South America Patagonia


Tuesday, 2 May 2017

Patagonia - Buenos Aires 2

Buenos Aires is known for its unique neighbourhoods and the most colourful of all (in more ways than one) is La Boca. Tour books had warned tourists about violence and robberies in La Boca so we were a little leery about visiting on our own. Our tour drove us through the neighbourhood then dropped us in the touristy centre, where we were allowed to wander around unescorted but warned that we should stay in the "triangle" - "make a right and then a right and another right to get you back to the meeting point". We would be "safe" if we don't wander out of those lines. For once, I followed instructions. But I find it ironic that we were willing to play tourist in an area that obviously was not what it appeared to be - but we pretended it was and played along with the "fake" setup - like Disneyland but not...

We walked the afternoon away in the cobbled streets of San Telmo and wandered fortuitously into a historic literary café, La Poésia, where we had a nice dessert break.  A staircase led up to a loft with a photo gallery of literary figures who had met in the café located in a turn of the 19th century building. It was a long but interesting walk back to our Recoleta hotel through the pedestrian thoroughfare Florida Street - a back to reality walk, with the street full of hawkers and solicitations. We were offered "cambio" by street money-exchangers non-stop throughout the walk down the crosstown street.

The highlight of our Buenos Aires visit was a wonderful evening at the historic Los Laureles (established 1893) tango bar, attending a "milonga" where locals danced the tango.  What a fun way to end the trip!

Colourful tenements in La Boca - only the tenants would know if life is really that colourful...


Tango and singing on the street to entice customers









 

Street mural in San Telmo by famous Argentinian cartoonist Juan Carlos Colombres (Landrú)

La Poesia, an historic literary café in San Telmo that we just happened to wander into
 




Cobbled streets of San Telmo

Pedestrian thoroughfare in Centro
Flordia Street famous for shopping and "cambio"

Historic milonga bar, Los Laureles, established in 1893

Instructor at tango lesson

Tango demo



Live music for locals dancing the tango at the milonga









Good night and goodbye, Buenos Aires!

This wraps up my posts on Patagonia. It was one of the most spectacular trips we have been on. Looking forward to the next one - Munich, Salzburg and the Alps. Stay tuned!












Monday, 1 May 2017

Patagonia - Buenos Aires 1

We started and ended our Patagonian trip in Buenos Aires.  It was a return to the big city after more than a week in the wild Patagonian landscape - quite a mental adjustment. And while I enjoyed cities and their cultures very much, it didn't offer the same awe-inspiring spectacles of nature that took our breaths away time and again. 

I looked at the buildings in Buenos Aires - from the colourful La Boca to the majestic classical structures of Centro or the old town ambiance of San Telmo to the chic elegance of Recoleta - they are all remarkable manifestations of the human spirit and awe-inspiring in their own way.  But it was hard to compete with the splendours of nature that we just witnessed.  I almost felt the cities were a compromise. I finally understood a dear friend who is no longer with us.  She was a devout lover of mountains and nature and went from one wilderness trip to another, and I had found it difficult to understand at the time why she could not rev up a similar enthusiasm for cities, these glorious centres of culture.  Now I understand and I empathize, a bit late.

Buenos Aires certainly had its charms and I had hoped to have captured some of that in the photos below and in the next post.  We had explored Recoleta on our own on our first day of arrival and upon our return from Patagonia. The tour also took us to the famous cemetery in Recoleta where the rich and famous were buried. We had a quick visit of the Plaza de Mayo in Centro before we went on to the colourful La Boca district. 

We had a very enjoyable lunch "with the locals" by the waterfront and I was pleasantly surprised that we were actually sitting right in front of a nature sanctuary. What a treat to have this so close to the centre of the city. 

Buenos Aires from the plane - I am amazed at the vast green recreational areas just outside of town

One of the first things that hit our eyes near the Museum of FIne Art
We took advantage of the free entry on Sunday - nice collection.  I was struck by the iconic painting of social protest below "Sin pan y sin trabajo" (Without bread or Work) in a special exhibit of works by Argentinian painter Ernesto de la Cárcova. Having seen the slums in Buenos Aires, in stark contrast to the wealthy part of the city, I can better understand the sentiments behind the painting.

