Iguazu Falls & Montevideo

I realized I completely forgot to continue to update on the rest of our September trip! After we spent a couple days in Bariloche, we hopped back on a plane and flew up to Iguazu Falls. The falls are part of the Iguazu River that makes the country borders for Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. We stayed at a hotel in Argentinian town of Puerto Iguazu. I don't have any photos of Puerto Iguazu because it was kind of a dump. It's essentially a tiny jungle town and there were hardly any restaurants to eat at. I was glad we only stayed here for one full day- to see the falls. We arrived in the late afternoon, and the next morning we got up bright and early to drive to Parque Nacional Iguazu. From there we had to buy entrance tickets, and then a ticket for the small train that would take us to a point to walk out on board walks over the river to where the falls are. 

The first (of many more) coati sightings of the day.

As we walked through the park entrance we immediately saw huge pack of coatis roaming around looking for food along the pathways.  Coatis are cute, but apparently pretty aggressive when it comes to getting food from tourists, the ones that live in this park have become pretty conditioned to being able to get food from humans so they really are not shy at all. I also saw a capybara, but I wasn't able to get a good photo of it as it was hiding the undergrowth. 

Spotted this cool giant heron as we walked along the boardwalk to the waterfall

First sighting of the falls. Even though it was really misty I was still able to sense how big and deep the falls were. 

Facing the Brazilian side of the falls. 

Getting "rained" on from the heavy mist from the falls... but of course you've got to get a selfie in at one of the natural wonders of the world, right?!

This bird was really pretty and I was excited it got close enough for me to snap a photo of it, until it dive bombed me to get at the granola bar I was eating. I cooled on that bird after that. 

More coatis on the hunt for unwitting tourists. 

We had to walk along more trails to get back to the entrance of the park, and I think these views from the sides had to be my favorite view over the part where we stood on the board walk right over the falls. We also walked all the way down to the river itself. And we got the opportunity to take a small little speed boat out to the falls, it took us right under them as well and we got absolutely soaked. It was kind of like being on a theme park ride. 

Cute little lizards sunning themselves on the walkway. 

After our (thankfully) very brief stay in Puerto Iguazu we flew back to Buenos Aires and hopped on the BuqueBus Ferry that would take us across the Rio de la Plata to Montevideo, Uruguay. 

Monteverde is a pretty sleepy city compared to other places that we've been, and where we currently live in Lima. It was nice to slow down and just hang out here for the last couple days of our epically long trip. While Sean was visiting at the Embassy I took walks along the Rambla- a walking path along the water similar to the Malecon here in Miraflores. 

Cool sculpture along the Rambla 

The whole time I was walking along the water I didn't see a single person. It was so quite and peaceful which was nice change from walking the Malecon back at home. 

Absolutely deserted beaches. 

This apartment building/restaurant (I couldn't quite figure out exactly what it is) decorated like the prow of a ship was pretty neat. 

On our second day in Montevideo Sean and I walked over to Ciudad Vieja- the historic part of town- to check out some of the museums. And, as per usual, most of the museums were closed or undergoing renovations. The one museum that was open was called the Museo de los Andes, which is a small private museum that document the horrific plane crash of a Uruguan Soccer team in the 1960s... it was a very sobering place to walk around. After that, we had lunch and walked back along the Rambla to our hotel. 

A pack of dogs patiently waiting for their dog walker to pick them up. 

A window display from the Museum of Carnival, I wanted to go but it was closed when Sean and I walked by it. 

And, thus, ended our time in Uruguay. We had a good time and it was great to be able to catch up with Sean's DLI friend Andrew, who is currently doing his IRT in Uruguay. 

Thanks for reading!