Las Cataratas del Iguazu

Ok, so for some reason, the way the pictures loaded is in reverse chronological order to my trip to the North. So, I will give a summary of the trip in the correct order and then go through and explain the pictures, and hope that everyone follows (I don't think it should be any harder than the most recent Mensa questionnaire you read on an airplane).

My recent trip consisted of three portions: Iguazu Falls for three days, a day in Buenos Aires, and a day in Uruguay.

On our first day in Iguazu (which is situated on the border between Argentina and Brasil just south of the Paraguayan border) we did a tour of the park which took us pretty much the whole day as the tour requires walking through an untold number of walkways all with multiple stops to take in the immense beauty of the place. The first site we visited in the park was the main attraction for tourists: La Garganta del Diablo which means the Throat of the Devil in English. The viewing platform for this spectacle is situated at the top of the falls and looks down into "the throat".
The whole time while we walked around, the place had a very surreal feeling to it. I kept thinking, "Places like this just don't exist in real life, this is a place you only see in the movies." And as it would turn out, that this is where they shot scenes for the newest installment of the Indiana Jones series. It is also in the running for the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Every 15 feet on the walkway I felt I had to take another picture to take in the scene in front of me. Unfortunately, as with the glaciers, a picture fails to accurately convey the feeling of the place, so I strongly suggest that if you are ever in Argentina or Brasil that you should take advantage of your proximity to such an amazing place and pay a visit.

The second day we revisited the park to find the water level slightly less, which was due to the fact that the river is dammed farther upriver and thus the water flow varies according to the amount of water let through obviously. However, although there was less water, it did not make it any less majestic or awe-inspiring as instead it exposed more of the wall behind the falls which was full of vegetation and really made it even prettier in my eyes.

Just before lunch, we went for a hike through the rainforest. Along the way, we saw wildlife such as gigantic spiders, tucans, other birds that I couldn't identify, a rodent-looking animal I couldn't identify, and capuchin monkeys. The 3 mile long trail ends at an isolated waterfall with a pool at the bottom, so we all jumped in and played in the waterfall and then had lunch on the side of the pool.

Later on in the day, we made our way back to the main part of the park and went for a boat ride in the river. This gave great opportunities for shots of all the falls and then the driver drove us into one of the larger waterfalls to cool down on the hot day.

A map of the park can be found here, so check out the layout of the place, por favor. The boat took us up both forks, first the left to take pictures of La Garganta, and then on the right fork where we got dunked just underneath Salto San Martin. There was also a ferry that took us out to the island where we walked all around and then swam in the right fork of the river. The picture above makes things look relatively small, but in actuality the smallest fall is over 200 feet high.

On our third day, we had started off the day with a zip-line canopy tour of a portion of the rainforest that was close to our hotel. Then, we had a free day to do as we pleased. So, while the rest of the group stayed behind in town, my friends Ray, Jonas, and I, given that we were so close to such an amazing spot as the Falls, decided to pay another visit to the park. But on this day, we established a moratorium on picture taking as the last two days had been so full of pictures, we wanted to really just absorb the feeling of the place. So, with Nietzche and Kafka on hand, we spent our existentialist day mostly on the island due to the fact that it provided great views of most all of the falls. But, before heading back, we wanted to go exploring more in the rainforest. So, we went back to the trail and hiked as we pleased, stopping to play with spiders, and leaving the trail at parts to go exploring for wildlife.

After our time in Iguazu ended, we headed back to Buenos Aires, and because the group I was with was not familiar with the city, we did a full city tour although to tell you the truth I had already seen most of it because I live so nearby. That night, we enjoyed a full meal accompanied by a tango show which was a great sample of Argentine culture.

The next and final day of our trip, we crossed the Rio del Plata to Uruguay on a charter boat which only took about 45 minutes. We arrived in Colonia which is a historically rich, touristy town located on the opposite side of the river from Buenos Aires. It is a very cozy town, full of cobblestone streets, wonderful views of the river, etc. We spent our last day of the trip here and had a great time albeit the sweltering heat.

And thusly, we end our trip, and start with the pictures.

Obviously, I was not able to rotate this picture, so you might just have to crane your neck a little. And I do realize that you all are probably feeling a little let down right now due to my exceptionally well-formatted blog from my last trip complete with captions on the side of pictures. It's alright though, from here on out, it is smooth reverse-chronological sailing.

This sideways photo above is a very large Uruguayan flag in Colonia alongside the river.

