Friday, November 11, 2005

An Adrenalin Rush in Iguazu

What a delight it was to have a friend to share my time in Iguazu, and what fun we had on our visit to the famous falls. Recent rains unfortunately have closed several of the spectacular sites - the famous Devil´s Throat, as the bridge and pathway had washed away and the river is too high for the ferry to cross over to La Isla de San Martin, but it does give one a good reason to return one day, and it meant there was an enormous amount of water flowing over the falls. Catherine and I still managed to fill the day and have an incredible adrenalin rush at the same time.
We travelled out to the National Park on the first bus, as the town is full of tourists and everything very busy and I am not into crowçds. As so much was closed, we decided to do the river adventure and didn´t regret it for one moment, what a buzz!. The trip begins with a guided drive through the rainforest in the open back of a large 4 wheel drive truck, a journey of about 1/2 hour, then it´s onto the boats and the fast flowing, and very full river. One suspects just how wet one might get when you see the driver and assistant head to toe in very sturdy wet weather gear. The passengers are supplied with a large waterproof bag in which to store cameras and anything they wish to keep dry, then it´s off up river , over the rapids to the falls. After a short stop in relatively calm water for a brief photo session the driver warns all to ¨protect the cameras¨ and then heads straight into the base of the falls. Very spectacular driving took us in and out of the lower area of several of the falls, with lots of sharp turns, just to add more water to the scene. Needless to say a lot of water flows over the occupants of the boats. The water is also very full of topsoil at present after the rains - so right down to the underwear everything turned a rather rusty brown. I felt really at home, it was just like my Central Australian washing. The driver obviously loved his job and took little convincing to take a few more runs into the deluge. Catherine and I were invited to stand in the back beside the driver, so our ride was fantastic. I had a throw away underwater camera, so we have some great shots to go with it.

Thank goodness we had been forwarned and had a change of clothes, so after a quick change on the river bank it was off to view the falls from above. A wonderful, and exhausting day.

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