Yes, hard to believe that my favorite parts of the entire weekend getaway to Iguazu Falls were the 18-hour bus rides to and from said location. As breath-taking as were the Cataratas, (Argentine name for one of the world's natural wonders), for the sedentary folk such as myself, nothing can beat sitting on your bum for an extended period of time in overstuffed, fully-reclining arm chairs, watching classic American movies like "The Switch" and the ever-cheesy but extraordinarily entertaining, "Time Machine," gabbing loudly (and no doubt, obnoxiously) with your other American friends, drinking little bottles of Malbec, and being served steak and medialunas (croissants) by the prissy, but doting, bus attendants. The stretches of falls with billions of tons of water rushing down, the rainbows from the sun's reflection of the mist that soaks into your pores, the thick jungle greenery surrounding you, the toucans in the trees-- yeah, yeah, yeah that was all pretty great. But I still loved the bus.
To tell you the truth, this was not the ideal weekend to visit Iguazu Falls. The excessive rainfall over the past few weeks raised the water level to unusually high levels, ultimately preventing us from stepping up close to see the Big Kahuna of Iguazu-- the Devil's Throat. To add to that, it was pretty cold so the water that splashed onto you tended to feel more bone-chilling than refreshing. But none of this dampened the overall mood.
When I came home to Buenos Aires, I enthusiastically shared the weekend's events with my host-mom, but her reaction was more one of lament over the fact that I'd trekked all the way to Iguazu when it wasn't the best it could have been. I guess knowing that could taint any tourist's perspective on the whole thing, but it didn't really put a damper on my experience.
The hostel was also a highlight. It was so fun getting to know some of the other foreigners staying there, too. People were literally from all over. Plus the asado (BBQ) and the cheeseburgers served at the hostel were delicious-- and cheap-- and the live music and entertainment provided by feathered (fe)male dancers on Saturday night made for quite a pleasant evening. Driving through the rainforest on ATVs was a particularly fun experience (of course I crashed into someone within the first 5 minutes, but no matter!). And of course...there were the bus rides, which I've already extolled.
So all-in-all, my long weekend up north was pretty damn great.
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