We arrived in Iguazu midday. We were staying in the Sheraton inside the park, and our room actually had a view of the spectacular falls. Since we only had two days here, we decided to start right away with a tour. We started by going through the jungle in a four wheel drive vehicle, the guide explaining everything in three languages.
I didn´t understand his English very well, so I used my knowledge of Spanish and French to fill in the gaps. Then we walked down to the water, where we saw boats returning full of very wet people. We promptly put the camera in a zip-loc and our dry clothes in a water-proof bag, and our boat took off toward the falls.
They took us pretty close to the falls on one side and then went to the other side to get an even more panoramic view. Then they steered the boat towards one of the side falls and drove right through it. We got wet, but I thought, that wasn´t too bad. Well, they took us back over to the first side and plunged us directly into a raging fall three or four times. Nothing was dry after that. We got dropped off at the bottom of a set of walkways and walked up along those back to the hotel, getting some stunning views of the falls along the way.
Niagara may have more water, but the setting of these falls in the jungle, the way so many rivers come together and form several sets of falls, and the walkways that take you to the middle of the action definitely make Iguazu more spectacular. Apparently, Eleanor Roosevelt visited both, and upon seeing Iguazu, said, ¨Poor Niagara.¨
The second day, we explored all the walkways on the Argentinian side. We briefly considered going over to the Brazilian side as well, since the panorama was supposed to be the best from there, but Dee would have had to pay $100 for the visa, and that seemed a little steep for one day in Brazil.
There is an island in between the two major sets of falls, and we took a boat over and hiked around there to get one of the best views. In addition, we took the train to a spot where the walkway takes you over a long stretch of water just to the edge of the biggest fall. It was all spectacular.
The gourd, called the Mate, is filled with a leaf called Yerba Mate, and a filtering straw called a bombilla, usually made of metal, is used for drinking. There is one person, called the sebador, who serves the drink to those who want some by pouring hot water into the mate and passing it to the drinker. The first mate, called the fool´s mate, is drunk by the sebador himself, and the next one is offered to the person to his left. The new drinker then sips as much as he wants, usually finishing what´s in the mate, then says ¨gracias¨ and passes the mate back to the sebador. The sebador then continues to offer the mate in a clockwise direction, refilling with water when necessary. At some point, the sebador may appoint a new sebador, which is considered an honor. Apparently, one mate full of yerba mate should last about 14 fillings.
I liked it enough that I found myself a mate I liked in Buenos Aires, along with some Yerba Mate to fill it. So far, I´ve mostly been drinking by myself, as Dee will usually just have a small amount, but I haven´t acquired the custom of some Argentinians of carrying around a thermos full of hot water so they can keep refilling their mates. Hopefully, some folks in San Francisco will enjoy it as much as I do, and I can practice being a real sebador. Look for some mate parties when I get back.
