Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls
I am now sitting in the departure lounge at Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires.
My chat buddy Charley at the Hostel woke up earlier than his regular wake up time to see me off. He is originally from Hong Kong, now living in London. He is in the last month of a 7 month travel adventure of Central and South America. He hasn't visited Mexico yet, so maybe we will meet up again there sometime in the future. (Or in Thailand, if I end up moving there next if the Mexican Peso exchange rate continues to decline).
A bit later on the flight, we flew over massive flooded, I think mostly agricultural areas. These were visible for at least 20 minutes of more as we flew, so the flooding was huge.
The taxi to the hostel was about 25 minutes, mostly on a road cutting through the rain forest. You probably cannot see me smiling. Use your imagination. I have a big smile on my face. I love the jungle and rain forests.
After arriving at the hostel. I walked about 3 blocks to town to buy food at the buffet restaurant. They had a decent selection of veggies, meat, potatoes and pastas. I got enought for lunch and dinner. And of course some inexpensive Argintine wine.
The hostel has a cafe open to the street. Later in the evening there was a man playing guitar and singing Argentine folksongs. A couple danced to some of the songs. Later a younger guy that works at the hostel also played and sang. Made for a really nice evening.
I woke up in plenty of time to get here, luckily.
Several days ago, I switched plans to take a hour bus to fly for less than the bus ticket.
When I booked the flight, it was scheduled to fly out of the airport closer to downtown Buenos Aires. They sent me a change of flight notice. I thought it was just a time change, but it was also a change of airports. (That I didn't notice)
I left the hostel early and checked my phone for a public transit route to the airport. I ended up booking an Uber instead. Public transport would have been about $1 usd, the Uber was $7 usd, not bad, but I am always looking to conserve dinero.
I arrived at the airport in plenty of time. It was only then and the Flybondi desk that I learned I was at the wrong airport. This was a little priceyer (is that a word?) Uber to race to the right airport. $27 usd. Actually pretty cheap for a 51 minute ride. So here I am now, enjoying an excellent cup of coffee and a crescent. $8 usd. So the original $20 usd I saved by flying, has more than been chowed. The good news is the flight is less than 2 hours compared to what would have been 17 hours on the bus. I'll get over the extra expense this morning in about 14 more minutes from now.
My chat buddy Charley at the Hostel woke up earlier than his regular wake up time to see me off. He is originally from Hong Kong, now living in London. He is in the last month of a 7 month travel adventure of Central and South America. He hasn't visited Mexico yet, so maybe we will meet up again there sometime in the future. (Or in Thailand, if I end up moving there next if the Mexican Peso exchange rate continues to decline).
I am looking forward to arriving in Eguazu not only for the beauty of the falls, but also for the 10 to 15 degrees warmer average temperatures.
On the flight to Iguazu falls we followed the river separating Argentina and Uruguay. I was lucky to a window seat on the right side of the plane. I was able to see Argentina right under the plane, the river and Uruguay on the opposite side of the river.
A bit later on the flight, we flew over massive flooded, I think mostly agricultural areas. These were visible for at least 20 minutes of more as we flew, so the flooding was huge.
Flood-hit Brazil braces for more chaos with heavy rains to come and nearly 2 million people affected
There have been news reports of flooding in this area, but the major flooding was more west of our flight route. This includes the port city of Porto Alegre. The city was inundated with several feet of water and close to a hundred people were swept away in the flood waters and died.
My plan was to go the Porto Alegre after the falls, but now I will be going directly to Sao Paulo, Brazil, bypassing the flood zone.
At one point on the flight, on the right side of the plane, we could see another river separating Argentina and Brazil, and other river under the plane separating these two countries from Paraguay.
As we approached Equazu area, the landscape turned into thick rain forest. The airport if actually located within the National forest.
Iguazú National Park covers an area of subtropical rainforest in Argentina’s Misiones province, on the border with Brazil. Within the park on the Iguazú River, the renowned Iguazú Falls encompasses many separate cascades, including the iconic Garganta del Diablo or “Devil’s Throat.” The surrounding park features diverse wildlife including coatis, jaguars and toucans, plus trails and viewing platforms. ― Google
So we basically landed in the middle of the rain forest.
The taxi to the hostel was about 25 minutes, mostly on a road cutting through the rain forest. You probably cannot see me smiling. Use your imagination. I have a big smile on my face. I love the jungle and rain forests.
I will only be here for a couple days, but I will be spending more time in the rail forest when I head further north. Flying into Iquitos, Peru, that is only accessible by flights and the Amazon River. I will be in the forest in Iquitos and on the Amazon river for close to 2 weeks.
After arriving at the hostel. I walked about 3 blocks to town to buy food at the buffet restaurant. They had a decent selection of veggies, meat, potatoes and pastas. I got enought for lunch and dinner. And of course some inexpensive Argintine wine.
I had time to take a short siesta later in the afternoon.
The hostel has a cafe open to the street. Later in the evening there was a man playing guitar and singing Argentine folksongs. A couple danced to some of the songs. Later a younger guy that works at the hostel also played and sang. Made for a really nice evening.
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