Another .......Waterfall

I have done two posts as a bit of an Easter bonus. This one is a special Easter treat for Viv-who-lived-here-for-a-month-and-knows-what-it´s-like and because I know that in a few hours her family and mine will be gathered together at her home for home-made Hot Cross Buns ... without me (and because they will get the in-joke) Hope you are all able to read this together and that someone will have a really buttery hot cross bun for me. Make sure you check out the blog following this.

It´s impossible to describe The Cataratas and, although it is nigh on impossible to take a bad photo - photographs cannot convery the enormity of this phenomenon.

A waterfall ...

Another waterfall...

and the same waterfall ...

But wait, there´s more waterfalls ...

and more....

and with lovely young travel companions.

Another day, another waterfall.

The hat is a souvenir. This waterfall is THE biggie:








This is the guy who offered to take most of my photos of me.
Spot the waterfall...

And here, we have another ...waterfall...

and another view of the waterfalls...

A few things I discovered during my visits to The Cataratas:

Brazilian side on Friday and Argentine side on Saturday.

- All that pre-departure work in Jo and Brett´s Fitness studio paid off [A plug here for ¨You and Improved Fitness Studio in Waiuku.] I have been able to go up and down steps, (plenty of those if you observe the height of the falls) lug heavy bags and walk for miles.

-It was not a busy day for mosquitoes but it is easy to become paranoid every time you feel something touch your skin.

-It is always wise to make sure the bottle top of your malaria medication is screwed on tightly lest they spill all over the bottom of your bag.

- A wrist watch that boasts ¨Bath waterproof¨does not mean it can go under a waterfall.

- Sometimes you wonder what you are doing on a speed boat going sideways over rapids heading towards an almighty steep cliff ... in Brazil, and if your travel insurance covers death-by-waterfall.

- A $5 packet raincoat is not waterfall proof - and yet they still sell them at the point-of-departure. Neither do the raincoats hold great puddles of water in your lap while you are seated on a boat under a waterfall.

- You will eventually dry out.

- Some people pay a small fortune to have their photo officially taken, looking like a drowned rat, in front of a waterfall.

-It is difficult to see anything at all near a waterfall when you wear glasses. It´s like driving a car without windscreen wipers.

- It is very difficult to get a photo, up close, of a large spider or a small iguana.

- Most of the plants in my garden and house, including the weeds, have their origins in South America.

- It´s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the phrase, ¨I´ll take yours if you take mine.¨ People seem very happy to take photos for each other. And, it is easier to say, ¨Yes please¨ than try to explain that you have a photo of yourself in front of every possible view of a waterfall. The lovely guy in the photo kindly offered to take my photo at every new waterfall so I said it was about time I took a photo of him.

- The Argentine people are very proud of their waterfalls and those who haven´t been there have it on their ¨Öne day when I can afford it¨dream list. Everyone I have met is pleased and pleasantly envious that I got to go there. It´s like a pilgrimage and people on the tour were visibly and emotionally moved to be there. It´s almost as if it reinforces the good things about Argentina to make up for all the things they are unhappy with or are unable to change.