Week Twelve: The Move to Argentina and a Visit to Iguazu

My first week or so in Argentina was filled with lots of jet lag but also with lots of cool people and beautiful, new places.  I landed in the city at the end of August and stayed for a few days in the Art Factory hostel.  One website said it was gay-friendly.  It absolutely was.  It was also a great place to rest after the long trip.  I'm not sure why but the transition from Poland to Argentina was much more difficult than the transition from the US to Poland.  I couldn't really get my bearings for a solid week or so.  While at the Art Factory, I met several really nice people from around the world, including Rike and Mark.

Mark and I explored the city a bit on the Sunday after I arrived and stumbled upon the end of the street fair in San Telmo, a central neighborhood of the city.   

Drummers and dancers in the street

A tango in the neighborhood

Excellent truck. 

While staying at the Art Factory I also met Saulo, who invited me to join Gay Geeks, a social group in Buenos Aires that has picnics, movie nights, and various events every month.  Saulo couldn't have been nicer and I was really excited to have a solid contact in the city.  Although I had sent at least a dozen emails before arriving and even before leaving the US, I still didn't have an organization or person like I did upon arriving in Warsaw.   

When researching, I found addresses for several organizations, so I was really hoping that showing up would be more fruitful than the email attempts.  Before I began knocking on doors of different organizations, however, I spent a few days seeing the city (and trying to adjust, time-wise).  

Because free tours were one of my favorite things in almost every city I visited in Europe, I thought I might really enjoy one in Buenos Aires as well.  Unfortunately, it was a "free" tour that midway through became a paid tour.  A bit odd and because none of us really had the cash to continue (I only had tip money), the tour was fairly brief.  Luckily, I have enough time in the city to explore on my own and to pay for a tour if I choose as well.  In the meantime, here are the pictures from the first half of that tour.  

Manzana de Luces (Illuminated block), one of the oldest places in Buenos Aires named the "block of ideas" because it was home to the Church of San Ignacio, the University of Buenos Aires, and other intellectually important spaces. 

The Plaza de Mayo and behind it, the Casa Rosada, office of the President. The Plaza has been an important site of revolution and protest throughout Argentina's history, starting with Argentinian Independence from Spain.

The symbol of the Mothers of the Plaza painted on the sidewalk at the Plaza.  The mothers began marching under the dictatorship in an attempt to find information about their disappeared sons, daughters, and family members.  Around 30,000 people were disappeared, activists, intellectuals, and families deemed dangerous to the regime.  There were sites around Argentina where prisoners were taken and tortured or killed, and afterward, those responsible changed the architecture to make it more difficult for survivors to identify the buildings where they had been kept.  There are still many unaccounted for.  The Mothers continue to march every Thursday.  

Casa Rosada, the President's office and mansion.  Our tour guide told us the pink color orginally came from a paint made with cow's blood but there's also a story of mixing the two colors of the opposing political parties, red and white, to make a neutral color.  

The tour ended in the Plaza, but I will definitely take another one before I leave.  

After a few days in the Art Factory exploring and meeting new people, I had to make a decision about what to do until my apartment was ready. 

Although I had an apartment booked in the city, I didn't have access to it until the 19th of September.  That left me with lots of time, and after doing a little research, I decided to head off for a few weeks of exploration in the rest of the country.  I found two cities with reputedly budding LGBT social and political life, Cordoba and Salta, and I scheduled visits Iguazu and Mendoza for a few days as well.  I did all my traveling by bus, with my shortest trip at around 13 hours and the longest about 22 or so.  Bus travel in Argentina is great, although each company is a little different, and because it's different from anything we have at home, I gave it a post of its own.  

The first stop was Iguazu, north of Buenos Aires at the border with Brazil and close to Paraguay.  Iguazu National Park is home to Iguazu Falls.  It is the most beautiful place I have ever been.  I spent two full days at the park, walking all of the different trails and seeing all of the falls at least once.  

I stayed at a little hostel in Puerto Iguazu, the town closest to the national park, and because it was essentially off-season, I had a five person room to myself.  The hostel was wonderful, with hammocks and really friendly staff who helped me practice my Spanish skills and gave me recommendations for the rest of my trip in the country.  After all of the walking and traveling, it was a perfect place to rest up before continuing.  

Below are the pictures from the park and when I figure out how with my limited equipment, I will upload a video of the Garganta del Diablo, which was so incredible that when I saw it I actually laughed out loud in amazement.  

These were all over the park.  The most dangerous animal I saw was the coati, although there were definitely some things skulking in the forest as I hiked the Macuco Trail, which is the longest and least disturbed trail in the park.  That said, there were amazing birds and butterflies everywhere, and in the water, there were turtles lounging on the cement bases of the walking trails.  

Coatis were all over the park, especially the areas with food.  They have no fear and will rob tourists of food.  They'll also climb onto the trains and help themselves to anything left in a bag on the floor.  

Cute, right? 

On the way to Garganta del Diablo

Right before reaching the falls. 

Sneak peak. 

Garganta del Diablo.  Unbelievable. 

Still at the Garganta del Diablo

One of the many rainbows in the park. 

At Garganta del Diablo

Back that way is the Brazilian side.  Because I didn't have a visa, I stayed in Argentina, but I certainly didn't feel like I was missing out. 

Turtle on the trail

On the base of one of the trails

There was gorgeous wildlife and plant life everywhere.

Lots of turtles

Mildly intimidating and extremely effective sign

A coati outside of a restaurant area.  

I made a butterfly friend on the train 

One of the signs explaining the dangers of approaching a coati or monkey.  Graphic and again, effective.  

Lesson of the Watson: sometimes you have to selfie.  Alone on a trail in the woods in front of a waterfall?  One of those times.

Just ridiculously beautiful.  

I ended up on the same path as a really nice couple from Southern Argentina.  We took turns taking pictures and they spoke slow Spanish to me, which I really appreciated.  They couldn't have been nicer and we spent the rest of the day walking together.

The Macuco Trail is the longest and least developed trail in the park.  It was beautiful.

The waterfall at the end of the Macuco Trail.

My bus to Cordoba left around noon, but I walked to see the Tres Fronteras that morning before leaving.  It's the point at which the borders of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet and it's at the top of the longest road in tiny Iguazu.

Selfie Round Two.  The Argentine marker.

Brazil

Funny enough, walking back down to town, I ran into two guys who walked with me on one of the trails in the park.  Iguazu is tiny and it was nice to see them again.

After visiting Tres Fronteras, I hopped on a bus to Cordoba.

This week I am thankful for: 

1. Mark, Rike, Saulo and the great people at the Art Factory

2. Iguazu and a chance to be in nature for a few days

3. Juan and Katarina, the couple from the park who were so nice

4. Feelig exhausted in the best way and a chance to catch up on sleep.