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! 

On to Argentina!

After five days in Chile it was time to for Sean and I to move on... So we hopped on the Andesmar bus that took us up, over, and through the Andes from Chile into Argentina. This bus ride went much more smoothly than our last bus trip in Peru. The scenery was fantastic- so many breath taking vistas, and mountains beyond mountains. I was so busy taking it all in that I forgot to take any photos! Except for a handful of blurry ones from the bus window. 

On our way out of Santiago....Take me to Portillo! 

That is seriously what the road looked like on the route through the mountains...

Finally! We've made it to Argentina!

It wasn't for another thirty minutes after we crossed the border that we actually made it to the official Argentinian border crossing. And here we spent a really fun and freezing two hours getting off our bus, lining up to have our visas checked, getting back on our bus, only to get off again with all our luggage... and then after they did a cursory check (i.e. idly rifling through bags at random) did we get back on the bus for good and lumber on to Mendoza.

At this point our first stop in Argentina was Mendoza... and I took approximately zero pictures during the day and a half that we stayed there. Which isn't to say its not a beautiful or interesting place, we were just busy walking around and drinking as much wine as possible. The wine is great here, but the city itself is kind of like a ghost town. There is not much going on besides tours of vineyards. And many of the buildings had a run down look to them. Plus, it was about 85 degrees which was an awful shock coming from far cooler temperatures in Chile.

From Mendoza we flew to Buenos Aires. While Sean spent the day in the US Embassy I met up with two of my friends, one of whom lives in BA. So, she took Naomi and I on fun walking tour of the city.

After dropping off the guys at the Embassy we walked through the meticulously maintained rose garden, although there were no roses in bloom as it was early spring. 

From the rose garden we walked over to the Japanese Garden.

Buenos Aires is one of the nicest cities that I've been to so far in our travels. It has tons of well maintained green space, and it doesn't feel as dirty as other cities (I'm looking at you Lima.) And over all it just had this sense of being a well cared for city which made it pleasant to walk around. 

I would love to live in one of those buildings over looking the Japanese Garden.

Reflecting pond in the Japanese Garden.

A fancy capuccino! Every cafe I went to served a more and more elaborately prepared cappuccino.

An exhibit on Paraguayan art at the Museo Bella Artes.

A giant bench! 

The next day Sean had a free day, so on the recommendation of our friends, we walked over to explore Recoleta and find Evita Peron's grave.

A bit of England in Argentina? 

I was really captivated by the endless rows of elaborate mausoleums.

Taking BA in on foot and discovering the city has it's own "Washington Monument"

Visiting the grave of Argentina's national hero: José de San Martín

The Floralis Generica, a really cool giant flower sculpture that opens and closes throughout the day.

Evita.

Buenos Aires is an absolutely fantastic city that I completely fell in love with. I definitely did not want to leave (and I hope we get to go back for a longer trip some day soon). I loved that nearly everywhere we walked in the city we'd find some kind of art- whether it was sculpture, a monument, or an excellently curated art museum- I really appreciate a city that takes some civic pride and uses art to help make it a beautiful place. 

That night our friends took us to their favorite restaurant, called La Carniceria. So, if there is one thing you should know about BA, and the Southern Cone in general, it's that they take their meat seriously. And as I'm sure you can infer from the name of the restaurant, we were in for a meat experience.

Luckily they also served fish on their menu, so I was able to continue with my haphazard pescatarian/vegetarian diet (it's been hard maintaining down here!) And you can see in the bottom right photo, that they served me an entire fish! With head and spine still attached! But, just look at the cuts of meat they served everyone else.... absolutely insane, right? Although La Carniceria, is one of the newer, hipper restaurants in the area, they did not skimp on portions. And most places we went to in Argentina (and Uruguay, for that matter) served equally as hulking slabs of steak.

And thus ended our time in Buenos Aires, in the morning we were off to Iguazu Falls!