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Click HERE to see our photos |
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We both slept well and woke at 7:30 am. Showered, dressed and enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the hotel of juice, coffee, croissants, eggs, cheese, mango, papaya and chocolate mousse.
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Our hotel, the Grand Crucero, is fairly new on the outskirts of the main part of Puerto Iguazu. So far, we’re very impressed.
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At 10:30 am we caught the Rio Uruguay Cataratas bus to the entrance of Iguazu Parque Nacionale. Paid the AR $130 admission fee and spent the next several hours hiking, avoiding the hungry, sneaky coatimundis and enjoying the massive, majestic Falls.
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Iguazu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The Falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu.
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The name “iguazu” comes from the Guarani or Tupi words “y”, meaning ‘water”, and “uasu” meaning “big”. Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Paipi, who fled with her mortal lover Taroba in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. |
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On Nov. 11, 2011, Iguazu Falls was announced as one of the seven winners of the New Seven Wonders of Nature by the new Seven Wonders of the World Foundation.
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At 4 pm we found our way back to the parque entrance and took a very comfortable, air-conditioned bus back to the hotel. The day has been overcast and quite hot and humid, so the ride back to the hotel was heavenly.
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Showered and rested at the hotel. At 8 pm we took a taxi to La Ruede, a restaurant recommended by Raphael, the bartender from the Grand Crucero. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of surubi (riverfish) dried tomatoes, fried polenta, Malbec wine from Mendoza, and a creamy chocolate torte with passionfruit ice cream for dessert.
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Took a taxi through the pouring rain back to the hotel where we watched Boca Jr. (Buenos Aires) defeat Barcelona in soccer, one-nil. At 11:00 pm we were fast asleep after our last day of adventure in beautiful Argentina.
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