In Search of a Wonder: Iguazu Falls

We were honourably discharged from the Oceania Regatta in Buenos Aires (BA) early Monday, March 17, 2014 but we would only be in that city for a few hours. We left the pier at 8:30 AM and had a domestic flight to catch to Iguazu Airport in northeastern Argentina. Thus we would begin the 2014 Argentina Land Tour. We had a very busy schedule over the next three nights and four days and it would start with a thorough exploration of Iguazu Falls.

Everything we would be doing over the remaining time we had was arranged through a tour compnay called Andes Drifters out of North Caroline and they did an excellent job of looking after us. Normally they cater to fly  fisherman from the U.S. and Canada that go to fly fish in Patagonia but a friend of mine said they could handle anything that we wanted to do in Argentina and they did.

We were met at the pier by Carlos who was our main contact in BA. He and a driver picked us up on time at the pier and drove us to the domestic airport to catch the flight to Iguazu. Carlos guided us through the airport, acting as our interpreter and only left us when we had our boarding passes in hand and were headed through security. We would see Carlos again the next day when we returned from the falls.

Argentina Aerolineas has attractive, young stewardesses but after we strapped in and took off we never saw them again until the conclusion of one of my most bumpy 737 plane rides I'd experienced. The cabin crew was not allowed to take their seat-belts off. That would have been fine if it wasn't for the barrel roll the pilot wanted us to try just before landing.  Luckily the wings stayed attached to the plane. Excitement over, we rolled our carry-on through the baggage area and Marcos was there waiting for us. Marcos was our guide for the next 24 hours. Within minutes we were in a car and on our way to a the Loi Suites Hotel to unwind our scrambled nerves after that memorable 2-hour ride up from BA.

lobby of the Loi Suites in Iguazu

looking down over the restaurant and pool

our room, with nice high ceilings

foot bridges between the buildings of the hotel
though the middle of the subtropical rainforest

jacuzzi on the fourth floor deck at canopy level of the forest

The next day (Tuesday, March 18), Marcos picked us up at the hotel to begin an intensive exploration of the park. We were to hike all three major foot paths above and below the falls and enjoy a boat trip into the base of two main parts of the falls that day. We would also ride in a truck and a train that had been built to get people from one area to the next through the rain forrest. It was a full day but we were rewarded with excellent views of the various parts of the falls and plenty of wildlife. The park itself is a clean, modern facility that tends to the needs of thousands of tourists per day but I think they are also doing a good job of protecting the unique environment surrounding the falls. Let's face it, most South American countries have a poor track record protecting these very rich ecosystems.

Near the front entrance, you can see how nice and well maintained
the park is notwithstanding thousands of visitors per day

Our entire exploration of the park was only from the Argentinian side but Argentina actually has more trails and claims more of the actually falls and cataracts inside its borders. On our return trip we will see what it looks like from the Brazilian side. The falls themselves are one of the new Seven Natural Wonder of the world. Now that we've seen Iguazu, Victoria and Niagara, two conclusions can be made; the first is that Iguazu bumps out Victoria just slightly as the most impressive of the three and the other is that Niagara is such an embarrassment because of the carnival that has been allowed to be built right up to the river's edge.

Mrs. Gym took these next shots from the Upper Trail:

This is one of our first views from the Upper trail. You can see another part of the
trail that we would be standing on later as we made our way along the excellent steel pathway that crosses
each section of the falls to the islands thats separate them.

This is a shot along a number of the individual cataracts from the Upper Trail

Some cataracts fall to an intermediate area and then fall again to the bottom of the gorge.

We are on the walkway here, looking over the edge

An alligator near the edge of the falls

Viewing the Lower Trail from the Upper Trail

This is a Coati stading on it's hind legs. It is a skinnier member of the raccoon
family. It has a longer narrow nose.

The Lower Trail:

Looking up at the Upper Falls trail from the Lower Falls

I think Marcos called this an Oka. I need to do some research for the scientific name.
There are 450 species of birds here so it might take me a while to peg this down for you.

A coati in the tree. Nice shot Mrs. Gym.

Another shot looking up at the Upper Falls from the Lower Falls.

Marcos, our Iguazu guide, at the Lower Falls.

We would ride this boat up underneath the falls.

The boats go right into the spray from the cascading falls.

Look!

We spotted this little guy just before we got on the boat....

...this guy too....

The oat Ride:

Our ride awaits!

A shot from the boat.

Another nice shot before the camera got too wet.

The starting point of the trail to the Devil's Throat is reached by traveling by a natural gas powered train from near the entrance to the park. You then hike out 1.1 kilometres over the elevated steel walkway the stretches the entire way to an excellent viewpoint where you are looking right into the Devil's Throat.

The walkway to the Devil's Throat.

You can see the re-inforced cement pilings which support the trail.

Here is a good shot of Devil's Throat but as you can see we are getting soaked.

