Argentina 2009

Tuesday1stDecember

We will spend this December 1st at the Iguazu waterfalls. Barely arrived at the park, butterfly n°89 welcomes us! It's a diaethria clymena.

Lots of small critters in this jungle

Left photo: the 1st coati we spot. There will be many others...
Middle photo: a black and yellow tiger ant

Right photo: black vultures (Coragyps atratus)

And here is the first vision of the waterfalls. And the closer we get, the more beautiful it will be!

One of the 275 falls of the park. The Iguazú river extends for about 2.5 km. The site was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1984.

I don't know about you, but I love this photo!

It shows the Brazilian side of the falls. We will be in those people's place tomorrow!  

Small black birds in an incessant merry-go-round of dives into the mist of the waterfalls. These are Great Dusky Swifts, "Cypseloides senex". They also appear on the park's emblem.

And here is one of the companions of all walkers in the park: the tupinambis!

Otherwise called the black and white tegu (Tupinambis Merianae), this large lizard of about 50 centimeters wanders everywhere and loves posing for photographers!

Here, it is man facing nature. At the end of this pontoon, stand facing the hectoliters of water pouring at your feet, and there, magic, you will be at the exact spot of connection between you and the entire planet. Yes yes, it's true!!!

And here I am back after my "connection"...

And still our Tupinambis on a stroll...

Note the hole behind his eye, it's his eardrum

This small boat is rushing towards the waterfall. In a few moments, it will be our turn...

Alright hop, everyone is ready for the giant shower?

Here we go!!!!  

There, I'm all clean now...

but next time I'll think about the umbrella... 

To reconnect to the real world, we go back to take a walk at the end of the pontoon...

Picnic and drying break...

This tupinambis is way too big to fit in our shoes!!!

Here is the other companion of the park walkers: the coati (Nasua nasua)!
Its long snout and big claws let no food escape... Let's keep our distance!

And then, it's a shock   At the bend of a wood, straight out of the big book of animals, a Toco Toucan  . I am transfixed by its beauty... It is not too far, I try to take some photos through the branches. That immense beak, that blue eye, wow!!!

Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco).

Ring-tailed Coati.

We take a small train to reach the walkways crossing the Iguazú river.

This long walkway takes us directly to the "Garganta del Diablo" (Devil's Throat)...

Once again we are impressed by the grandeur of the site. Added to the power of the water is the magnitude of the walls. We are at 90 meters height, the whole river rushes under our feet to fall into a cloud of water vapor

Things are well done. With the help of the Sun, a rainbow has the courage that we lack. Jumping into the void and letting oneself be guided by the irresistible floods.

Great Dusky Swifts between rainbow and cliff

And the adventure continues! We take a sort of orange zodiac that takes us along the water closer to the jungle.

The guide approaches the boat near the bank pointing his finger towards tall grass and whispering: "a caiman"... 

Yes yes, look closely, the caiman is indeed there.

The Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) opens its wings wide to dry them in the sun.

During this navigation, we once again encounter a toucan playing hide and seek with us

The "end" of the pontoon where we were in "connection" earlier... From below, they don't distinguish us. They only see the world flowing at their feet...

We started with the diathera clymena n° 89. We end the day with n°88 

A "no number" in perfectly regular situation...

Leaving the place, we spot some monkeys for a few seconds.
They will finally have the park all to themselves...

End of the evening by the pool of the "Guembe Hostel House". I take a photo of the Moon which is "upside down" since we are in the southern hemisphere. Unless it is right side up... Whatever. Right side up or upside down, just like us, it never stops rotating around the Earth...