The colourful Sunday street market in Recoleta
An unusual clock set over the belfry of a historic church
"El Gran Gomero" a giant rubber tree in Recoleta is over 200 years old
The roots!
Colourful chairs on a sidewalk patio


Historic cafe La Biela, popular meeting place for politicians, writers, artists, actors and media celebrities - and you can just have a coffee and ice cream here
A Rufuos hornero (national bird of Argentina) right in the middle of the city

Floralis Generica by architect Eduardo Catalano in the United Nations Plaza
The famous Recoleta cemetery where the rich and famous were buried (also a standard tourist stop)
Mix of wide and narrow streets inside the cemetery

Tomb of Eva Peron
The National Theatre

Intricate iron work at the Opera House - there were long lineups for the tours


This tower is the only part remaining of the Mirador Massue, an art nouveau building from 1903 by French architect Alfred Massue, replaced by postmodern glass
Casa Rosada - the presidential mansion right downtown in Plaza de Mayo, El Centro

The cathedral at the other end of Plaza de Mayo

Lunch with the locals - street food by the waterfront

Wildlife right across the lagoon



An unusual wattled jacanda foraging in the lagoon
Bar-winged cinclodes near the bridge
A stroke of luck to come across this stunning swing bridge by architect Santiago Calatrava in Puerto Madero - Puente de la Mujer (Woman's bridge); for people in Toronto, Calatrava is also the architect of the Galleria atrium in Brookfield Place, downtown Toronto.


 Next post: Buenos Aires 2 - La Boca and San Telmo



Tuesday, 25 April 2017

Patagonia - Ushuaia, "el fin del mundo"

After an exhilarating few days having our breaths taken away by the magnificent landscapes in Patagonia, we were ready for the last stop on our Patagonian journey - Ushuaia, "el fin del mundo"  as the Argentinians called it (the end of the world). After a short 1.5 hr flight from El Calafate, we arrived in Ushuaia - a bustling town, the capital of Tierra del Fuego, a busy port for cruise ships and also hopping off point for adventure trips to Antartica. There were any number of excellent restaurants and our first night we headed straight for the fisherman's restaurant to try the king crab. We picked our own live crab and it was quite an experience. More later on Foodsparks, the food blog.

The main reason for our visit to Ushuaia was to see the penguins on Martillo Island and a zoologist had delivered an interesting lecture on penguins the evening of our arrival to prepare us for the trip.  In the morning we boarded a catamaran that took us down the Beagle channel.  Along the way we saw king cormorants and other birds in flight - there were islands full of sea lions and cormorants. There was a slight wind and the sea was just slightly choppy, enough to make a few people sea-sick, but not too badly.

The catamaran took us to the Estancia Harberton, a historic farm founded in 1886, the oldest in Tierra del Fuego.  From there, we boarded a zodiac which took us to Martillo Island. All through the trip, we were entertained by a charming naturalist (his name is Valentin!) who gave us interesting details delivered in inimitable style - this guy is a natural showman, which certainly enhanced our enjoyment of the trip.  

We were lucky that one lone King Penguin was sitting on the beach as we landed. The rest were Magellanic and Gentoo penguins. We were warned to keep at least 2 or 3 metres from the penguins in order not to disturb them.  The guide took us through to the rookery where the penguins were mottling. The young penguins had already left the nest at this time of the year, in fact, in a few weeks (in April), these penguins would all be gone.  The penguin pairs were fascinating to watch and we had to be dragged away when our hour on the island was up.There were not only penguins on the island, we saw at least 10 different kinds of birds and you can see some of them below.

We had lunch at the Estancia and a guided tour of the museum which had a huge collection of whale bones. The trip back to Ushuaia was on a 4x4 bus!  It was quite a day! It was topped off at dinner by a treat of merluza negra (Patagonian toothfish), the sweetest fish I have ever tasted in my life (no exaggeration), a far cry from the frozen Chilean sea bass, the closest thing to this we could sink our teeth into at home.  


I was lucky to capture some cormorants in flight - no wonder, there were several  islands full of them in the Beagle Channel 



And islands full of sea lions AND cormorants

A Southern Giant Petrel - note the tube beak


This looked like a Chilean Skua
 

Sandpiper in flight

The lone King Penguin on Martillo Island - the Gentoo penguins were keeping it company





This photo gives a better idea of the rookery
An informative chart showing the annual cycle of the Magellanic Penguins - note how they will be migrating from mid-April to mid-September so they won't be on the island.






It was molting season for the Magellanic penguins, there were feathers everywhere! And they were helping each other clean up...


Peaceful coexistence of the different kinds of birds on the island...
Upland Geese

Sooty Shearwater
Skua


Caracara

Upland sandpiper
Gentoo penguin drinking
Social gathering
Waiting?
 
