The Iguassu Falls (Spanish spelling) was approached by open train, adding to the variety of modes of transport during our travels. We could see across the falls to our hotel of the previous night but this time we could see the falls in their magnificence from the top. Once again, the huge volume of water made the effect even more impressive than normal and I was stunned to see how enormous they were Not only is the spectacular drop (aboout 12 levels in toto, but we could only see 2) but the border of the semicircular falls is 2.7 kilometre. After a morning spent trying to take it all in, we were off to the airport for our last internal flight (fears of excess luggage) and thence to Argentina and its elegant capital Buenos Aires.
Our last hotel, the Emperador, lived up to expectations set by the rest of our tour and we arrived in time to freshen up before leaving for a lovely old Art Deco building for a special dinner and Tango Show. It was along night and the alcohol offered was generous so some of us took the chance to take a nap. Tango was born in Buenos Aires and there are symbols of it everywhere. On the following day we went by bus to a gaucho ranch (although the real gauchos disappeared long ago) where we had a choice between a rather silly coach ride and an even sillier horse ride around a paddock in a group of about 50 people. But the meal (wine included) was a good Argentinean BBQ (lots of meat) and it was followed by a guitar performance and tango show. Then some of us joined in the post meal dancing (thank you Chris for partnering me) and we all dozed happily on the long trip back to the city where we spent our last night as a group recuperating in our rooms.
On the following morning, we were bused around the city, visiting the cemetery and its mausoleums (only 2 like it in the world), the tin covered former slum, now the very trendy Camineto and seeing the main sites of what is certainly the most glamorous city we had seen with its buildings echoing European and especially French style. Then we finished the morning in a lovely Art Deco coffee shop where most of us had tango lessons to recapture the flavour of Buenos Aires ourselves. Lat minute shopping for those who were about to depart and then there we were, Jack and I and a few others waving goodbye to the majority of the group heading off to the airport and home.
Jack and I had one last night so after an hour in the internet café we had a rest and explored a little before having dinner with 2 of the group members, Ken and Mike.
The next day we spent shopping for ourselves – especially in the leather shops and then wandering around the streets with a map to get a better feeling for the city. The tour had shown us the highlights very efficiently but really you need just to wander independently to see how life is lived. One of the features we had seen was the dog minders, leading up to 10-12 dogs on a lead, docilely trotting in the parks and streets.
Come 4 o’clock we were waiting in the hotel lobby for our guide to take us to the airport as transfers were included in this last minute of the tour. Then began our long flight to Auckland via Santiago, crossing for the last time the amazing Andes, then the International Date Line and losing a day in the process.
Our tour of South America was over and in the coming days we were able to meditate on all we had seen and experienced.
No comments:
Post a Comment