March 12

The bus to the Argentine side of the falls left at 8:00am. We didn't plan on coming back to the Brazilian side but instead planned to go from Puerto Iguacu to Buenos Aires after seeing the falls so were packed and ready to go. The Danish guys chose to skip the Argentine side of the falls and were leaving straight to Buenos Aires that afternoon. At the border we asked if we needed an exit or entry stamp and our guide said that we needed none. I asked again to make sure that he understood the question and he reassured me we needed no stamps. It didn't sound right to me but maybe it was like the US and Mexico and we rolled right in. 

The falls here are reported to be 1/3 larger than the Niagara Falls and like Niagara is shared between two countries. And like Niagara one side is a little better kept than the other. The Brazilian side is like the US side of the falls, is a little dated and a little in disrepair where as the Argentine side is like Niagara's Canadian side, pristine, spotless, and well taken care of. There were catwalks and trails leading everywhere and from every possible vantage point. With all of these niceties we got our first taste of how expensive Argentina would be. First we had to pay to get into the park. Then there was a $4 charge for a boat to take you to one of the catwalks. And a $14 charge if you wanted to go in a boat up to the falls, and a $28 charge if you wanted a speedboat to take you up to the falls, a $45 charge if you wanted to take a jeep to the boat that took you to the falls. We went in on the $4 catwalk but it also included a short boat ride to an island surrounded by the falls and we hiked around there. Everything else, like sodas and snacks, were at least double. It was a great sight and we got a little exercise walking all over the park too. From even a short distance it's very hard to understand how much water is going over those cliffs but when you walk out right over the falls and look down and the back-spray is soaking you, you gain a greater respect for all that power. There is so much water going over that you can't see the pool that it hits. When you look down it's just a huge spray of mist. As well as the natural beauty of the falls the surrounding tropical forests were great as well. 

We made it to the bus station and luckily there was a bus leaving for Buenos Aires in 30 minutes. Right after purchasing the tickets I asked the guy if he knew if we needed any stamps for our passports. "OH Yes!" he said. "Oh shit" we said. He yelled for a cab to take us back to the border and the cabby sped off. I appreciated the fact that he felt our sense of urgency. Normally when we are in a big hurry it's the only time the cab driver drives slow. But we made it in great time, ran to the immigration booth on the Argentine side and in a flash we had our stamps. Lucky for us, he didn't look for an exit stamp from Brazil. Never-the-less we were officially in Argentina and the cabby flew back to the bus station. We made it back in less than 10 minutes and I couldn't believe it. We even had time to eat our leftover cold pizza before departing. And you should have seen our bus! Double Decker, but not like the one we take to the annual Jimmy Buffett show. Plush, with big fat seats and movies in English. We had recently seen the movies but they were at least good ones.