts rushed down one cliff and then crashed down a second. Billows of mist rose, coating people and camera lenses. Rowshan resorted to cleaning lenses with a corner of his underwear, the only dry piece of cloth he could find. It wasn't as loud as I expected. We were above the falls and the water crashed far below. However, the vision of the white foaming torrent (with a slightly greenish tinge) constantly gushing over the edge was breathtaking. It seemed to move slowly if you focused on a certain area but then moving your vision out to take in the whole scene, everything just seemed to rush, out of control. Water just poured.





Iguaza falls (Garganta del Diablo)

Through the mists we could barely make out the river winding its way through the jungle between tree covered cliffs. Back along the path, we found some cute black magpie looking birds with sky blue feather "eyebrows" and a blue ruff on the back of their necks.




Accustomed to human handouts, they hopped from tree to tree, posing for photos and taking bread and chip handouts.

As we started down the path to where we could take the boat to San Martin Island, we were caught in a downpour. This time we threw on our ponchos but there was no place to shelter on the metal walkways, so we got drenched again. The benefit was the trails probably would have been a lot more crowded if it hadn't been raining. The walkway led through thick jungle growth past several more waterfalls.

Everywhere you look there seems to be a waterfall. I guess that's what makes it such an amazing sight. At the Garganta del Diablo, it seemed we were at "the falls" but that was only a small (though very powerful) part. The trails led around to a different part of the falls from where you couldn't even see the Garganta. Instead you just saw a long stretch of other waterfalls. The surrounding jungle was rich and full of butterflies and birds.

The boat trip was a quick hop over to the island. From there we walked up to a couple view points. One had an impressive view into a double terraced area of cataracts. Bright green grassy bushes clung beneath the pouring water. One area of green covered rocks made me think of a giant sitting in a chair with water pouring over him. From our high vantage point, we were able to see the tops of the trees where butterflies flickered and birds soared.







Iguaza falls (San Martin Island)

Another viewpoint looked upon trees filled with condors. An arch in the rock revealed more cataracts off in the distance.




We were also able to see some of Brazil.




Our final hike went along the tops of several falls. I imagine how frightening it would be drifting down the river in seemingly calm waters, then suddenly coming upon slight rapids, and then next thing you know the world drops away in a rush of water.










A heron didn't seem to mind and leisurely caught fish (or frogs) within 10 feet of the drop.

The area is beautiful. Aside from the falls, the jungle is deep and verdant. We saw a toucan hopping about a tree. The jungle seems much thicker than what we saw in Pucalpa. The greens range from almost fluorescent green to greenish black. The earth is reddish brown and the puddles are bright oompa loompa man (original movie version) orange.

We saw a couple different types of lizards: one huge and one with a reddish orange chin. In the grassy areas of the park, little animals that look like wild versions of guinea pigs wandered around.

As we left the park, we passed a group of Guarani people who were singing and dancing.

Some people have suggested that we spend way too much time on line to be really traveling. I thought I'd just give a couple of examples on why we have time to hang out in Internet cafes. As the bus pulled into Resistencia, I hoped we hadn't gotten there yet. It was flat and uninteresting looking. We caught a bus to the center. It had lots of stores and modern buildings. The main plaza was large with lots of trees and I noticed a few of Resistencia's 344 sculptures. After an unsuccessful attempt at finding a hotel, we went back to the station, stored our bags and bought tickets to Puerto Iguazu for that night. We had 12 hours to kill. Back in town we walked around, practiced music in a park for a bit until it started to pour. Grown-ups huddled under the roofs of crafts booths but some boys had a blast swinging in the rain while splashing their feet in the mud puddles with every pass. Then they switched to a new game involving sliding through mud puddles creating huge waves of muddy water.











Mud Puddle Party

The rain didn't let up so we fled into an Internet cafe where we stayed on line until the rain stopped... it is cheaper than buying coffee so we can hang out in a cafe. Other on line opportunities present themselves because we aren't big on night life and we don't take siestas like people seem to do here. Sometimes we have time we need to kill before catching a bus somewhere... or we've spent the morning doing something exhausting and need to veg out for a while. Anyway, Resistencia was a disappointment. Sometimes things like that happen. Salta on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise.