Iguazu Falls to Cordoba

Our big seven-week trip through South America has begun! Last Tuesday, I flew from Minneapolis to Buenos Aires, and then I took an 18-hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu to meet up with Kim. (You may be wondering why we didn’t meet up in Brazil; it’s because I’m pretty sure I wasn’t allowed back in the country, since my visa has reached its limit.) Anyway, all that travel time was worth it when Kim and I met up at the bus station. It was great to see her.

Puerto Iguazu is a little town on the Argentinean side of the border, right across the river from Brazil. The main attraction—actually, the only attraction—is Iguazu Falls. And what an attraction it is! I’ve seen a few waterfalls in my life, but this was unlike anything else.

There were rainbows everywhere

It was pretty incredible to walk right up close to the falls. We got kind of wet from all the spray, and we had to yell because it was so loud. It’s hard to describe how amazing it is to be standing in front of an enormous wall of gushing water.

Then we spent a couple days in a little town called San Ignacio. Back in the 1700s, it was the site of a Jesuit mission. About a hundred years later, the government cracked down on it and disbanded the mission. But today you can see the ruins, and it’s pretty interesting.

Ruins of the houses

Ruins of the church entrance

They even had an orange tree!

We had a rainy day last week, which meant we couldn’t really go outside to do any sightseeing. So we spent pretty much the entire day in the hostel. Fortunately, there were some really nice people who ran the place; they had a big barbecue for everyone that night. The home-cooked meal was a perfect end to an otherwise dreary day.

Two pounds of meat for each person in the hostel

After San Ignacio, we took a long bus ride to Cordoba, a large city in the central part of Argentina. It’s a pretty mellow town, despite having a million inhabitants. There are a bunch of universities, so the city is young and has a good energy. There are quite a few pedestrian streets, which are great for a stroll.

Street views in Cordoba

We took a little side-trip from Cordoba and went to a small town called Villa Carlos Paz. It’s billed as Argentina’s version of Las Vegas. I can’t say I agree with that assessment, but it was a decent place to spend an afternoon. For some reason, the town is extremely proud of its cuckoo clock. We weren’t particularly impressed when we first saw it, but we decided to reserve judgment until the top of the hour.

Worst cuckoo clock ever

So, after waiting for about 15 minutes, the big moment arrived. An old, wooden bird slowly emerged from the top window. Then, somewhere deep within the clock’s bowels, a hammer smacked a piece of metal, and we heard a harsh, out-of-tune clank. Then we heard another clank. (It was two o’clock.) Then the bird slowly made its way back inside, and the window closed. It was the most awful cuckoo clock we’d ever seen, but we couldn’t stop laughing.