Another day that starts quite early. I am going to the north of Argentina – to Iguazu close to the Brazilian and Paraguayan border. Iguazu is a national park which is best known for the Iguazu Falls in the Iguazu river (a lot of Iguazu here^^). That is the reason, why I am going there – and I don’t want to spend all days in a big city. And it is a UNESCO World Heritage.

I am to early to get breakfast again. But this time I am directly going to the reception desk to make them order a taxi for me. It takes about 10 minutes until the taxi is in place. The drive is about 10 km and costs 3 Euro. Not much traffic early in the morning.

Since I am only going on a 2000 km (1000 km one way) day trip, there is no luggage to check in. I go directly to the security control. They are much more relaxed then in Europe/US. I did not have to take out any stuff of my backpack. Not the camera, people in front of me had liquids – not a problem. A very fast security control.

Just a 90 minute wait for the plane now, which is filled with plane and people watching and some breakfast. I am going on Latam, Latin Americas largest airline. No idea what to expect. The plane is at a bus gate and we are presented with an 18 year old Airbus A320. The seats are from the same time and the legroom is minimal. You can survive 2 hours (which I will have to do) but I have seen much better. The flight is full and the crew is very service oriented and helps people to install the Latam App for films you an watch in-flight for free. Very nice offer. They even give out free non- alcoholic drinks on the flight.

After two hours we approach Iguazu. There is nothing but forests around. No house that are worth mentioning. This is in the middle of nowhere. The airport is old, but they are upgrading it to look like any other (small) airport in the world. Must be the tourism that will fill up the flights.

I have rented a car with Hertz before I flew to Argentina and after very good customer service I get my Chevy Joy. And older car that will definitely do the trick to get me to the National park and back. 35 Euros I payed. Not to bad and easier than a taxi (which might have been cheaper^^). But they don’t like street signs here and there is no cellphone coverage. Luckily I have my handheld GPS for geocaching (I thought about it beforehand) and there I see that I have missed the street with 4 km. There where not many choices. Turning back and after a short drive I am at the entrance to the national park. Parking lot for the day is about 3 Euro. I also got the ticket on the internet, which was 12 Euro for the day.

The park offers several routes to take for different falls and views. I decide to take the most popular one to the “Garganta del Diabolo”. First the green route to the second station of the train that can get you there and then the train. There are a lot of animals running around (I don’t know the name) and there are signs everywhere not to feed them or try to pet them. Good idea. 😀 It is very warm and humid here. I am sweating. Sunspray, sunglasses and my Australian hat are in place – a hat is a very good tool to get rid of the animals. 😀

The ride takes about 15 minutes. Then you take a walk of about ca. 1 km out into the river toward the “Devils mouth”. There are some people here, but there is still enough space to see. This is amazing and difficult to describe. I have seen falls in Norway and have been at the Niagara falls, but this is so much better. The power of nature and water in an fantastic display. You have to visit to understand. 😀 There is a place where they have reserved a special spot for selfies and you can get your picture taken for 12,80 Euro… no thank you. The other views are also very nice.

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After taking pictures from every possible direction I make my way back to the train station. On the way there I find the one geocache I needed to find here to log the region in prosject-gc. 🙂

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Train back to Estacion Cataratas and a fill up with drinks and a toilet visit. Then I start the walk to the Circuito Inferior (blue on the map above) – the lower circle. This is a very nice walk of about 1,7 km plus the way to get there. You get a different view of the Devils mouth but also a look of the other group of falls, which are no less beautiful. There is not enough time to see everything here with the few hours I have before I have to go back. More photos are taken – of course.

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A little break for an ice cream, a drink and some postcards that I wanted to write. The sky is getting more grey. There where several other hikes that would have been interesting, but no chance today. I am left with getting back to the station, take the next full train (people are leaving the park now) to the main entrance and find my car. Why are there so many cars of the type I have… had to look a little bit.^^ I should have filled up with gas, but that would be 15 km to the gas station and 15 km back. It is only 15 km to the airport, so I decide, that not filling up will have the same effect. I drove 36 km in total, so the indicator show a full tank.

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Back at the airport I give the car back without problem (a very good Hertz station here) and even get the tip to try some local bread that is sold out of a backpack to the workers there. Cheap and nice with cheese filling.

I checked in the evening before via app as it is Norwegian that i flying me back to Buenos Aires. Yes, Norwegian in Argentina. They have great prices and I know the product. Should be all OK. A little bit difficult without information. The check in is in another, smaller terminal, but the boarding is from the main terminal. I was a little bit confused, but no problem to find the gate in this small airport and get there in time. The flight is the same as any domestic flight in Norway of flight in Europe. Same, new aircraft B737-800, better legroom than Latam, but no free entertainment – you get the normal low speed internet for messages. A really OK flight back to the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery – the more domestic airport in Buenos aires. I think I forgot to mention, that this is the airport I started from this morning.

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The taxi back should cost more than double the taxi I took this morning and the cue to get a taxi is very long as there are many flights arriving around 22:00. The alternative (thanks to Google maps) is the local bus that will be a little slower (and I have to change buses once), but with 40 ct less than a 10th of the taxi price.

Back at the hotel after a long travel (for a day trip) but happy to have done it. It was worth every penny I spent and tomorrow – my last day in Buenos Aires – I can sleep as long as I want. Yippieh.