Taking a stroll along the beach (King cormorants)

The zodiac that took us back to the Estancia

Local guide Valentin hamming it up for the paparazzi...

The historic Estancia Haberton

The 4x4 that took us back to Ushuaia


We stopped by this lookout of the river between the windblown flag trees
Back to Ushuaia, at the foot of the Martial Range
 
Goodbye, beautiful Patagonia!
We flew back to Buenos Aires the following day...



Sunday, 23 April 2017

Patagonia - Perito Moreno Glacier, El Calafate

After a long 6 hour drive (with stops) across the Patagonian steppes, we arrived back in Argentina in El Calafate, itself a tourist town catering to visitors to the nearby Perito Moreno Glacier, one of 47 glaciers in Los Glaciares National Park. The glacier was our main destination and as part of the affiliation with National Geographic, we got a glacier specialist to give us a talk on glaciers and also act as our guide at the glacier the following morning. 
 
The glacier was stunning as you can see below.  According to the local guide, this was the only non-retreating glacier in the world because it has somehow maintained a perfect balance in spite of climate change.  That, in itself was a phenomenon.  

Travel inside the park was by park shuttle only and just as we arrived at the glacier, we heard a thunderous clap - we turned around and saw a huge chunk of the glacier calving and a huge wave when the ice hit the water.  That was a spectacular sight that we could only recall in our mind's eye as no one was quick enough to capture it. There were going to be quite a few more such occurrences during the day.  It seemed that by the time we heard the sound, it would already be too late or the calving was not in the direction our cameras were pointing. I was able to catch the last half of a calving while we were on the boat tour which took us just slightly closer to the glacier although not really that much because of safety concerns over calving.

We had two excellent dinners while we were in El Calafate, including an asado which I will write up later on Foodsparks, the food blog.

Perito Moreno glacier

The glacier looked very small from the highway with the surrounding mountains
The person provided a sense of scale


Our first sighting of a condor that was close enough to capture on camera on this trip. It was flying over the glacier and I was thinking it's too late but pulled out my camera anyway. Good thing I did as it took a turn and flew up our way!

A piece at the foot of the glacier that had an ice cave
This was the large chunk that fell off just as we arrived and caused a huge wave. That was the reason why boats were not allowed to get close to the glacier.


The amazing surface of the glaicer


The "tongue"
The "teeth"


An ice cave in the glacier

Calving...






After the calving, the fresh exposed surface was bluer than the rest

"Symmetry"


A small "iceberg"


The view of the plains on the road to El Calafate

Next stop: Ushuaia - the southern most town in the world, according to Argentina...

Thursday, 20 April 2017

Patagonia - Torres del Paine National Park

Torres del Paine was for me the high point of our tour - a place that I had wanted to go to for years.  And now the wish came true and triple blessed with a warm, sunny, windless day - an unusual phenomenon for the Patagonian park famous for its wind! When we first arrived near sunset the day before, we were not sure if we would actually see the famous towers after being told by the local guide that it had been raining before we got there and no one had seen the towers for a week! Having gone through the disappointment of not seeing the volcano in Puerto Varas, we were not optimistic. When one of the towers peeked through the clouds, every body scrambled for pictures as we may not see it again!

As it turned out, it was a magical evening with one of the towers being caught by the setting sun.  The following morning, it was even more magical when we stopped at the lookout to see the massif above the village with a thin layer of mist in between - it was Lord of the Rings country in Patagonia! The rest of the day continued to be one "wow" after another - awe-inspiring through and through.  We ran out of words to describe the wonderment.  You can see for yourselves the photos below.


This image of the Paine Massif was the reason for our trip to Patagonia  - and I was overjoyed that I was able to capture it!
 

This was all we saw when we first arrived in Torres del Paine the evening before!          Why wouldn't we be worried?
And then it got better as the evening progressed - but still no one could predict what it would be like in the morning
Morning came - our hopes were up!


This has got to be the most magical landscape I have ever came across - not even in New Zealand, the original Lord of the Rings country...

 
And then we saw this view from the bus - the local guide told us we would not be stopping for 2 hours.  I begged her to stop and let us take a photo before the reflection disappeared.  She changed her itinerary and we s made photo stops all the way to the waterfalls!  A terrific example of listening to customer input!  Good for you, GAdventures staff! (at Lake Pehoe)


Salto Grande Waterfall



This was the high point of the day - what an awe-inspiring panorama!