This is the Devil's Throat. Unfortunately, it is so wet there photography is difficult.  When standing above the Devil's Throat where water is flowing in from three sides and you can hardly talk to each other, you understand why this is one of the new Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

We would return to BA that night. The plane ride was thankfully smooth and upon arrival we were taken from the airport to downtown BA and checked into the Fur Seasons Hotel by our friend Carlos, the BA guide. Tomorrow would be another busy day. We were going to play some polo and attend a Tango Show.

Meandering into Montevideo

It was hilarious when you looked at the path we took from Punta del Este to Montevideo, on the radar map that shows the track of the ship. We looped around and around in the estuary, as the captain and his crew fought all night to keep us from beaching on some sand bank during quite a nasty storm. This wasn't at all funny for my dear wife though, who was down and out on that wild ride to the capital city of Uruguay. The storm was so bad that when we arrived at the port, it was closed and we had to wait 3 or 4 hours for them to get the dock in good enough shape for us to tie up there. This shortened our stay in the capital a bit but we made the most of it.

It was noon on Saturday, March 15, 2014, when the port authority finally had everything in order and we docked the ship. The tour buses had been waiting all morning for some action and because of our late arrival, tours had been shortened because we had to leave for Buenos Aires that night. We re-scheduled from a longer tour to a half-day one and when we met the guide we learned that she had come from Punta del Este earlier in the morning The drive down to Montevideo by car took only 1.5 hours. She laughed as she joked with us about how much easier it would have been for us to drive down with her. A groggy Mrs. Gym agreed.

The guide's name was Maria and as we got settled into her bus, she immediately provided the conclusion to the storey about the German pocket battleship, Graf Spee. After taking on some serious damage in the Battle of the River Plate, the German Ship limped into the port at Montevideo and tied up near where the Regatta now sat. Uruguay was a neutral country, so Captain Hans Langsdorff was hoping to get Uruguay to help with repairs. Uruguay was only required by international law to offer a few days of respite for the ship. That wasn't enough time to get the repairs done and more British warships were on the way. After conferring with superiors in Germany, Langsdorff gave the order to scuttle his proud ship. The Regatta had just past the site of the wreck of the Graf Spee on its way into the harbour.

That was the end of Langsdorff's proud ship. Montevideo became its last port of call. In addition, Montevideo also became the final resting place for 36 German sailors who died in the battle. This was not the end for the Captain though. Langsdorff and his crew crossed the River Plate and landed in Buenos Aires with the help of some german Argentinians. I will finish the story about him later.

In the middle part of this photo is a grey object which is a rangefinder
from the Graf Spee

Our first stop on the tour was Plaza Independencia (Independence Square), just a few blocks from the pier, in downtown Montevideo. Montevideo is not a resort area like Punta del Este but it is not just another big ugly city either. I was very impressed with the city. The best way to descibe it is an eclectic mix of   modern glass towers and beautiful art deco buildings. There are the striking buildings which were completed in the early twentieth century when Uruguay was referred to as the Switzerland of South America and the nouveau buildings and sculptures of the last 25 years of prosperity in the country. And every few block there is a nice park, each with some impressive public art piece. Independence Square is no different, there are important modern and art deco buildings surrounding the square. There is also an important shrine there.

A piece of the old Montevideo Wall that used to surround the city

This is actually a gate to the city wall of Montevideo at Plaza Independencia

Palacio Salvo: I want to ramble about this art deco oddity but I am forbidden.
An art deco extravaganza on Plaza Independencia. Do you think Italians might have designed it?

Teatro Solace on Plaza Independencia is a world renowned Opera house.
It dates from 1856.

This modern building also situated on Independencia Square
contains the offices of the President of Uruguay 

This is Estevez Palace which is next to the building shown above.
As you can imagine to winning candidate will stand on the balcony
of this building to ring in a new government.

This is the statue of Jose Gervasio Artigas, the hero of Uruguay,
situated in Indepencia Square. Underneath the massive statue is his mausoleum which
is below the statue. Later his likeness is in another photo.

We traveled a little farther to the Palacio Legislativo (Parliment Buildings). From the outside they don't look like much but I was really impressed with the interior. The myriad of different colours of Uruguayan marble and granite, as well as the ornate sculpted bronze and hardwood, with the outstanding Italian stained glass is awe-inspiring. The floor alone has at least ten different colours of marble that were hand-cut and pieced together in a design that looks like a persian carpet when viewed from above. I don't know if our pictures do it justice.

Palacio Legislativo exterior

Mrs. Gym with a Uruguayan guard

The central male figure in this huge beautiful painting just inside the
front door  of the Palacio Legislativo is Jose Artigas the hero of Uruguay

This painting represents the working of the land which is an important theme in
a country where cattle and sheep outnumber people by a factor of six to one.

