As soon as I told him I was going to Argentina, my friend Mikey wrote me this in an email:

"There is one thing you must do. And this is not a recommendation. This is something you must do. There exists a place. There exists a magical, intensely spiritual, beauitful place. You will stay at a hotel for a few dollars and you will take a bus first thing in the morning to a National Park. You will enter the park and you will walk around. You will see birds and you will see trees. You will see many things. You will walk towards a noise. You might see an alligator as you walk on a suspended walkway towards a loud roar that grows louder with each step closer. And then you will see the falls. You will stand on the lip of the falls, gazing down into cataclysmic aquatic insanity. You won't be able to move. Do not speak the word Igauzu, you will see the falls, your heart will sing, and you will know all. You will spend the day looking at the hundreds of falls and you will never be the same. Go."

How's that for a recommendation?

Oddly enough, it was coming down to my last week in South America, and the trip to Iguazu had still not been made. I was feeling antsy about a lot of things...the trip ending, my new job about to begin, all the odds and ends of closing out a 3.5 month trip abroad. And on top of all that, I had this nagging feeling that I would never feel right if I didn't make it to the falls. So, with less than one week remaining, I booked an overnight bus ride north to see what there was to see.

What struck me first was the warmth: Puerto Iguaza and the neighboring Parque Nacional is located in a subtropical rainforest which borders both Brazil and Paraguay. The temperature increase from Buenos Ares to this steamy jungle was at least 25 degrees F, considering my trip was in June when Buenos Aires is freezing in mid-winter (a week after I left there was snowfall...first in some 90 years!). All the foliage is different, and you feel like you're definitely someplace special. The people are relaxed...Iguazu is definitely a refuge of peace, tranquility, and nature.

As for the park and the falls, I will let the pictures below do the talking. I think Mike's description of the place is a beautiful rendition of the feelings that wash over you. Once in the realm of these humongous waterfalls, you feel connected to the Earth, you sense the ecosystem's balances, and you are quite moved. The butterflies are also an interesting distraction . . .

Contact me if you want more travel-ly information like tips on buses, hotels, trips within the park. I'd love to help with questions.

Here are some more photos: