Chasing Waterfalls

Sorry my blog has been such a dud. I haven't really been using my computer lately. Weird, I know... Will you like me more if I share some pictures from my travels in South America? 
 Because Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro were our two main destinations, we knew we could not take this trip without stopping in Iguazu Falls, a breath-taking, ENORMOUS waterfall that sits on the border of Argentina and Brazil. I have never been to Niagara Falls (U.S./Canada border) or Victoria Falls (in Africa), but the travelers that we met there said the other falls pale in comparison to Iguazu. Not only does Iguazu have over 275 separate waterfalls, which is mind-blowing in itself, it is said to offer infinitely more spectacular views than any of the other famous falls. For example, the infamous fall at Iguazu named Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) is a 700-meter long, U-shaped fall where tourists can stand and literally be surrounded by a 260 degree view of the fall.

Lara and I met up with one of our friends from our Study Abroad program at the falls. What are the chances of that?! She was with a friend she had just made, so the four of us spent the day exploring the falls together.

(I have a funny story about these little creatures that I'll share in a bit... stay tuned) 
 The oneeee thing I would say was disappointing about the experience was... it was too easy!! I mean, compared to the treacherous hike we went through to get to the Torres del Paine, this was LITERALLY a walk in the park. Like, we followed a trail for less than five minutes and already had a view of the falls. I don't know.. I guess I feel like experiences are more gratifying when you really work for them, because you know that you earned it.
  
up close...

The following photo is the view from above the fall. The bridge you see is the bridge we were standing on in the pictures above where we are right in front of the fall.

At the edge of the fall

Okay so it is time for the funny story. Remember that funny little animal from the picture above? We would occasionally run into one or two of them as we were on the trails. At one point, we saw a few and Lara, being an animal-enthusiast, haddd to stop to play with them.
 
All of a sudden, she is the most popular human in the park and more and more of the fuzzy little guys were coming out to play with her. What we didn't realize was, they thought she was going to feed them! And thenn! An unsuspecting woman walked by us on the trail with a grocery bag in hand, which contained various purchased, wrapped goodies. WELL GUESS WHAT! One of the animals emitted a strange cry and then they all pounced on her bag! They knocked it out of her hand and a bunch more came running from deep within the bushes and trees. A few lucky SOBs got ahold of this poor woman's alfajores (wrapper and all) and ran off into the trees with them. I wish I had more pictures of this event because it was terrifying/hilarious, but I was (of course) screaming and running as far as I could from the scene of the attack.

The next pictures are of the Devil's Throat. Unless you have a panoramic camera, there is no way to capture the essence of that waterfall. It is powerful, overwhelming, and one of the greatest things I have ever seen. The fall was so big that I couldn't even get the entire thing in one frame, so you will have to squint and imagine all of these photos as one big picture of what we saw.

Looking at those photos made my eyes water. I will never forget the feeling I had while we were up there. After that, Lara and I went on a little nature rafting tour. It was pretty uneventful. We saw an alligator but after some deliberation we decided that it was fake/staged.

And that is the end of Iguazu!!! 
 Up next: BRAZZZZZZZZZZZILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL 

(photos of our first Brazilian meal)