Lunch time!  We saw this Andean deer and many birds as we ate lunch by the river.







Austral Thrush
Austral Blackbird



Rufuos Collared Sparrow - it must know that it's on camera!

Patagonian Sierra-FInch



After lunch we did a "short" hike to Grey Beach and up to the lookout to see the Grey glacier flowing from the Southern Patagonian Icefield.  That was hardly a "stroll" on the beach because we were walking in 100 km wind.  The pebble beach was a wind tunnel!  But we got to experience at least a little of what Patagonian wind felt like.  There was another "short" climb up to the glacier lookout but it was the end of the day and we were all tired.  And the glacier was far away so we took a few pictures and left.  That was a two hour roundtrip even though it felt much longer.
View of the massif from the beach
The Grey Glacier
 We saw a lot of wildlife in and near the park. 
A rhea near the road to Torres del Paine
A Gray Flanked Cinclodes
A king cormorant at the waterfront in Puerto Nattales







Guanaco in the Park

Upland Geese near the hotel

We were extremely lucky - as we were leaving the park the following morning, it was cloudy and windy.  100mph winds were in the forecast!
Next post:  El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier


Tuesday, 18 April 2017

Patagonia - Puerto Varas, Chile

Puerto Varas was our first visit to Chile and we decided to take it easy and enjoy the town instead of going on more sightseeing excursions.  We had traveled 11 hours the day before and will have another extended travel day following so it was great to relax in the quiet town.  It was again intermittent sun and drizzle; we took advantage of the sunny periods to explore and took shelter in stores and cafés when it's raining. It was great to catch up on some people watching and food tasting.

We found a chocolate store in the morning - the brand store of Chilean choclatier Varsovienne.  The 85% dark was exceptionally good as was the dark chocolate ginger.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw on the box the warning label "Alto en calorias - Ministerio de Salud" (high in calories - Ministry of Health) when I got home.  The Chileans must be very health conscious people!  

The most visible landmark in Puerto Varas was the Church of the Sacred Heart at the top of the hill.  A wooden church clad with iron on the outside, a design based on German churches, it was declared a National Monument in Chile.  

At lunch we ate at Café Mamusia, where we saw lots of locals. It served Chilean specialties including the famous corn casserole "pastel de choclo".  It was delicious but very rich, with minced meat, chicken and egg besides corn - the corn was almost an afterthought! The place also had a bakery with all varieties of cakes and pastries. This being a town with a strong German presence, I knew we wouldn't be disappointed by the desserts and we were not.

We checked out some of the interesting houses in town with their scalloped sidings and managed to return to the hotel without having to open our umbrellas.  Dinner with the group at a restaurant near the hotel confirmed our guess that the Chileans enjoy food and are particular about their quality. It had been a good, relaxing visit.  


 

Puerto Varas waterfront



You can tell from the pavement we were in Puerto Varas!
Note the warning label!

Interesting buildings at the waterfront - note the thick carved pillars

Neat café truck
The Church of the Sacred Heart - we were surprised at the metal on the outside
 
Pastel de choclo (corn casserole)
Charming little girl playing with toy trucks - she entertained herself for more than an hour while her mom was on her phone


Some interesting buildings in town...

Note the scalloped sidings on these houses



The old style Hotel Cabana del Lago where we stayed



We were surprised to find quite a few birds around town!
A Southern Lapwing on the roof
A caracara lolling on the hotel fence

View of the town from the hotel




Good night, Puerto Varas!

Next post: Torres del Paine National Park




Wednesday, 12 April 2017

Patagonia - Hike to Mt. Tronador Glacial waterfalls



With a free day in Bariloche, we decided to do a hike to see the glacial waterfalls of Mt. Tronador, an extinct composite volcano straddling the border of Argentina and Chile.  We had the opportunity to look at the mountain on both sides and it was quite interesting to note that the two faces were completely different - we would never know we were looking at the same mountain if the guide in Chile had not pointed it out to us.  Even when she did, we thought she was kidding!  The mountain hosts 8 glaciers, all receding, and we saw three of them from our viewpoint.  At 3,470 metres, Mt. Tronador stood more than 1,000 metres above the rest of the Andean massif in the area and it got its name from the thundering sound of falling ice columns.  We heard quite a few thunderclaps when we were there.

The guide took us to see the black glacier at the foot of Mt. Tronador.  Its unusual dark brown colour came from dirt and sediment picked up higher up the mountain.  Brown icebergs calve from the glacier into a small lake at its foot.   But where they broke up, we could see that the insides were white.

