Trip to Iguazú!

What an increadible trip to Iguazu falls! Everything from experiencing overwhelming beautiful waterfalls, to see how the Guarani people live in the jungle to party all night! Iguazu really had it all!

We started off with a 18 hours bus ride. You’d think it would be awful, but then you definitely haven’t tried Argentine night buses! It was like a dream, maybe because we had expected something totally different. But the bus was equipped with bit armrest chairs, which you could lay down to 180 degrees, which makes it a lot easier to sleep. All the seats has their own TV screen with new movies, all of them dubbed to Spanish, but then we also got to practice some Spanish;-)

The hostel was also amazing! The organization was probably not the best, since some of our students had to change rooms several times, but the facilities were amazing! How many hostels have you been to with a huge swimming pool!?

Our first day in Iguazu we relaxed a bit by the pool, had a beer and then we took the local bus to see the 3 meeting points of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. It was an amazing view, and fun to be so close to the border. Later on we went to Iguazu town for some dinner. It was a very charming and quite town. You don’t have to worry about being pick-pocketed or anything. All in all they were just friendly and smiling people.

Day two started out pretty early heading for the Iguazu National park. We got picked up by our guide at the hostel and driven to the park. It was so beautiful and green. We met a lot of fun and cute animals just inside the park. They looked very friendly, but we were told not to feed them for their own best and because they could bite.  Inside the national park there is a railway going from the south up to the north of the park. We took it all the way up, and went walking for 10-15 min and could see the amazing power of Iguazu falls! It was a very hot day, so it felt nice with a little cold shower. Afterwards we took the train back down to the middle where we had lunch in a restaurant with a great buffet. It had great selection of meat and veggies, a bit pricy, but not bad for being inside a National park.

The school had organized a guided“jungle bus” for us as well. It took us through the jungle while we saw huge spider nets, with huge/enormous spiders collecting their meal! We heard about the history of the jungle, we heard the insects and saw the protected palm tree. The bus took us to the next step of our adventure. We went walking down hill until we came to the boats. This was also organized before from the schools side. This was a crazy experience. The currency were so strong, and you could feel it almost holding on to the boat. I was calmed by the thought of all the hundreds, probably thousands of tourists that has done the same before me. The boat went in high speed almost under the waterfalls. If you hadn’t had a shower before you would then! You will get totally soaked! I promise you! But it is all just fun!

We went back to the hostel having some beers, swimming a bit and talking about all the amazing things we had seen.They offered a pretty nice barbeque at the hostel that night, so we joined in. There was suppose to be a Samba show the same night, and some of us were excited to see a real life samba show! I got to admit, that we were pretty disappointed! It all started out as a striptease. Well, the woman wasn’t wearing much, but she was shaking her but into all the guys faces. I guess, for the guys, they didn’t complain, but for us girls, we got more just embarrassed watching it. So some of us ended up going out partying (some longer that others).

The third day we went visiting the Guarani people. The had their own guide who spoke Spanish, and took us around to see some parts of their village. They had 400 hectares in total, so we weren’t able to see all of it. I wish we could have seen a bit more of how their life was, but when you think about it, who would like a bunch of strangers in your house and in your way? The guide showed us some of the traps they had used before when there was wild animals as deer’s and so on. Amazing how such easy mechanism were made so cleverly. We saw how the houses looked like, and they told us if you build it while its full moon, the house will last for 7 years! Not only 3 years. They told us about how all the animals and plants has their “ owners” and how they have to thank these “owners” after they have catch and animal. They told us about the Shaman who is the owner of all the Guarani people, and how he works as the doctor in the village. They also have western medical care. Some of the children of the village were singing for us, and posed so we were able to take pictures with them. It was incredible to see how these people lived.

The overall experience was awesome! I don’t think I only speak for my self when I say I had a great time! A lot of time to hang out and get to know the other students, as well as a great cultural  schedule. Thanks all, for a fantastic trip!