Check'em out!... Revisalas :)

We put new pictures in the Salvador, Brazil doozie! Check'em out, they're great!

Pusimos fotos nuevas en la entrada para Salvador, Brazil! Revisalas, son geniales!
If you want to translate this blog from english to whatever language go to http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=es#
and you can easily translate this page. I mean, it´s not perfect, but it´s pretty good!

Si deseas traducir nuestro blog de inglés a cualquier lenguaje, vaya no mas a http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=es# y puedes facilmente traducir la pagina de web. No es perfecto pero es muy bueno!

7.4.09

Iguazú, Argentina: Let Me Hear You Roar!!!

Hostal Marco Polo, across from the bus station, 40 pesos


We got off the bus and tested out legs; luckily they still worked. We were neither sleepy nor well rested, so we opted to spend the day by the pool in our hostal. (Yes! our hostal had a pool!)

As the day went on we slowly met the four characters we´d be sharing our six bed dorm room with; Andrian, a talkative, quirky Brit with a dry sense of humor; Bart, a young guy from Connecticut with a story to tell about Afghanistan and who´s driven by my house off of Rt 6 countless times; Jesús, a friendly, easygoing Spaniard (in fact the 1st Spaniard we´ve met on our whole trip); and the old Norwegian philosopher with a kind smile who took a moment to share some of his ideas about life with me. "Nothing you do in this life is wasted," he´d said. "If you want to be a pianist in you next life, start preparing now." At night the 6 of us ate a mediocre parillada (Argentine barbecue), but with some exceptionally good conversation.

On our second day in Iguazu we had one main goal, get a Brazilian visa. We´d heard horror stories about this process involving yellow fever vaccination papers, entry & return tickets, proof of finances, etc. To our utter amazement, we didn't have to deal with any of this; one small picture, an easy form, 520 pesos ($130, twice as much as all other nationalities pay) and less than two hours later it was done. We can definitely attribute this to some great advice, get the visa form Iguazu, not Buenos Aires. Perfect!

On the third day we were the first ones at breakfast, ready to beat the usual bee invasion around the breakfast table and the crowds that would swarm to the famous Iguazu waterfalls. We packed our lunches to avoid the 45 peso buffet, hopped on a bus and arrived within 30 minutes.

While entering the park we met Nick, an Italian-American, jazz musician from New York whose grandfather´s name is Nick and his uncle´s names is Nick... his cousins, etc... (sound familiar?) We hit it off right off the bat, as if we were hanging out with an old highschool friend. The three of us teamed up in our quest to see each of the 275 cascades from every possible angle, height and distance. We took Adrian´s advice (which he´d given us about 10 times) "start at the point closest to the entrance instead of the other end like most people will do. You´ll avoid the crowds!"

He was right. For the first half of the morning we ran into more ring-tailed raccoons than people, as we worked our way from the top down and the front inward, each time getting a closer look at an even bigger waterfall.

The view was so picturesque that it was hard to believe it wasn´t some sort of man made attraction. All of this natural beauty, discovered in 1541 laid out right in front of us. The oohs, ahhs and wows didn´t stop, as we gazed at one fall after another, trying to absorb the peace and tranquility of the thundering waters.

We took a two minute ferry ride to Isla San Martin where we cooled down from the unbearable heat in the refreshing water and ate our lunch in the company of several lizards just before the heavy, but welcomed rain came pouring down.

We hurried, sopping wet to the trolley that would bring us to the ´Garganta del Dibalo´, the biggest and most famous part of Iguazu. When off the train, we followed the path leading to the fall stopping along the way to snap photos of colorful butterflies, that fluttered around us proudly displaying their blue, red, green and magenta wings.

As we approached the Garganta del Diablo, I was taken aback by the unmatched power and beauty of this natural marvel. While looking over the edge at the gigantic roaring beast, I felt how easily this magical cascade of crashing waters could swallow me. We stayed long enough at the fall to see a rainbow just as the sun started peaking out again.

One more night in our hostal and we were shipping out the next morning. We had a new destination before us; Brazil.

(Moms, Dads, we all remember this face, now don´t we?)

3 comments:

  1. Ladies,
    the pictures and the stories just keep on getting better & better. I do not know how you can continue to top what you are doing, seeing and writing. That will be your challenge.

    Miss you both - lots.

    love,
    Dad

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  2. Lori and Laura,

    what an amazing pictures! and landscapes, as well.
    They are so good that i'll use them as screensavers on my computer; specially the last one in this post (lol): Laura you have ever been photogenic lol....!
    I was counting the hours you to get Buenos Aires, so are you going to get there?
    One more matter, today in ecuador we celebrate "the teacher's day" so girls have a nice day and receive a huge hug from your better ecuadorian student" jiji I hope everything will go good with you..
    Fernando

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  3. mi Laurita querida por que aun no has subido algo de tu lindo Ecuador....
    att tu sapito te quiero musho

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