{"id":370,"date":"2010-05-11T13:00:02","date_gmt":"2010-05-11T20:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/?p=370"},"modified":"2010-05-11T13:00:02","modified_gmt":"2010-05-11T20:00:02","slug":"iguazu-falls-up-close-on-the-argentina-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/2010\/05\/11\/iguazu-falls-up-close-on-the-argentina-side\/","title":{"rendered":"Iguazu Falls: Up Close on the Argentina Side"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Total Miles Traveled: <\/strong>14,103<\/p>\n

While we were in Salta, we learned about Andes Air, a startup airline that is starting air service between smaller cities around Argentina with DIRECT flights.\u00a0 Note the emphasis on the word “direct”.\u00a0\u00a0 Larger more established airlines – like LAN Argentina and Aerolineas Argentinas – require lay-overs in Buenos Aires for any flight in Argentina.\u00a0 So if you are on the west side of the country (say in Mendoza) and want to go to a city that is also on the west side of the country (like Salta).\u00a0 You cannot fly direct, you have to fly all the way east to Buenos Aires.\u00a0 In short, what should be a 1-2 hour plane ride turns into 5-6 hours, requires 2 flights, and more $$$.<\/p>\n

Andes Air is starting to change that.\u00a0 We were very excited to learn that we could fly on a modern airline, direct from Salta to Iguazu AND pay a lot less.\u00a0 Check out our handwritten boarding passes!<\/p>\n

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Iguazu Falls<\/strong><\/p>\n

My first thought when I saw Iguazu Falls was “holy moly that’s alot of water”.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s breathtaking and overwhelming to imagine how much water flows over the falls every minute.\u00a0\u00a0 Not surprisingly, Iguazu literally means “big water” in Guaran\u00ed\u00a0(the local indigenous language).\u00a0 The Iguazu Falls divide the same-named river into an upper and lower river.\u00a0 It’s also a place where three countries meet – Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.\u00a0 While Brazil boasts the best panoramic views, Argentina allows you to get up close to the falls.\u00a0 We opted to stay on the Argentine side (and save the $130+ Visa that Tony would have needed to enter Brazil).<\/p>\n

Getting Up Close and Personal:\u00a0 Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat).<\/strong><\/p>\n

We spent 2 days exploring the national park that houses the Falls.\u00a0 The first day, we took a series of cat walks …<\/p>\n

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… over the expansive upper Iguazu river …<\/p>\n

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and got up to the very edge of\u00a0 set of u-shaped falls called “Garganta del Diablo” (Devil’s Throat) which are the largest and most impressive of the series of Iguazu Falls.<\/p>\n

Play the video below – it’ll give you a sense of the power of the water going over these falls:<\/p>\n

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Here are some more photos of the falls:<\/p>\n

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There are a couple hundred waterfalls at Iguazu so you can get waterfall desensitization, but below are a couple of highlights.<\/p>\n

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Ok so it’s not a picture of a waterfall, but I thought it was pretty cool… Tony was able to capture a butterfly while it rested on a window.<\/p>\n

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Also, not a waterfall … Tony befriended these raccoon-like animals called coati… \u00a0But don’t go pet these creatures, they can be vicious when it comes to food, and they have sharp claws.<\/p>\n

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Getting up Close and Person:\u00a0 La Ducha (the Shower)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next day, we revisited Garganta del Diablo, but this time from below… look at me, I’m on a boat<\/a>! \u00a0OK, not the same, but we digress…<\/p>\n

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Check out the video of us being bombarded by the spray from the water:<\/p>\n

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Also, here’s a link to the rest of our photos from Iguazu:<\/p>\n