Round the World by Motorbike: Leaving Argentina.....

After leaving Buenos Aires, we had about a week to get to Iguacu Falls for the Horizons Unlimited(a motorbike travellers forum) meeting. The heavy industrial area stretched for a smoggy one hundred kilometres and then we were into the delta region which is where some of South Americas biggest rivers converge over flat plains to form a huge swampy estuary of sorts.

We decided to ‘pop into Uruguay’ for the night, mostly so we could replenish our stock of $US to change on the blue market. The little we saw of Uruguay was very green, but not particularly interesting. Still, we fulfilled our requirements for having ‘visited’ a country – at least one night sleep and at least one beer for Mark! Luckily we were only there for a few hundred kilometres – petrol was the most expensive we have come across in the world $2.30/L. Something has to be said for a country having its own oil supplies, which Uruguay does not.

After crossing back into Argentina, our next destination was the little known ‘Esteros del Ibera’, the second biggest wetlands in the whole continent – reputedly spectacular and brimming with wildlife, but quite difficult to get to. We made our first stop the tourist information centre in the nearby mid-sized town of Mercedes to ask about road conditions, as we could find little recent and reliable information online. The very helpful staff there told us that as it had been raining recently, the dirt road was ‘today’ one metre under water, but ‘tomorrow’ would be dried out and fine to traverse. Hmm.. maybe for a 4WD, which as the name suggests has four wheels, but for us with only two wheels and a not so good track record staying upright in mud, eighty kilometres of the stuff was not at all appealing.

I was still determined that we were going to get out to these wetlands. So often we give up too easily because of weather, road conditions, cost or time restraints. But, after a wild goose chase around town looking for the bus company that ran a daily bus out to the small village of Carlos Peligrini in the heart of the wetlands, tensions were running high, tears were closing in, so we headed to the campground, with plans to tackle this problem in the morning.

The campground was run by a super sweet family who let us store Zorra in their carport for a couple of days, while we ventured out to C.P. They suggested we try our luck ‘a dedo’ (by thumb), so off to the crossroads we went and gave it a shot. About every second car stopped (this was a rural area and this was a common way to travel here), but none of them were going where we needed to go. Finally, a big, old-school, red car pulled up with two little old guys in the front seat. They convinced us that we would have better luck getting a ride from the police check point ten kilometres down the road. These two guys were real characters, as was the policeman at the check point where we waited for the next hour, when finally the daily bus we originally wanted to catch came by and picked us up!

Our ride!

After about fifty kilometres the tar road ran out and the mud started. Although it was dry, there were deep tyre tracks, which showed how deep and thick the mud would have been if it was a little wetter. I was amazed by the amount of wildlife that could be seen just from the bus window. First I spotted a caiman (crocodile) basking in the sun next to a big puddle on the side of the road. Then I started to notice these amazing creatures that looked like a cross between a wombat and a guinea pig, although I saw them swimming and wallowing in the muddy swamps. These guys are called Capybaras, and they are the biggest rodents in South America. They were super common out there, but I never tired of looking at them – such curious looking creatures! I also spotted some marsh deer that were a beautiful orange colour with big velvety ears – one even had a huge rack of antlers!

Oversized guinea pig

Poor Mark was stuck in the middle seat at the back of the bus, so saw none of these wonders, but luckily the campsite was right on the lake and there was heaps of wildlife literally crawling up to the tent. We watched caimans lazily float by and the capybaras graze on grass greener than I have seen in a long time. The sunsets were spectacular, the village was divinely sleepy. It was a true piece of paradise not yet on the gringo trail.

just lying around

"Jesus birds" cause they walk on water!

We went out on a night time wildlife spotting boat ride as the full moon rose. We saw a few birds and lots of caimans, which were easy to spot with their red eyes shining in the spotlight. Our guide, Adam, encouraged Mark to pick up a baby one and it bit him on the hand! Not very good eco-tourism practice, but it makes for a good story!

he's lookin' at me thinking "dinner?"

