18: Hop step and jump north to Iguazu

The rooftop of O2 - everything seemed to align

   LOCATION:  Iguazu

Repositioning "again." This time from Buenos Aires heading north towards the shared border with Brazil and Paraguay to Iguazu Falls.

@Paulyta arrived for the 8 am pickup and we had a smooth, quiet run to the airport. Overcast today, but we don't care, we're moving on. Glad we had @Paulyta at the airport because our luggage was a little over the 15 kgs permitted on internal flights and had to find the counter, outside the terminal to pay for additional baggage.

Called to board the flight which was chock-a-block - it is a long weekend here - and settled in for the short one hour flight.

What different terrain. Flat, cut and cut and diced regularly by rivers and for the last 20 minutes of the flight, a lush green patchwork a combination of forest and farming.

Grainy shots from overhead on a full flight

As we were making our way towards landing it did seem as if we were touching the tops of the trees - @Mac even commented from his window position "I hope the pilot can see the runway" - and when the wheels hit the tarmac all the locals burst into applause.  I checked in with the lady next to me - apparently the applause is local regular thing - more about the joy of arriving than the preciousness of a landing.

We were met with a blast of hot air on arrival. Felt like that searing Northern Territory heat and once again no problems with meeting up with our ride. He turned out to be the most talkative driver and the 20 minute ride through the national park was filled with stories of Iguazu's history and of the animals that reside here.Hope we don't see the big cats up close over the next few days,but wouldn't mind a toucan, capybara or a tapir.

Arrived right on 2 pm and enjoyed an immediate checkin to beautiful accommodation in O2 perched on the very top of a hill with a birds' eye view over the river to the border.

Nice digs at O2 - very happy to get immediate checkin

Pulled up a pew at the local and had to resort to the translation app to place our order. Not much air conditioning in the venues along the street and settled on a street side table under a fan. Were  accounted a few times by a number of children about 7 or 8 years old, begging for food or money or selling rocks.

Coldies at the local

It was still stinking hot at 4 pm when we set off on our 5 km walk in pursuit of  a view of the three borders. The point of convergence connects Puerto Iguazú (Argentina), Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil), and Ciudad del Este (Paraguay). These borders are defined by the union of the Iguazú River (separating Brazil and Argentina) and the Paraná River (separating Paraguay from both).

Three frontiers

The spot was filled with buses and their associated payloads. We posed at all the spots paid our 50 cents for a toilet visit and decided to take the river route home. 

Stuck to the river 

Hitel was a dot on the hill -we  did wonder why we were doing this

Still stinking hot, we made the 1 km knee killing downhill trek adjacent to the Paraná River and finished it off with a 1.5 km ascent via a series of switchback turns to get back home. We could have weakened and taken a taxi on that return leg but was probably a long overdue period of exertion.

We were dripping wet! I hit the pool. @Mac the shower after which he managed to turn his suitcase inside out looking for his sandles.

Whqt a relief after the walk
Met up with the @DeLoys on the rooftop bar and that was sort of it. One of those evenings. Hot thirsty weather. A rooftop pool. Music. Sunset. Food and drink. And good friends with endless stories. Thank goodness the manager had to come and give us a nudge to move on (the area had been reserved) ... because we probably all could have melted into the furniture and slept the night away.

Maybe one drink too many - was probably the heat

Not to worry, took that glass elevator down to level 7 rooms and cracked the bottle of Bailey's. And finished the evening restoring order to Mac's bags.

This was a rest day - got 9 hours of touring tomorrow. And it will be Saturday of a long weekend with another day of hot and humid. 

Survival Barometer

Steps 14 228

Weather 32 but intensely humid

Health i repeat, maybe one drink too many

 Can you believe this?

🌊 Mind‑blowing Size Facts About Iguazú Falls from Co Pilot - ready for visit tomorrow!

1. It’s wider than Victoria Falls and Niagara Falls combined

• Iguazú stretches for 2.7 km across the border of Argentina and Brazil.
• Niagara? About 1.2 km.
• Victoria? Roughly 1.7 km.
  Put them together and Iguazú still wins.

2. It’s not one waterfall — it’s 275

Instead of one big curtain, Iguazú is a sprawling system of 275 individual falls, all crashing at different angles and heights.
It’s like nature built a giant, chaotic amphitheatre of water.