Wednesday 23 October 2013

17/10/2013 – 22/10/2013 Salta and Iguazu

2013-10-19

2013-10-20



17/10/2013 – 22/10/2013 Salta and Iguazu

After a relaxing day in Salta we cycled to the airport where we had the usual stress, that comes with airports no matter where in the world they are. Despite having been told differently when we booked the tickets the airline now wanted the bikes wrapped in plastic, fortunately the man whose job it was to wrap suitcases in plastic was helpful and despite our bikes not fitting his machine he did it by hand which took some effort. We were about 40 kg over the weight allowance but they let us through without charging for it . A 3 hr delay for departure .
Arrival in Iguazu was amazing though. We were driving off in the bus to the town centre with bikes and luggage within twelve minutes of touching down. That's what I call quick. Even though we arrived well after midnight we quickly found a cheap hostel and a twenty four hour shop opposite which offered some great hot food and the usual bottle of beer and wine. Argentina has some great cheap wine I'm pleased to say as well as massive portions of food. We have now seen the waterfalls. From the Brazilian side, the Argentinian side and at night time lit up by full moon. We took hundreds of pictures but none could capture it and we understand why it is one of the new 7 natural wonders in the world. The falls are overwhelming 3kms wide and 80 m high. A sight not to be missed. It was great fun to experience them from the boat even though we got absolutely drenched as the boat went into the falls, you couldn't see and we were both fearful the boat would fill up and sink . Not a dry stitch left. In fact we got drenched repeatedly over the last few days whenever we got too close to the falls the spray would just get you and soak you in minutes. We were very lucky to have arrived here whilst it was full moon and to have the opportunity to see the falls at night in moonlight. All though the camera wasn't up to capturing it, it is a memory we will treasure. Once again we were extremely lucky with the weather. Brilliant sunshine and blue skies on both days we visited the falls and on the third day when we just planned to laze about we had a proper tropical storm with torrential rain. We are in the jungle after all! It is odd, after weeks of cycling in a great expanse of emptiness, no trees no birds, no animals and very dry and cold air we are now suddenly in such lush surroundings with night time temperatures in the high twenties and great humidity.
We flew out of Iguazu on the 22nd and landed this time at Mendoza where we spent the night. Mendoza is beautiful and we had a lovely meal al fresco in one of the big open pedestrianised boulevards. A gorgeous setting to get slowly drunk.
Tempting to stay longer but we'll be back on the bikes tomorrow heading South again.
After a relaxing day in Salta we cycled to the airport where we had the usual stress, that comes with airports no matter where in the world they are. Despite having been told differently when we booked the tickets the airline now wanted the bikes wrapped in plastic, fortunately the man whose job it was to wrap suitcases in plastic was helpful and despite our bikes not fitting his machine he did it by hand which took some effort. We were about 40 kg over the weight allowance but they let us through without charging for it . A 3 hr delay for departure .
Arrival in Iguazu was amazing though. We were driving off in the bus to the town centre with bikes and luggage within twelve minutes of touching down. That's what I call quick. Even though we arrived well after midnight we quickly found a cheap hostel and a twenty four hour shop opposite which offered some great hot food and the usual bottle of beer and wine. Argentina has some great cheap wine I'm pleased to say as well as massive portions of food. We have now seen the waterfalls. From the Brazilian side, the Argentinian side and at night time lit up by full moon. We took hundreds of pictures but none could capture it and we understand why it is one of the new 7 natural wonders in the world. The falls are overwhelming 3kms wide and 80 m high. A sight not to be missed. It was great fun to experience them from the boat even though we got absolutely drenched as the boat went into the falls, you couldn't see and we were both fearful the boat would fill up and sink . Not a dry stitch left. In fact we got drenched repeatedly over the last few days whenever we got too close to the falls the spray would just get you and soak you in minutes. We were very lucky to have arrived here whilst it was full moon and to have the opportunity to see the falls at night in moonlight. All though the camera wasn't up to capturing it, it is a memory we will treasure. Once again we were extremely lucky with the weather. Brilliant sunshine and blue skies on both days we visited the falls and on the third day when we just planned to laze about we had a proper tropical storm with torrential rain. We are in the jungle after all! It is odd, after weeks of cycling in a great expanse of emptiness, no trees no birds, no animals and very dry and cold air we are now suddenly in such lush surroundings with night time temperatures in the high twenties and great humidity.
We flew out of Iguazu on the 22nd and landed this time at Mendoza where we spent the night. Mendoza is beautiful and we had a lovely meal al fresco in one of the big open pedestrianised boulevards. A gorgeous setting to get slowly drunk.

Tempting to stay longer but we'll be back on the bikes tomorrow heading South again.

1 comment:

  1. Thamks for sharing the blog with these beautifull pictures and video ``s

    ReplyDelete