Date of Entry: December 29th and 30th 2015
Date of Writing: January 9th 2016, Salta por Siempre Hostal, Salta, Argentina.
The time has come to move on, I have a flight booked to Salta Argentina on the 31st with Aerolineas Argentina, flying because the price was exactly the same as a 24 hour bus ride price with any half decent bus company. It’s sad really, as Argentina is a big country, and it makes everything a lot more expensive, especially with the death of the blue dollar. But oh well, it’s kind of cool skipping the long distance buses for once, and not really paying any more because of it.
But before the sadness of the flight out of one of my absolute favourite places in the world, comes to more visits on the 29th and 30th respectively. I accidentally sleep through my alarm on the 29th so it’s already close to 10 am when I get into the park paying my 260 Peso entry fee (130 on the second day with a revalidated ticket) and since it’s already starting to get crowded I decide to head to the less traveled and little known Macuco trail which leads you through a muddy jungle to Arrachea waterfall, separate from the main attraction but still very beautiful, and perhaps the best news is it’s swimmable and easy to explore the rocky turbulent paradise under the cascades.
I head up past the main station taking the muddiest section of the trail on a path just to the right of the entrance to the station, eventually crossing an access road and following the signs to the true entrance of the Macuco trail. Also walking past a unique and interesting looking bird.
As I enter the jungle I turn off my music and appreciate the cacophonous symphony of insects and birds hidden deep in the thick canopies all around me. This trail is far more isolated than any of the main ones and as such gives you a much truer sense of being deep in the jungle, the soundtrack is downright impressive and the giant ants walking across the trails mixing with the countless butterflies fluttering through the air make this walk seem somewhat otherworldly.
After about 45 minutes of brisk strolling through the jungle I come out to a bridge atop the waterfalls and pass a teenage couple looking for a quiet moment and snap a few pictures before retreating to the main path and heading down a series of narrow wooden steps to the base of the falls.
I snap a few pictures of the mini seeming (when compared to Iguazu) but still impressive falls, before stripping down to my boxers and joining two other people down here with me, wading into the crisp cool water and quickly making for the rocky outcroppings directly under the crashing water.
There’s a certain art to moving around waterfalls, especially when you’re not a particular fit individual, the key is just to go slow, always maintain as many points of contact as you can, and trust what you feel since most of the time you will probably have your eyes closed. I quickly manage to find an access point between the two main streams and soon I’m edging my way along slick rocks under just about every inch of these falls relishing in the intensity of the crashing water. I spend a long time sitting under the flows and just letting my mind drift with the chaos all around me.I do have my go pro on at the time, but the internet here is not quick enough to upload the video, and if you follow this blog closely you’ve already seen lots of footage of me in a waterfall.
Eventually I make myself head back up the trail the way I’ve come and walk at a good pace in just boxers and a t-shirt hoping they will dry before I get to close to the more populated regions of the national park. As I leave the trail behind and go to cross the road and train tracks I decide that rather than back track to the central station I’ll just follow the tracks to estacion Cataratas where most of the main trails begin.
The decision turns out to be a great one as walking along the rail road tracks utterly alone I spot 4 toucans in fairly quick sequence and snap more photos though I’m still figuring out how to get the best out of my new Canon SX60HS.
The birds are magnificent and dance from tree to tree until a train passes scaring them away. If you;re visiting Iguazu be sure to keep an eye out for these birds high in the jungle canopies, especially on cloudy days when sightings are more frequent.
From here I headfirst out along the now very familiar upper trail, snapping pictures with the new camera as I go and pausing for a little writing time at one of my favourite places beside Salto Bosetti.
On the way back along the back section of the upper trail I don’t spot any turtles but do find this impressive and menacing looking spider before getting on the train towards the Devil’s Throat.
I again board the last car of the train to allow for a quicker access to the trail and hurry along, racing one determined Argentinean and eventually beating him out to perhaps the craziest and most impressive place I’ve ever been. As I stand there enraptured by the incredible beauty of this place I can’t help but wonder what it will be like in April when I get back there and see it in lower water level seasons.
After a good long visit with the devil’s throat which is equally impressive during the day as it is at night under the full moon I head back towards the train but end up walking the path as I just miss it and getting back to Estacion Cataratas after 25 minutes of singing along to my music I decide I’ve still got time to do a quick circuit of the lower trail. And thank goodness I do as before I get to any of the waterfall viewpoints I stumble onto a giant family of cappuchin monkeys sharing the jungle with a few families of Coati’s. This is only the second time I’ve seen the monkey’s here and there’s a lot of them, playfully jumping around the canopy and watching the gawking tourists with a playful curiosity.
After a long long long visit at the end of the lower trail enjoying the utter madness of water spraying everywhere out at the edge of the boardwalk I decide it’s time to head back, meeting Lucy and her mother from Australia and my way back out of the park, spending the walk back to the exit chatting with them and eventually helping Lucy find a go pro charger, none of us forgetting to get our tickets revalidated for the next day at ticket window number 5.
The next morning I’m up a bit earlier and heading back towards the falls following probably my favourite and most recommended order of trails. The upper trail, the lower trail, and finishing off with the devil’s throat. Today though i know it’s my last visit to the falls for the next few months at least, and so each trail takes longer, me relishing final moments in so many incredible viewpoints at what are undoubtedly the most impressive waterfalls I’ve ever seen and what I suspect are the most amazing falls in the whole world, somehow still in thick jungle yet with unprecedented access from Boat, to helicopter, to your own two feet.
We’ll start with the upper trail which is a little crowded but it’s easy to tune out the white noise of people and lose yourself in the seemingly endless row of falls sprawled out before you.
On my way down to the lower trail I spot a toucan flying over us and landing in a not too distant tree pointing it out to some other tourists who are amazed. The more practice you get looking the toucans the easier they are to find and by now I’d be surprised if I visited the falls for a day without seeing at least one of these spectacular birds.
I head down along the second section of the lower falls past two sisters falls and into the madness of the final viewpoint of the main falls, stripping of shirt and shoes and spending close to an hour lost in the swirling sprays and mad power of the falls again. It’s so close to impossible to leave but eventually i force myself to move on to my final place with the falls this time around, the devil’s throat, but on the way out of the lower trail i spot another toucan who hangs around for lots of pictures.
I board the train to the devil’s throat for the last time, again the first person out to the walkways, speeding along the metal constructions over the impressive river as the sun starts to break through the clouds. You now what this means by now I hope, rainbows at the devil’s throat. I snap a few final photos when I arrive then secure my camera in my dry sac inside my Osprey back pack before losing myself in the impossible amount of water flooding these beautiful cliffs. I spend almost three hours there, saying a final goodbye to Iguazu before heading back to the park entrance and getting one final gift of a toucan at Estacion Cataratas before forcing myself to walk away as the park starts it’s shutdown process. Iguazu, I will will miss you dearly, but tomorrow it’s off to Salta, back into the andes, where I’m sure countless new adventures await.
