Lauriver's Travels: Iguazu Falls via Cordoba/Salta

After some time well spent in Mendoza drinking wine, swimming, eating asada, drinking wine, etc. we had to make an important decision on where to go next. While most of our trip has been spent heading south along the Pan-American highway, Mendoza was a crossroads. Do we go south to Patagonia, east to Buenos Aires, or to northern Argentina? We really wanted to go to Patagonia, but it was the middle of high season, we didn´t have much camping equipment, inflation is running rampant through Argentina, and the bus prices were much higher than we anticipated, so we decided to save Patagonia for another trip. Iguazu Falls, though, was high on our list of must-sees so we decided to spend the next week heading there through northern Argentina. Our first stop on the way was Cordoba, a major university city of busy streets, Jesuit churches, and beautiful young people. We spent our time wandering the plazas and churches, looking for craft markets, and escaping the heat at the movies where we learned that you can get half-sweet, half-salty popcorn. Next, we headed to Salta, an ugly city surrounding a beautiful central plaza. The main highlight for us in Salta was going out on the town to the local "peña" shows. Meaning "pain" these traditional mournful songs are the country music of Argentina, complete with lots of dancing gauchos. We heard they can get quite rowdy in the late hours but we weren´t up for staying out until 5 am to find out. We are still trying to adjust to the Argentine clock, with breakfast at 9am, lunch at 1pm, followed by a few hour siesta, snack at 8 pm, dinner at 12 am, pre-party until 3 am, and club from 3 am to sunrise. As a couple that likes to eat often and drink early, this would prove to be a challenge throughout Argentina.
Our final stop before Buenos Aires was Iguazu Falls, an amazing set of waterfalls straddling the Argentina/Brazilian borders. Set in an picturesque jungle preserve, these falls are truly a natural wonder of the world. Located where the river Iguazu plunges over the Parana Plateau, the result is an almost 2 mile stretch of falls ranging in height of 200-260 ft tall, culminating in the Devil´s Throat, a massive U-shaped cataract so named because of it´s thunderous power. We were lucky enough to see this waterall from both the top, via a large catwalk, and below, via a boat tour which takes you dangerously close to the falls. A bit of a splurge, this boat tour was absolutely worth it once you are plunged deep into the depths of the cataract, not to mention a great way to beat the stifling jungle heat. Since we visited the falls on two days, we were able to thoroughly explore the park and see all that Iguazu has to offer, including a great hike to a waterfall where we stripped off our sticky clothing and went for a swim. An unforgettable experience, now we know why, upon seeing Iguazu for the first time, Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed "Poor Niagra!".