Mysteries of the Jungle - Los Cataractas de Iguazu y Los Missiones

After making the long journey back to Mendoza, I recovered there for a few days, catching up with friends from Spanish school, posting my last series of blog bits, and trying to practice a bit of Spanish. Next, I headed back to Cordoba, and did some cool stuff in the surrounding area that I´ll write about when I´ve managed to develop the film and upload the photos (will be under ¨Paragliding with Che, sorry it´s out of order). Then, I took an extended overnight bus ride to one of Argentina´s main attractions, Iguazu falls (the spelling seems to vary a bit). The sheer scale of the falls at Iguazu, and the atmosphere of the surrounding jungle, makes the place quite unforgettable. Puerto Iguazu, the nearby township, was surprisingly pleasant too. Here are some photos:


We headed over to see the falls from the Brazilian side, too (one of the others paying the standard bribe for a day ¨visa¨ for an American visitor to Brazil) which was also worth doing - a different perspective on the falls, and a torrential tropical downpour, which was quite fun too...

Heading south from Iguazu, we paid a visit to the Jesuit ruins in Missiones province. The Jesuits were commissioned by the Catholic Church of Spain to evangelise and concentrate the indigenous people of South America. They set up missions in the jungle to do so, and were successful in protecting them for many years, until the Spanish crown grew tired of their growing power and wealth, and expelled them from the Americas. Leaving some cool ruins behind...

Here´s some detail from one of the buildings...

... and another photo - ancient ruins in the jungle, crawling with giant lizards... there was a nice spooky cemetary too.