Iguazu Falls - 9 May 12 May

Thanks to The Froopers, The Mavrix were about to enjoy their first FULL CAMA bus experience journeying to the Great Iguazu Falls. In case you haven´t heard, Argentina has some of the best buses in the world, they range from very basic to basically first class. There have extra wide seats that recline ALL the way down, foot rests, in bus movies (if you´re lucky they´re in English), hot dinners and chilled champagne, all this somehow makes the 20 hour bus journey feel like a mere 18 ... but seriously the booze did help us snooze, and in almost no time and one really bad Jean Claude Van Damme movie that was unfortunately in English, we were in the town of Puerto Iguazu.

We immediately loved Puerto Iguazu, mostly because the sun had rolled out a golden carpet to meet us and the Mavrix were able to tan their pasty white skins next to the hostels giant pool (ex casinos rock!). After some tricky footwork and social fact finding we found the best (read cheapest) way to do the falls and see stuff the next day, and thus with a spring in our step and last nights big buffet dinner powering us on we (Mavrix with Froopers in tow, or was it the other way round?) caught a taxi to the waterfalls. On this day we would see one of Mother Natures master pieces, see local wildlife and learn that Cooper sings about everything, all the time, same tune ...different words...

Now you must understand, the falls are a full day experience, a ¨quick¨tour just isnt possible, they are too wide too high and too mighty to let you get away with that! While not as high as Vic Falls they are much much wider and just as mighty with the ability to inspire the kind of awe that would make even the most devout Mormon pick up a camera and take a few happy snaps for his 7 wives back home. So after splintering our jaws on the floor for a few hours looking at the falls from the many walk ways and look outs, we jumped on a boat and donned our mandatory life jackets. The boat takes you on a nice little tour of all the many sections of the falls allowing for pictures from many a vantage points until, quite unexpectantly, it goes right INTO the falls and drenches you from head to toe and down below. Thus after a couple times into the Devils Throat and other torrents of water, M was thoroughly wet and a little deaf from V´s screams of delight and de-fright but it was all good, we were having the time of our lives!!

Next we jumped onto another boat driven by an Argentinian who had eaten a few too many pies and therefore didnt need a floatation device to a little beach overlooked by part of the waterfall. We´d spend the next hour there sunning ourselves and pouring water out of our shoes thereby freeing the fishes and letting the tide back in. After what felt like far too short in this paradise beach we climbed back out and headed to the Devils Throat (the last part of these insanely wide falls and one of the most spectacular). What was also great about this view was the walk way there, you pass through an Amazon like landscape that made the Mavrix long for the river up north, it conjures up images of wild jungles, lost tribes, giant snakes and J-Lo.... go snake GO! Actually we cant wait to go there ourselves!

Still slightly damp but no less happy after an exhausting 10 hour day of site seeing (traveling is such hard work!) we got back to our hostel where M´s weary legs none the less ran him from end to end of the hostels football pitch giving him some much needed and much appreciated excerise and a couple scars to show the kids one day. That night the hostel served up a giant Asado (braai) that had the Mavrix so full of meat we couldn´t move much less dance. However the Asado comes with ¨Loads of meat and a ¨Show¨¨ the hostel notice board said so when first Vix and then M got dragged up in front of the whole hostel to take part in some real Brazillian Samba booty shaking we had to oblidge. Vix managed to fare pretty well in the spotlight wiggling her hips and twirling her finger tips while M lost a bum shaking competition to Football hooligan from Essex...Oh the shame... the night ended with a giant congo line winding its way through the hostel with almost ever able bodied traveler joining in the fray... what a day...what a night.

The Froopers would leave Iguazu and return to their Buenos Aires realities the next day while the Mavrix bet on the weather and lost by staying an extra day in Iguazu. We would then get on a 23 hour bus that turned into a 30 hour bus trip due to a protest in Corrientes (no one knows where that is or what the protest was about but it sucked!) and then finally arrive in Salta in the hopes of big things and somehow running into a friend from BA, Hari da German. But for now my fingers are tired and our tummies are calling so cheers muchachos, until next time!