Our hike to the glacial waterfalls started on a pretty trail with bamboo on both sides and then it transitioned to tall trees with bamboo at their feet as we climbed higher.  We were told the day before that it was a 7 km trail roundtrip, which sounded too good to be true, and it wasn't.  As expected, it was more like 14 km round trip.  It was described as mostly flat - we found out that it was "Andean flat".  There was a climb of about 600 metres in one part of the trail, probably nothing to younger hikers but it took us a while to make it to the top.  Of course, when we made it up there, the sight of the multitude of glacial waterfalls from the Glacier Castaño Overo hanging off the rock face was so spectacular it was worth it.  We had our lunch break here before we headed back.  The entire hike took us 6 hours at a steady pace.  We didn't want to keep the rest of the group waiting for too long!

At the end, it was a long two hour drive back to Bariloche the first hour on very bumpy roads in the Nahuel Huapi National Park.  This was where a 4x4 would have made the journey more enjoyable.  But it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the hike even though it was quite strenuous.


Mt. Tronador viewed from Pampa Linda.  Our guide took us to this viewpoint to see the mountain because while we will be hiking to the waterfalls at the foot of the mountain, by the time we get there, we won't be able to see the mountain.
 
Closeup of the three glaciers from left to right

This looked like the one with the waterfalls at the end of our hike - Castaño Overo

Ventisquero Negro (Black Glacier)



  
Closeup cross-section of the Black Glacier
Morraine on the glacial lake in front of the Black Glacier

Start of hiking trail

Beautiful bamboo along the trail



Bridge built on fallen trunk
                                                        
The trail near the top with tall trees above the bamboo
Another fallen trunk used as a bridge

Our destination - the waterfalls from the Cirque Glacier “Castaño Overo”





Modisa lily



Chaura - white berry unique to the region



 
















 



Next post:  Andean Lakes Crossing


Tuesday, 11 April 2017

Patagonia - Northern Lake District


From Iguassu Falls, we flew back to Buenos Aires to join our Discover Patagonia tour, National Geographic Journeys with GAdventures.  It was a small group of 16 older adults with five young people among us - a perfect mix.  We were the only first timers with GAdventures so everyone was trying to convince us how great the tour will be as most of them have gone multiple times with the company.

Our first stop was Bariloche in the Argentinian lake district.  It was a two hour flight and as we approached the town, we could see the volcano Mt. Osorno just in front of the wing.  It would be our only glimpse of the famous Chilean beauty.  We had lunch in town before we went on the "small circuit tour" of Bariloche.  Our first meal at a vegetarian restaurant was delicious - it was also our first taste of cooked leafy greens (spinach) in almost a week.  We were glad we passed over the fried chicken place the rest of group ate in.  (Cooked leafy greens do not seem to be part of the Argentinian or Chilean diet, at least we didn't see it on restaurant menus.)

Bariloche was breathtakingly beautiful with its layers of lakes and mountains around it.  We took the chair lift up to the top of Cerro Campanario to see the 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounding countryside.  The circuit tour took us to several viewpoints, including one by the lake.  It was past seven by the time we got to our hotel.  And we have signed up for another long day the following day - a 14 km round trip hike.  See for yourself how splendid the scenery was.

Panorama from Cerro Campanario
 


Idyllic! 





At the beach
Closer look at the lakes
Wildlife at the mountain top
The main square in town here with statue of President General Roca, notorious for his ruthless subduing of indigenous peoples in Patagonia.  I read about protests to have the statue taken down, that was in 2012.  It was still there when we visited.
The most important shop in town!

Next post:  The hike to the Mt. Tronador glacial waterfall



Sunday, 9 April 2017

Iguaçu Falls - Brazil

We visited the Brazilian side of the Iguassu Falls on our second day in the area.  After stopping on the Argentinian border station, our guide took us across the border without even stopping at the Brazilian checkpoint.  So much for paying a hefty amount for the Brazilian visa.  He suggested we could stop if we really wanted a stamp on our passport but we turned down the offer. 

The questions that came up with everyone planning a trip to the falls were: which side was better, was it worth a trip to cross the border (and pay the exorbitant Brazilian visa fee!), how did it compare to Niagara Falls?  We were asked that very question by a couple of German tourists at the Devil's Throat.  Those were difficult questions to answer as values differ and everyone's experiences were different.