Here we have a restaurant (conveniently shaded) in Colonia that looked out on to the river from the patio. My friends and I spent the afternoon here talking and taking in the surroundings.

This is a picture of the live band from the tango show. Unfortunately there was not enough light to get a good shot of the tangoers as they didn't seem to want to hold still for long periods of time.
Jonas and Ray, from left to right, as we are off exploring the underbrush on the third day. Here we had kind of hit a dead end in our searches and so we had to stop turn around.
A view from the island looking in the middle of the two tiers of falls. This spot was my favorite because it provided a great view of all the falls on the right fork of the river.
Some of the green exposed on the second day with less water. I had a terrible urge to go exploring and climbing on the rocks amidst the falls, but sadly they didn't allow it.
My buds, post waterfall dunking.
A picture of a monkey peeling a mandarin. We were lucky enough to catch a group of them while they were all eating. It was great to watch them go to town on the fruit, and the air was full of a citrus smell. Also, they dropped their peels and half-eaten mandarins on us (although I don't view that us a plus).

Here we are at the end of the trail, playing in the waterfall. The water felt like steel pebbles being dropped on you because it was falling from about 200 feet up.
A nice shot of the right side of the falls.
This is La Garganta del Diablo as seen from the Island San Martin.
Another good view of the island and the falls from the Circuito Inferior.
The border between Argentina and Brazil is the middle of La Garganta del Diablo. This is the Brazilian half of La Garganta from the observation deck on the Argentine side. This was a spot in town where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina all meet. It isn't shown so well in this picture, but just past the people is a fork in the river which separates Argentina and Brasil. The land on the upper left side of the picture is Paraguay. It was very interesting because on all three sides there are pinnacles painted in the country's flag's colors which made for easy identification.

My time in Iguazu was spent taking in an awesome place with good friends, and it was a place I know I will never forget. I strongly recommend that if you are every anywhere near the place that you should go without hesitation.

Although at the end of the trip I had a lot of pictures of waterfalls, many of which look relatively the same, and although my photography skills leave something to be desired, I will definitely look back on all of them with fond memories.

El verano completo

So, throughout the summer I have failed to be exceptionally diligent with my blogs, and I am sorry about that, life has been busy and changing over the last months. Shortly after my trip to the South, we had a great Christmas celebration with my host family. Luckily, I had a great set of packages from home that helped bring the Christmas spirit from the U.S. Also, I felt fortunate that I didn't feel overly homesick, as I hear that the holiday season can be particularly tough on exchangers. Then, quickly followed New Years, just how it does up there in the Northern Hemisphere where my class from school got together and had a party into the wee hours of the morning.

Shortly thereafter, January 4thish, I changed families. The Moretti's so far have been great, and I am very settled here now having been here just over two months. The family consists of the parents Jose and Monica and two kids, Juan Pedro and Maria Eugenia, 24 and 22 in age respectively, and the chihuahua Bionda. Everybody is very nice and exceptionally welcoming, although at first Bionda was very wary of the outsider living in her home. 

The house is located in a gated community called Los Lagartos (The Lizards), and it is a very upscale neighborhood. Thusly, I have access to tennis courts, golf course, and swimming pools.

So, since the move, life during the summer has been pretty calm, I swim most days to keep in shape, and I play a good amount of tennis. I have yet to brave the golf course so as not to disgrace the Hansen/Swanson family name and to avoid setting Argentine records for the largest divots.

Life is good, I see my friends from school often, as well as my exchange friends Jonas, Oliver, and Ray who all live about a half hour away. For my birthday on the 12th, we had a big group from school along with the aforementioned three over to the house for swimming, Frisbee, and an asado. It was a jolly ol' time, and I ended up having as good a birthday as can be expected sans almond spice cake. (Can you believe there is no buttermilk in Argentina? Also, there is practically no peanut butter here, although my family saved me and sent me some for Christmas. Life has been full of PB&J for the last two months.)

And just a few days ago, my most exciting adventure of the summer came to an end. I recently returned from a week long trip to Iguazu Falls with the same group of exchange students that I went with to the South. It is definitely one of the most breathtaking places on the planet, and I will do a recap accompanied by some great photos here on the ol' blog in the next day or so once I get the pictures uploaded and all.

Anyhow, I again want to apologize for my absence, I have recently rehashed my outlook on blogging and will try to write more, shorter, anecdotal blogs from now on, and I hope you all find it in your busy schedules to check in from time to time.