In Puerto Igauzú

Hey Everyone,

I am sitting at Hostel Peter Pan (really) in Puerto Igauzú, Misiones, Argentina, and because yesterday was amazing enough for two days; I decided to spend the day here uploading pictures, writing to you, and handwashing my clothes.

Yesterday I woke up at 6:55 to catch the first bus to Parque Nacional Igauzú. I was on the bus with some other ambitous tourists and mostly the park staff. I got to the park as it opened around 9 to beat the lazy tourist rush, which I did for the most part. There are 3 main trails, (San Martin the Island was closed), that one can go on in the park. The Paseo Inferior (1:30hrs), Superior (1hr), and Garganta del Diablo (1:30hrs) (the main show). I started with the Paseo Inferior which looked up at the waterfalls. This was my favorite trail of the three because you could see the how big the waterfalls actually were. There was a section  you could avoid because it got you wet, but I decided to take that route, and got completely soaked. Luckily, my clothes dried in an hour. I then took the Paseo Superior, which walked along and over the tops of the waterfalls. Pretty amazing overall. I then grabed the small train over to Garganta del Diablo. There was a metal grate path walking over the river that fed the waterfall. The whole path was over the water, which was pretty amazing. I got to the end, and despite the misty cloud, I could see the vastness of the waterfall, some 82 meters high. It was a little foggy out, so I probably didn^t get the best view, but I was satisfied. I then walked over to the Sendero Macuco, an of the beaten path, path, where I figured that fatty tourists wouldn´t visit. I was right. The 3.5 Km path, one way, was pretty deep in the jungle. At the end of the path, there was a fork, one that went up to the top of the waterfall and one leading to the bottom. I took the bottom route first. I got to a pretty pristine waterfall witha small pool at the base. When I looked at the pool, something inside me said, ^go swimming,^ at first I looked around and said no thats crazy. But it looked so great, and I only live once right?, so somehow I ended up undressed and swimming in the pool. Nobody was around (well for the most part), and the water was warm. I got to the base of the fall, and spread my arms out and looked up at the massive fall. (I didn´t go under, cause I would have died) This was probably one of the greatest experiences so far. At this point I realized how much I could do with my trip, and how much fun I am going to have. Not like I haven´t had fun already, but it was pretty eyeopening. After my quick dip, I headed up to the top, looked around, and started walking. Another man was near by, and happened to be making the hike back as well. (He saw me swimming, opps). He was from Puerto Rico, his name was Santiago (get this) Oliver. We spoke spanish for a good hour, and he had some pretty interesting things to say about the US. Talking with him was great because I realized my spanish wasn´t as bad as I thought. I have found it difficult to comprehend the Argentine castellano (spanish) so far, but talking with Santaigo made me feel better. I am working on understanding more, and once I get to a farm (more news) I will be able to get more practice. So yesterday was pretty amazing.

I found out the other day that I am going to start working on a family farm (organic, wwoof) in Jujuy, Argentina. I am taking the bus to Salta tomorrow (23hrs) , then getting a 2 hour connection to Jujuy Sunday. I will spend the night there, then catch a bus that will take me an hour out of town, where Martin (the farmer) will pick me up with horses. (pretty amazing) I am physched to be out farming finally, and am about ready to stop my frivolous (well $25 dollar a day) lifestyle. I am ready to do some hard labor and work with a family. The family is vegetarian, don´t eat bread, and only eat what they grow (exept rice), and I am pretty excited for my new diet. I am anxious to be back in shape, after 2 weeks of only walking. I will probably not have internet starting Monday, so this will probably be my last post for a while. Unless I come into town once a week with Martin.

If I don´t post for a while, it means I am having fun, and havn´t run from the farm yet.

 Talk to you later,

Oliver

I wasn^t exactly determined to go to Igauzú before