When we first arrived at the park on the Brazilian side, I was a little disappointed as the falls were farther away, literally "on the other side of the river" - it was distant, compared to the immediacy of the experience the day before on the Argentinian side.  But as we moved closer towards the Devil's Throat, we saw that it was a different experience but still valuable - we could see the panoramic view of the entire waterfalls system on the Brazilian side that we could not see on the Argentinian side.  And of course, when we got to the Devils' Throat, the experience was very immediate and exciting.

In my opinion, visitors need to see both sides for a complete experience.  We were right above the falls at the Devil's Throat on the Argentinian side and right below it on the Brazilian side - both equally immediate experiences.  And for those who want to get wet, one can get very wet on the Brazilian side too by walking out to the viewing platform which extended all the way out into the middle of the gorge.  On the other hand, it's not something one could not do without and if for whatever reason you could not make it to the other side, it will not be a huge loss.

Have a look at the photos below and decide for yourself.  For me, an extra bonus was the bird park just outside the park entrance.  It was very well-stocked and there were lots of exotic tropical birds for viewing. 



Right beside the Devil's Throat on the Brazilian side
Falls thundering down right beside the viewing platform - good thing at this angle, the camera didn't get any spray.




The multi-levelled falls









The viewing platform extended right into the middle of the gorge, making for a very wet experience


Underwater camera shot at the foot of the Devil's Throat falls on the viewing platform in the middle of the gorge






Pair of black vultures enjoying the scenery


Caracara near the entrance to the park
Toucans in closeup at the bird park

You call this a bird?  It looked like it's dressed up to go on stage!  It's called a "Grou coroado africano".  These flamingos look "normal" in comparison.




This is a red-legged seriema

A female mutum de penacho - unusual in that the male is less bedecked than the female for a change, black curly crown but no striated plumage.

A Roseate spoonbill

Jandaya parakeet

Blue and gold macaw

Scarlet macaw

Cute parrot!

























Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Iguassu Falls - Argentina

Iguassu Falls - the largest waterfalls system in the world - was one of the most powerful spectacles I've experienced in my travels!  It was worth the special trip we made from Buenos Aires before the start of our Patagonia Tour.  We spent two days at the falls, one on the Argentinian side and a good part of the second day on the Brazilian side of the falls.

We started on the Argentinian side in Iguazu National Park.  Our driver advised us to go to the Devil's Throat first as the trail has no shade and there was always a lineup for the train shuttle.  That was good advice.  We waited 45 minutes for the train which ran every half hour.  For anyone planning a trip and are only spending one day in the park on the Argentinian side - make sure enough time is allotted for the 3 main trails. The best strategy is to take the train shuttle to the Devil's Throat first thing in the morning when there are fewer people (there are always crowds!) and therefore less of a lineup for the train.  This is the longest trail and the only one with transport. The viewing area is a limited area on a platform over the falls, so it would be an advantage to make it there early and beat the crowds.  The Upper and Lower trails wind through the forest to the falls and it is best to do these when the sun is hot (or if it's raining).

Spray is a problem at the Devil's Throat depending on the wind direction.  It was a sunny relatively windless day so I was able to get by with just a shower cap over my camera.  The upper trail was far enough from the falls that spray did not pose a problem but the waterfall at the end of the lower trail was right above the platform and no rain sleeve or shower cap could keep the camera dry.  I used my underwater camera at that point but even then, shots have a water film on them.

Lineups and sprays aside, the waterfalls were spectacular and we had a very enjoyable day viewing the falls from different angles, starting above the falls at the Devil's Throat, then at mid-levels on the upper trail and finally below the falls at the lower trail.  There were also lots of wild life in the Park, butterflies, coatis (whole families), birds, turtles, monkeys, even a cayman!


The "Devil'ls Throat"
Closeup of the vortex
The walkway to the falls from the train station
Looking at the Brazilian side of the Devil's Throat

The view from the Upper trail
The falls are in so many layers and levels - here we are still above some sections of the falls
Platforms built over the falls allow visitors to stand almost right over it...and under!
Looking at the Lower trail from the Upper trail
Walking by a waterfall on the lower trail
On the platform at the end of the lower trail - you get very wet as you are right below - these were taken with my underwater camera...



Of course, if you want to get very wet, you could hop on the boat tour which would take you right to the bottom of the falls!  (best done in swim suits)




 





Cayman in the water near a pedestrian bridge

Coatis own the park - they will appear the moment you have food in your hands...







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