Rolls Alaska to Argentina & back: 19 San Ignacio, Argentina to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil

Monday, March 28, 2011

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*Miles for the day: 244 (393 km) Miles to date: 12,051 (19,394 km)*

The Hotel Portal del Sol is located across the street from the exit of the ruins of a Jesuit Monestary dating back to the 1500s when a chain of 30 of them were built through Argentina and Bolivia. There were a number of double deck deluxe tour buses when we arrived yesterday, and by 7:30 AM more than a dozen busses had pumped hundreds of tourists through the site. Buses sat along the street in front of the hotel with engines idling awaiting their passengers.

We loaded the car in front of the hotel. A photo shoot was held with everyone having their picture taken in various poses. Unfortunately the car was filthy dirty, but that didn't dampen anyone's enthusiasm.

It was raining in intermittent showers, so the drive to Cataratas del Iguazu through pretty forested countryside was more pleasant. It is also a lot warmer - about 100 mi (160 km) before San Ignacio we started to get palm trees and now we are back to semi-tropical.

Things got a little tense when we couldn't find a gas station for the last 100 miles (160 km) but we made it to the national park where they took our last 200 pesos cash for the entrance fee. We were then informed that there were no services in the park are other than the hotel and some food kiosks, so we turned around and drove to Puerto Iguazu 16 km (10 mi) away in search of gas. There was a huge line of cars at the first gas station, but we were informed that there were three others in town. None of the three had gas, so back we went to the lineup hoping they wouldn't run out before our turn. We didn't say we had no cash, and the attendant was too absorbed in the car to ask, so when I handed him a credit card he had little option!

We got a reasonable price at the Sheraton in Parque Nacional de Iquazu so decided to splurge. It is the only hotel in the park and part of the waterfalls can be seen from the hotel. There are 275 falls tumbling over 1.7 km (1.1 mi) of cliffs. The principal falls drop 72 meters (236 ft).

Rain began in earnest again, so we had lunch and drinks in the pub, then ventured forth with rain cape and umbrella to walk 3 km (1.9 mi) of trails. There were amazing views of various falls, from above and below. I was here with friend Bob Halsey in February 1986, when we walked the existing trials plus hired a helicopter to see the falls, but the trails are now much improved. Some are quite a feat of engineering as they cross rivers just back from the lip of the falls. A worker falling would have been swept over the edge instantly.

The spectacle of that volume of water cascading over cliffs to form a wall of falling water for as far as one can see is beyond my ability to describe. It is known rightly as one of the wonders of the world, and the sounds and sight must be seen to be appreciated.

Dinner was in the hotel restaurant, and in the morning we experienced the luxury of getting up late, then enjoying a fabulous breakfast buffet with real bacon and eggs. We walked to the free train that goes to the series of foot bridges leading to the Gargantua del Diablo (Devil's Throat). Bob and I had walked out over flowing water and islands but the walkway was narrow then. All the walkways are now made of steel mesh, so you can see through them.

Gargantua del Diablo is astonishing. When approaching, one first sees the cloud of mist, then the edge of a hole that looks like one of those sci fi movies where a giant hole opens in the ocean and the water pours into it. Upon reaching the viewing platform on the edge of this abyss it appears bottomless, as it is impossible to see down through the spray. This enormous drain is surrounded by an almost complete circle of falling water. The viewer gets soaked from the spray, but the noise and sight of this enormous volume of water pouring into a seemingly bottomless pit is unforgettable. It is far too wide to be captured by the best of wide angle lens, only video and the eye can take it all in!

After returning to the train we went to a park restaurants for a fabulous BBQ buffet lunch with wine and beer, followed by a walk back to the room and a siesta. Dinner was not necessary!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

*Miles for the day: 32 (51 km) Miles to date: 12,083 (19,446 km)*

We left the hotel in warm, cloudy weather with intermittent rain. At the Argentine border everyone was very friendly and helpful. On the Brazilian side we didn't even need to get out of the car - our passports were stamped by a happy, chatty lady. We knew we needed car documentation, but were being waved through, so I parked the car and searched out the customs office. Neither border was busy - no waiting at all.

So many people pass back and forth through this border to see both sides of the falls that stamping the passport a simply a formality. Fortunately my info said we would need an exit card to leave Brazil, and when we explained to the border people that we would leave through Venezuela they sent someone to immigration to get an exit card for us, and then quickly processed the car document. Had we kept going there would have been enormous problems at the Venezuelan frontier!

Once at Iguacu Falls park (Brazilian spelling) we paid the entrance fee, which was less than on the Argentine side, and boarded a shuttle bus that dropped us at the trail to the first viewpoint. Most of the falls are on the Argentine side, where the experience was close up. Here the panorama of the vast area of falling water was breathtaking. The path continued through various viewpoints until it ended at a panoramic elevator that goes up about 5 floors to ground level. The elevators are located beside a huge, high volume waterfall, From the viewing platforms one either looks along the front of the fall, or behind it. The sun made a rare appearance, creating rainbows in the mist.

We found our way through the centre of the City of Foz do Iguacu, stopping on the way at a large supermarket to replenish supplies of bottled water and other essentials. Google Earth showed a number of hotels on the hwy we take Friday morning, so we selected Hotel Muffata, which had a pool and good rates. After a swim and a bit of time on the internet we took advantage of their amazingly priced $10 buffet dinner.

In the morning we boarded a van from the hotel to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay for a shopping trip. Last night the hotel was loaded with guests returning from a similar expedition, pushing carts piled high with electronic equipment and bundles of everything imaginable - one person had a satellite dish!

The drive from the hotel to the border was about 10 minutes, and the border crossing quick - no one on the Brazil side, and one person who stamped a form with our names on it in Paraguay. There was considerable traffic on the bridge that forms the border, but due to the lack of formalities it took only a few minutes to cross.

Our driver introduced us to a shop owner who could supply the downloader Marilynn needed for her camera. The same small shop sold computers, so Marilynn had a look and liked a new HP laptop, but we decided to look around before buying. The city is filthy dirty and hucksters are everywhere hustling everything under the sun. Marilynn bought a 64 gigabyte flash drive in a brand name package for the bargain of $23, however when we checked the drive out it had zero capacity - it was a complete fake. It ended up in the garbage.

We walked around the city a little, but Marilynn bought only some blouses and a pair of sun glasses. We returned to the shop where we were first dropped off. Marilynn concluded her purchase of the laptop, a camera memory card, a wireless mouse and two down loaders for transferring photos from camera to computer for $940 while waiting for our driver to pick us up.

Back at the hotel we both got onto the internet, where I received an email from the credit card company asking for confirmation of the sunglasses and computer equipment purchases. The charge for the computer equipment wasn't the $940 agreed to, it was $1,160. I reported the discrepancy, and Marilynn mentioned it to the fellow who arranged the van, who in turn contacted the driver. They were quite upset, and the driver went back to the store in Paraguay to get us the difference of money in cash.

When I later checked out the computer I discovered we were also victims of a "bait and switch" scam. The computer we had was not the one we bought. File changes were dated back to Nov 2996, it did not have the Intel chips the one we selected had, it had less hard drive memory and RAM and so on. Marilynn also mentioned this to the tour fellow in the hotel, but he said nothing could be done about it. That sort of thing is normal for people buying in Paraguay!