20 hours by bus, we spend our time as we can, we sleep a lot, we chat, we passively watch the unexciting movies broadcasted on the screens of the bus and we count the hours. I finally arrive the next day in the morning at Puerto Iguazu, a small village whose prosperity is due to the proximity of the eponymous waterfalls. I live in a hostel which belongs to the Hostelling International network. I take off my bag and put my name down the list of the all-you-can-eat BBQ dinner. Lively evening around the swimming pool and caipirinha a gogo, the hours spent in the bus seem very far. A moment of relaxation before living some intense emotions, tomorrow morning. I'll do this discovery of the waterfalls with Philipp (German) and Maria (Canadian).
8am, we take the "El Practico" public bus and half an hour later we get in the park after paying the fee entrance. Most of the tourists opt for the train to go to the garganta del diablo (the devil's throat) but we prefer the morning serenity of the red earth of the path and its flanking thick forest. Our choice will be rewarded by 2 toucans which, not disposed to meet us, take off dragging their long orange beak into the air. On the path, large ants frenetically move. We wonder if this sort of ants must still be classified in the insect family when their body goes beyond 2 centimeters long! Giant lizards wriggle through the bushes and from time to time the railway track.
We finally leave the muddy path to walk on a one-kilometer-long footbridge which snakes up to the waterfalls. Our steps get closer and the noise gets louder. The pontoon ends into a circular platform, a zoom as a sound background. The serene upstream water panics and suddenly dips into the abyss. uncontrollable fury of cubic meters of water which disappear into the lair. A cloud of steam hides the bottom and gives to the waterfalls an endless sensation. The water jumps into the void, an aquatic roar evaporates from the fog. Ears and eyes disconnect to store the anger of the nature, this raw beauty that sticks us to the guardrail. Or how an apocalyptic scenery gets us right there, overwhelms us with indescribable emotions. And among that, we must tell us there will be inevitably an end because from this sudden passion, born on a metallic platform, we must unfortunately stick off and leave. As we walk further, we have withdrawal symptoms, this need to walk backwards to inject a dose again but the day is still long and the park still keeps us great surprises.
The discovery path of the waterfalls is a hide-and-seek with the water and the nature. We pass from an overview to a close view, from a wide-angle to a low-angle shot. We see some coatis which play among the branches. We drag our feet to lenghten the path a little bit. We don't definitely grow tired of this water in distress. The movie is a perpetual loop of water molecules in motion captured by the terrestrial gravity. And even if we know the mere and tragical screenplay relating the life of these agglutinated water drops, we stay faithful spectators, leaning on the handrail.
At the end of the day, we stroll on a remote path of the park. The route is silent and ends to a waterfall, another one. At the bottom of it, a tiny lake. Compulsory swimming for everybody.
We didn't finish with the waterfalls and we don't want to. The next day, a shuttle leaves the hostel to go to the Brazilian side. We form a superb international group and we get on like a house on fire. the journey lasts half an hour including the administrative formalities since no visa is needed to go to Brazil. The Portuguese takes the place of the Spanish on the signs alongside the road. At the entrance of the park, a bus shuttles up to the pedestrian way where all the team gets off.
The view of the waterfalls from the Brazilian side is actually complementary from our yesterday visit. The stroll offers us a breathtaking panoramic view. The water leaks from all the sides of the cliff. From a unique river, the water splits into multiple arms which, as a parasite plant creeps, invades the rock and submerges it. Like the Argentinian side, a footbridge extends the visit close to the waterfalls. Deafening symphony of this falling water, we are soaked by the spray. We slowly go back on the path to finish with an elevator which gives us an even more air viewpoint of the waterfalls. Last moments of a magical discovery we appreciate up to the last drop.
