Dad, Mom, and me at Wanda precious gems Mine
WELCOME PARENTS!! I was lucky enough to get a visit from my parents! They stayed for about 10 days and the time went by in the blink of the eye. My parents arrived on a Monday night and the next morning we went on a mini-trip to Iguazu Falls located North of Buenos Aires near the Brazilian and Paraguayan boarders.
We visited for 3 days and had a great time. We stayed in a hotel called the Aldea Lodge and we felt like we were staying in the jungle!! There were wooden boardwalks that lead to sections of rooms surrounded by jungle and each room had a specific name relating to the jungle.
Our hotel room
Mom and Dad on the balcony that lead to our room
Me hanging out in one of the many jungle areas surrounding our hotel
THE FALLS!!
On our first day we headed into the Iguazu National Park and went on some trails that provided spetacual views of the different parts of the falls. We first headed over to the strongest falls known as la garganta del diablo (Devil's throat). The power behind that water was amazing!! The mist was so strong that we came back almost all wet!!
Then we visited two other trails showing us the upper and lower falls! Breath taking views! In the afternoon we went on a boat tour that brought us right up to the falls and soaked us!! It was a lot of fun getting so close to the falls! Then the boat took us down river a few miles and we had a jungle jeep ride back to the visitor's center area. We didn't see any panthers but we saw a lot of huge spiders, lots of colorful butterflies, many coatis (a raccoon relative), and a toucan.
Then we visited two other trails showing us the upper and lower falls! Breath taking views! In the afternoon we went on a boat tour that brought us right up to the falls and soaked us!! It was a lot of fun getting so close to the falls! Then the boat took us down river a few miles and we had a jungle jeep ride back to the visitor's center area. We didn't see any panthers but we saw a lot of huge spiders, lots of colorful butterflies, many coatis (a raccoon relative), and a toucan.
A coati
Sorry Niagara Falls...Iguazu Falls out powers you
The second day we took a day trip to Wanda Mines and San Ignacio ruins. We stopped at the Wanda Mine first and had a personal tour of the open air mine. It was a great tour because our guide took us all over and we even got to see a worker extracting one of the mineral gems. Our guide told us that the mine is pretty small employing only 50 works but they predict that in the coming years it will grow larger as they need more workers to dig deeper.
Mineral at the Mine
After the mine we drove 200 kilometers to a small town where the San Ignacio Jesuit ruins are located. San Ignacio was one of the many missions founded in 1632 by the Jesuits during the Spanish colonial period near present-day San Ignacio valley, located in the Missiones province of Argentina.
The ruins are one of the best preserved among the several build in a territory today belonging to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, and one of the most visited due to its accessibility. Lost in dense vegetation, the remains of the "Guarani baroque" (architectural style created by the fusion of the indigenous people's architectural styles and European baroque) style constructions were found in 1897, and gained the interest of the population after the 1903 expedition by poet Leopoldo Lugones, but its restoration didn't begin until 1940.
During the time of the founding of the mission the indigenous people of South America basically had two choices: join a mission or be sold as a slave by the Portuguese (I recommend watching movie "The Mission." It provides a great history the missions and shows the Falls!). So obviously many people chose to join a mission.
The ruins are one of the best preserved among the several build in a territory today belonging to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, and one of the most visited due to its accessibility. Lost in dense vegetation, the remains of the "Guarani baroque" (architectural style created by the fusion of the indigenous people's architectural styles and European baroque) style constructions were found in 1897, and gained the interest of the population after the 1903 expedition by poet Leopoldo Lugones, but its restoration didn't begin until 1940.
During the time of the founding of the mission the indigenous people of South America basically had two choices: join a mission or be sold as a slave by the Portuguese (I recommend watching movie "The Mission." It provides a great history the missions and shows the Falls!). So obviously many people chose to join a mission.
San Ignacio mission ruins
On our last day I went on an eco-tourism excursion that included hiking in the jungle, zip lining through the jungle, and repelling down a waterfall in...yep you guessed it...the jungle. I had a great time! My first time zip lining and repelling turned out to be successful and full of fun! Plus the people that went along on the excursion were amusing.
I could tell that I was in a different country during the hike...everyone was really loud (probably scaring away any animal nearby) and one guy was smoking. We hiked to the first point in the zip line and climbed steps 20m to the tree stand. We did a total of 800 meters broken up into 3 sections (400m, 200m, and 200m). After that we went over to the waterfall (just a beautiful place!) and repelled down 20 meters! It was very slippy but fun!!
I could tell that I was in a different country during the hike...everyone was really loud (probably scaring away any animal nearby) and one guy was smoking. We hiked to the first point in the zip line and climbed steps 20m to the tree stand. We did a total of 800 meters broken up into 3 sections (400m, 200m, and 200m). After that we went over to the waterfall (just a beautiful place!) and repelled down 20 meters! It was very slippy but fun!!
Me repelling down the waterfall
After our mini-trip we returned to Buenos Aires and my parents got to attend my church and see how the after church program goes. It was interesting being the translator!! Then on Sunday night we went to dinner and a tango show! The food was great (Argentine stake) and the show was full of energy!! There were many couples of dancers and they made it look so easy!!
Tango Dancers
Waiting for their ride to the airport
I hope my parents had a good time! It was great to see them and to show them my little world here. Now when I talk about people and places they have a good idea of what I am talking about! Unfortunately they did not get to go to MAMA with me because my boss had the flu but other than that I bombarded them with Argentine culture and food!! I even made them drink mate (tea-like herb that Argentine people always drink).
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