Population Argentina: 44.7 million. Average number of people per square km – 16 (India – 380, China – 150, New Zealand – 15).
The 1,000 km journey from Colon, the border crossing point between Uruguay and Argentina, to the Iguazu falls, is long and uninteresting. The entire region is flat, tropical and the land is used mainly for beef production, and forestry. The intriguing palm plantations, which we saw in Uruguay, also occur in this part of Argentina. The road northwards is mostly motorway and one can cover big distances in a day. Numerous roadside eateries have been set up to benefit from passing traffic. The favourite meal is “parrilla”, BBQ meat. The meat is juicy and tender. The locals love meat and the portions are huge. It normally takes both of us to finish one portion.
The north eastern part of Argentina, and the neighbouring region in Uruguay, is know for deposits of amethyst. We visited the Wanda mines located not far from Iguazu falls. The first gemstones were discovered at this mine near the surface in 1976. The amethyst crystals are found within a cavity located within the parent basalt rock. The basalt was formed by lava flow more than a hundred and fifty million years ago. Air bubbles trapped in the basalt as the lava cooled formed the cavities. During the following millions of years, mineral rich liquid found its way into the cavities and produced the purple coloured crystals. The miners search for the geodes (hollow rock with crystals inside) using jackhammers, and once found, the geode is painstakingly chopped from the parent rock.
The Iguazu falls, located on the border between Argentina and Brazil, is said to be one of the natural wonders of the world. The Iguazu River flows through Brazil for most of its course before tumbling over the Iguazu falls. Some 80% of the falls is on the Argentine side, and the remainder on the Brazilian side.
The falls actually consists of 150 to more than 300 separate falls, depending on the season and are spread along a length of about 2.7km. There are water cascades as far as the eye can see. The Devil’s Throat is the most dramatic section of the falls with the thundering mass of water dropping more than 80 meters into a dense permanent cloud of mist.
The Argentinean side has numerous boardwalks that take visitors close to the action. A raincoat is essential to ensure that you do not get totally soaked by the dense clouds of mist. You could easily spend the whole day exploring this side of the waterfalls and still not tire of the experience. You don’t get as close to the falls on the Brazilian side, however you get incredible panoramic views.
The lush, subtropical national parks surrounding the Iguazu falls are teeming with wildlife. At the falls itself, you get to see the cutest raccoon type animal, the Coati. Always quick to snatch food from a careless tourist.
A bird park has been set up near the falls. The birds are kept in huge enclosures in which the birds, especially the smaller types, roughly live in a natural environment. There are walkways within the enclosures, which allows one to get up close to the exotic and most colourful birds. This is great because it would be so difficult to see these birds in the tropical jungles.
Some 20 km downstream of Iguazu Falls, the Iguazu River has its confluence with the Parana River. This point forms the common border point between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. In order to get to Paraguay from Argentina, one needs to first cross into Brazil, and drive the short distance in Brazil to the Friendship Bridge over the Parana River, from where one would cross into Paraguay.
