Monthly Archives: March 2013

Travel

Iguazu Falls Upper Trail and Devil’s Throat, Argentina

httpv://youtu.be/wxYABo65Dv8

This video shows the view from the upper trail and from the walkways along the Devil’s Throat.

The Argentine access across the forest, is by a Rainforest Ecological Train, The train brings visitors to the entrance of Devil’s Throat, as well as the upper and lower trails. The Paseo Garganta del Diablo is a 1-kilometre-long (0.6 mi) trail that brings the visitor directly over the falls of the Devil’s Throat, the highest and deepest of the falls. Other walkways allow access to the elongated stretch of falls across the forest on the Argentine side and to the boats that connect to San Martin Island. Also on the Argentinian side, there are inflatable boat services that take visitors right under the falls.

Mist rises between 100 and 490 feet from Iguazu’s Devil’s Throat, Iguazu affords fantastic views and walkways and its shape allows for spectacular vistas. At one point a person can stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfalls. The Devil’s Throat in Argentina has water pouring into it from three sides. Likewise, because Iguazu is split into many relatively small falls, one can view these a portion at a time.

On November 11 of 2011, Iguazu Falls was announced as one of the seven winners of the New Seven Wonders of Nature by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation.

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Real Estate

IGUAZU FALLS (Cataratas del Iguazú), Argentina

httpv://youtu.be/mui7BLvrHxg

By Judy J. Pinegar

The name “Iguazu” comes from the Guarani (native Indian) words “y“, meaning “water”, and “ûasú “[wa?su], meaning “big”. Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to see the falls was a Spanish Conquistador in 1541.

Puerto Iguazu, we had been here before, maybe 12 years ago, and it is now much more of a tourist trap. The hotel we had for about 150 pesos a night is now almost 600 pesos and the restaurant across the street cost us 300 pesos (poor us; this is 60 dollars or less as the rate is now over 6 pesos to the dollar, but still we resent the increased cost!)

We walked to Los Tres Fronteras (the three frontiers), where you can stand on Argentine soil and see both Brazil and Paraguay across two different Rivers, the Iguazu and the Parana, both greatly built up from the last time we were here. The next day we took a local bus (also now much inflated in price) to the Argentine falls. After a train ride, we spent about 5 hours walking both the lower and upper trails to see the falls. John’s video does great justice to the amazing sights on those trails.

Iguazu River tumbles over the edge of the Paraná Plateau, formed by volcanic activity. Numerous islands along 1.7 mile edge divide the falls into numerous separate waterfalls and cataracts, varying between 197 to 269 ft high. The number of these smaller waterfalls fluctuates from 150 to 300, depending on the water level. Names have been given also to many other smaller falls, such as San Martin Falls, Bossetti Falls and many others.  About half of the river’s flow falls into a long and narrow chasm called the Devil’s Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diaboin Portuguese). (We will talk about and show this in our next blog.)


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Travel

San Ignacio and the Misiones Jesuitico Guaranies, Argentina

httpv://youtu.be/IJ6uT7RTEig

By Judy J. Pinegar

Misiones Jesuitico Guaranies, (Jesuit Missions of the Guarani Indians)

Now this is another small town, population 6,000, better paved, some asphalt and paving stones on other roads before getting to dirt. The Mission San Ignacio Mini is the main attraction down street lined with “tiendas turisticos” (little shacks selling stuff for tourists to buy). I don’t know why they call it “mini” because the Mission was self sustaining and quite large with over 4,000 inhabitants in the years from 1696 to 1767, when the Jesuits were ordered to leave by the King of Spain (so other people could take advantage of the Guarani Indians and what they produced). Then the site was ravaged by the Portugese and the Paraguans in 1817, and rediscovered, covered by the jungle in the 1940’s.

The rock work is fantastic, and most of the walls, anyway are intact. It must have been something to see in full operation. The mission was well ordered around a large square, with the church, school and cemetery on one end, housing for widows and others on the far end with family housing, wood and metalworkers around the sides in the shape of a cross.

Behind the main mission was the area for a huge garden, which was divided into plots for each family, and one for the church (where all worked) and which was used to feed the church officials, widows and others who couldn’t work.  Although the church taught about the Jesuit beliefs, they also allowed the native music, art and other practices to continue, and the sites provided protection to the Indians as well. At the peak of the mission period over 100,000 Indians lived in the 30 mission area, and mortality had dropped greatly. The Jesuits made no attempt to force the Indians to speak Spanish and the people were governed by their own chieftains under the spiritual authority of the priests. The Jesuits only sought to change the polygamy and occasional cannibalism that were practiced previously.

Next we will be off to Iguazu Falls or “La Cataracts”.


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For all your real estate neeeds
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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
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(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE# 00669941

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