¡Un fin de semana increíble!

IGUAZÚ FALLS

Need I say more??

Okay, I guess I will.

This past weekend I went on an excursion with ISA to las Cataratas del Iguazú in northern Argentina. This is a trip that I have been looking forward to since I applied to the program, and it was just as amazing as I had hoped it would be!

We left Thursday evening on a coche cama (bed bus) and arrived early Friday morning. Our first stop was las Ruinas de San Ignacio Miní - one of las Misiones Jesuítico Guaraníes. There are fifteen missions located in Argentina, seven in Brazil, and eight in Paraguay, which were established in attempt to assimilate the Guaraní people of this region, until the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories by King Carlos III.

After our visit to the ruins, we spent the afternoon relaxing at a beautiful tea plantation named La Chacra. There was a pool, a lovely outdoor patio with the parrilla (grill for asado) and a seating area, ping-pong, and plenty of land to go out and take a stroll. They cooked a huge meal for us with separate courses of empanadas, choripán, salad and asado, and later we had a type of dessert bread, mate, and tereré. Traditional mate is prepared with hot water, and tereré is a cold version of mate, usually prepared with lemonade, juice, or even Sprite. Yum!

This tea plantation grew black tea and yerba mate, and we were able to visit a yerba mate processing plant that was just a short walk from La Chacra. Argentines are serious about their mate, so it was really interesting to see!

And then...

Saturday.

¡Parque Nacional de las Cataratas del Iguazú!

It was absolutely incredible! We spent the entire day at the park, seeing different parts of the falls and enjoying the beautiful, warm weather. 

Fun fact: Iguazú means "big water" in Guaraní.

Breathtaking!

It felt so wonderful to have so much GREEN around as well! Although I do love Buenos Aires and the concrete jungle that it is, I have truly missed living somewhere with a bit more accessibility to nature. I have gained a whole new appreciation for Decorah's fresh air and beautiful, green, hilly landscape. As much as I am a city girl, I really enjoy being able to escape to nature whenever I would like (BWCA, anyone??).

At the end of our day, the majority of us decided to go on a speedboat tour that took us riiight up next to the falls. It was an absolute blast, and we left completely soaked!

¡Un arco iris y Brasil!

The Brazilian border is the far coast of the river.

Overall, it was an incredible day, and I left successfully with no sunburn and not too many bug bites!

On our way back to the hotel after visiting Iguazú National Park, we stopped at el Hito Tres Fronteras - the three borders landmark. At this point, you can see the borders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, where they are separated only by the Iguazú and Paraná rivers.

Sunday morning, before flying back to Buenos Aires, we visited a Guaraní community. The Guaraníes used to live freely on the land, but are now living on reservation areas. We did not see much of the actual community, but our host showed us an example of a traditional home and a few traps used to hunt.

This is an example of a traditional home for two or three people. Walls are added, but as this is just an example, they want us to be able to see inside. The home is shown in two stages, with the first stage shown in the back.

 These are examples of traps used for hunting larger animals (top left), deer (top right), and birds (bottom).

Before we left the Guaraní community, a choir sang two songs for us. It was so much fun to hear, and the kids were so cute!

It was a wonderful weekend, spending time with some of the great friends I have made here and enjoying the outdoors! Now I am back in Buenos Aires and finishing up the last two weeks of my semester before my mom arrives for what will be an amazing vacation, in both Buenos Aires and Mendoza!