Igauzu Falls 8th - 9th February

After several days in BA we drove north. At last, after driving along railway tracks for hundred of kilometres and seeing no trains, at last I got a photo of an Argentinian train.

 We might be north of BA but the scenery was still flat although it was greener and there were stands of trees.

We stopped for lunch at San Ignacio Mini to see some Jesuit Mission ruins. The province is called Missiones and there were over 30 missions in the area until the Spanish crown became suspicious of their increasing power and wealth and expelled them in 1767. The central plaza,

A detail of one of the sides of the main gate.

Another delicately carved doorway.

Some of the interior of the main building.

Some of the living quarters.

At last we arrived in Punto San Iguazu where the waterfalls are located. To get to the far side of the national park there is a train. However I was not prepared to queue for ages so I walked there and back.

The falls are spectacular and the noise is unmistakeable of tons of water rushing over the edge of the cliff and plunging 70m to the river below, throwing huge clouds of  spray into the air.

 More views of the waterfalls.

 The brave can take a twenty minute boat trip to get really wet as the boats power against the current to get up close to the spray and the thundering water.

 There is also wildlife to see. There are signs warning about the monkeys and coaties who have become quite brave and are a pest was they will grab anything from visitors hands so everyone is warned to carry as little as possible and not to have picnics on the grass but to go inside one of the purpose built buildings.

An iguana which has lost its tail but it too was walking around the site scavenging for tidbits to eat.