Iguazu Falls & Buenos Aires

Hola mi amigos. And no BA does not stand for Bugger All ... it's all about Buenos Aires!! Sunday night we bussed 12hrs to Iguazu Falls, which was thankfully very comfortable, arriving 8am on Monday morning. That afternoon we set off to check out the world's largest waterfalls (that's right, it's not Victoria or Niagara) - on the Argentine and Brazilian border. We see some of the park, and enjoy a jet boat ride with a very cold shower under one of the bigger cascades ... fabulous fun at the time, but not so after walking around in wet jeans for the next four hours :o) The next day we went back to the park to check out the amazing Devil's Throat ... a horse shoe shaped waterfall where the water seems to drops forever. In the afternoon we bussed over to the Brazilian side and got a great panaroma of the whole falls. There are no adjectives to describe this place, and I know the photos won't do it justice either (though I did try, taking over 150 shots). You'll just have to visit and see for yourselves! Wednesday morning we flew into Buenos Aires - just 2hrs compared to maybe an 18hr bus ride!! Thursday, 25 May is Independence Day here in Argentina and with a huge public rally for President Kirchner being organised in the main square ... so being curious Kiwis we set off to see what was going on. Activities were well underway and some people were already staking out their spots, afterwards we walked down the pedestrian mall and stopped at more than a few stores along the way, including some amazing shopping malls. Thursday, Independence Day. We set off to explore the city and found the public transport was free today ... Kirchner wants as many people as possible in the square. While we avoid the square at this time, we watch as tens of thousands of people pour out of the centre into hundreds of buses - walking down the world's widest street (14 lanes) which has been closed off to traffic. They later estimate that there were around 200,000 people present. The scale of this day is amazing to us Kiwis. After the crowds had cleared we walked into the square which was completely littered with fliers, and of course the hawkers - selling everything from posters of Eva Peron, to the churripan (sausage in bread). We did some serious km's yesterday, also taking in a fabulous art and craft market, the beautiful Ricoletta cemetary, Independance Square, and the fashionable Port Madero district. We later headed back nearer to our hostel (Palermo) for dinner in a nearby Plaza. Just another day really ;o)