Looks cute, but trust me, he has very sharp teeth!

sunset from our 'house'

one hunk of meat, one fire, dinner for two Argentinian style

One of the downsides of travelling without Zorra was having to adhere to the bus schedule. The only way back to civilisation was the 4am daily bus, which, when it rolled up was full, having trolled around town picking up locals before arriving at the designated bus stop. So it was three bumpy hours sitting in the aisle before we were again reunited with Zorra for a full days ride further north.

San Ignacio, a small tropical town near the border of Paraguay was our base for the next few days. Nearby were the World Heritage listed ruins of a Jesuit mission from the 1600s. The Jesuit priests set up these missions to protect the local indigenous ‘Guarani’ from the Portuguese and Spanish slave traders. The architecture (or what remained of it) was a mix of European baroque interweaved with the Guarani naturalistic styles.

old mission walls

We caught up with Trevor again in San Ignacio and made our way together the final 250km north to Puerto Iguazu.

Trevor was always riding faster than us!

The world famous Iguazu Falls sits right on the border of Brazil and Argentina, with Paraguay also only a stones throw away. We had to spend a few days on the Argentinian side to sort out our visas for Brazil (only Australians, Americans and a handful of other nationalities need a visa for Brazil.

ticket to ride - Brazilian style

First thing in the drizzly morning we arrived at the consulate, passports in hand. We were given a list of requirements – a completed, printed online application form, bank statements, return tickets, bike registration and of course the fee of 385 pesos (about $40). We traipsed back to the hotel to use the internet for the application and download bank statements, then wandered town looking for a place to print said documents. Back to the consulate with our completed checklist, where the guy said he needed the phone number of our hotel, so I trekked back to get that. Meanwhile, Trevor needed a copy of his drivers license, so it was back to the print shop for him. And THEN the guy decided he wanted a photo of the bikes too, but the looks Mark and Trevor gave him put an end to that idea. I, personally, think he was making up the requirements as he went along! We were told to come back at 11.30am the following day. Arriving at the stated time, we all expected more delays and beauracracy, but Mark walked out the consulate door with a smile and 3 passports in hand!

Iguazu Falls was a magical place. We chose to visit from the Argentina side, which gives you a closer view from a variety of viewpoints, as apposed to the Brazil side, which gives you the bigger picture view of the whole falls. Some people choose to visit both sides. Maybe next time…

We decided to try out the jet boat ride at the base of the falls. It was only a 12 minute ride, but it was truly exhilarating. Initially the boat stayed back a short distance from the falls, and we felt a little disappointed as we expected some thrills. Suddenly the engine roared and in we went. The power of the water was amazing, and although I’m sure we barely went under at all, the water was all around – the air was full of water and it was hard to breathe – all I could do was laugh. It felt like we were under there forever, but soon we were out again, and the whole boatload of people were chanting ‘otra vez, otra vez’ (another time, another time), so in we went again. We were absolutely drenched by the time we got out!

nice lunch time view

After perching on a rock with a view of the falls and eating a lunch of cold empanadas, we made our way towards the part train station to catch the shuttle to the Garganta del Diablo (devils throat). The boardwalk out to these falls was amazing. It stretched out over 1km of river, occasionally connecting little islads. The G. del D. was amazing – horseshoe shaped falls, with a huge amount of water plummeting over all sides. Impossible to see the bottom because masses of misty, aerated water floated all the way up again.

I left Mark and Trevor out there with the gaggles of package tourists so I could take my time going back across the boardwalk a little more slowly, to take in the natural surrounds of this beautiful place. There was so much to see and experience there within the park, that I felt like we had been rushing around the whole time – I needed to bond with nature. I saw a beautiful black waterbird with bright blue eyes perched on a stick drying his wings. In the middle distance a toucan flew by, instantly recognisable by his giant beak.

Back on the train, we decide to try to squeeze in a walk on the passeo superior (upper trail) to get a view of the top part of the falls that gave us a drenching earlier in the day. Late in the afternoon meant that monkeys were out to play – I was happy – the first monkeys of the whole trip, and they were cute little guys too. One last view of the falls and we called it a day.