Here is the floor that is a patchwork of at least six marbles from Uruguay.

a comfy marble bench

this shows sculpted bronze and wood on a marble and granite column that
also shows samples of each colour of marble used in the floor

look at the gold leaf on the ceiling and the marble pattern on the floor

We continued on and viewed some chic neighborhoods and some more beutiful parks. We made a big clockwise circle around the city and ended coming back to the port along La Rambla,  the spectacular riverfront drive between the beaches and the waterfront condos.

This is one of the most spectacular works of art in Montevideo.
Monumento la Carreta

Scenes from La Rambla. Note that there is a golf course behind this park.

Waterfall on La Rambla in Montevideo

It was a windy day as the last vestiges of the big storm blew away from the River Plate. We boarded the ship for the last time. Later that night the Regatta left Montevideo to cross the river where we would end our cruise in Buenos Aires. Then the plan was to see most of Argentina in 3 days. We will need to go back to work to get a rest.

Parking at Punta del Este

On Friday, March 14th we landed at Punta del Este, Uruguay. Immediately, we fell in love with it.

This place must be cool if Donald Trump and Conrad Hilton are making investments here. There is a brand new Conrad hotel on one side of the peninsula and on the other side there is a rather large vacant lot on which the Donald's face smiles out at you from huge, brightly coloured billboards. Even without those celebrities' involvement in the place, Punta del Este is like an improved version of South Beach, Florida. It's cleaner too. What a change here on our first stop in Uruguay after leaving Rio Grande in southern Brazil.

Uruguay is not what I expected. I say that because it just seems to be an unlikely survivor. This country of three million inhabitants has somehow survived sandwiched between the two biggest countries on the continent. There are 42 million Argentinians and there are 200+ million Brazilians. In Uruguay's history both Argentina and Brazil have claimed the territory. Furthermore, Brazil and Argentina are endowed with many important natural resources and Uruguay has very little in that regard. Yet Uruguay survives and appears to be thriving. I heard someone say that it was like the south of France but not as expensive. I'll let some of the photos speak to that.

This part out near Salinas Point is where Great Britain Square
 is and it reminds me very much of Victoria, B.C.

This shot is taken from Punta Ballina and it shows the modern
condo towers downtwon behind the Regatta

more condos

the best beach which is empty here in the beginning of the off-season

Conrad must be hosting a car show

fishermen at Punta Ballina

We had an excellent tour of the area from a local guide named Cristina. One of the first stops was Great Britain Square.  There is a park on that square overlooking the mouth of the estuary that looks out over the site of the WW2 naval battle that is most often referred to as, "The Battle of the River Plate". It was here in December, 1939 that the German battleship Graf Spee was cornered by three smaller British warships after it had sunk 9 British merchant vessels in the southern Atlantic. The British ships were the Ajax, Achilles and Exeter, which took some damage themselves form the larger, faster and more heavily-armed opponent but were able to counter with a few serious blows to their rival. The damage was severe enough that the Graf Spee had to retire to Montevideo to try and seek a place to effect some repairs. I will tell you the rest of the story later but suffice it to say that this initial scrap was a British victory at a time when Hitler wasn't making any mistakes in Europe.

an anchor pointing to where the Battle of the River Plate took place
and a plaque marking the 60th anniversary of the battle

We were in Punta del Este at the right time. During the winter months which start now, there are only 10,000 permanent residents of the area. In the summer though, the population swells to several hundred thousand. With this being the end of summer many of the rich seasonal inhabitants have secured their homes and returned to their winter residences. Here are some examples of how these properties looked.

summer mansion secured for the winter

another

and another

But the winter isn't so bad here. I could live here all year long. It was very nice the day we were there, mostly sunny, calm and a temperature of about 20 degrees C. We were told they never get snow and the temperature rarely drops down below 10 degrees C. Sounds like heaven to me and if we lived here all year long we'd think about one of these condos:

maybe this one is too much like something in Vegas

They have invested in some public art here and there are a few notable pieces:

stylized mermaids at Great Britain Square

The Fingers, situated on Playa Brava

A practical piece of art in the bridge near La Barra for
which the inspiration was the curves of a woman. If you go
real fast over this it feels like a roller coaster ride.

Finally, we also visited a nearby farm and the home of the recently deceased artist and local icon, Carlos Paez Vilaro. Here is what those things looked like:

a neat covered bridge in rural Uruguay

cool 2-wheeled cart

an older rural house, now used as an office on the farm we visited

Mrs. Gym with Vilaro's house in the background

Vilaro's house, now a hotel. It took It took the artist 36 years
to build this structure on the side of the cliff at Punta Ballena.

We left Punta del Este under cloudy skies and when we got aboard the ship the Captain came on the horn to let us know that we were in for a bit of a blow. I thought since we were already in the estuary and only had a short distance to travel to Montevideo that it would be a piece of cake. I was wrong. Mrs. Gym had to dip into the sea-sickness pill jar.