Friday, September 29, 2006

Jesús visits me in Argentina! Buenos Aires/Iguazu/Le Corbusier in La Plata


Part I - Buenos Aires

I was really looking forward to Jesús' visit. It was an opportunity to show a friend around the town that I've grown to love and am sad to be leaving shortly (mid October). We had a great time: sightseeing, architecture, theatre, tango, lots of clubbing and also eating lots of Argentine meat at asados and parillas! We were both invited to the 50th Birthday party of a friend of mine, Julio, which was out in the province and included a traditional barbeque, lots of mate drinking and a whole host of music to dance to from Argentine folk to tango and even Dixieland Jazz! It was a lovely event and we were both shown how to dance the Chamame, which is something I always wanted to try! I didn't take many photos in Buenos Aires, but click here for just a taster.

Part II - Iguazu Falls

Already from the plane we were treated to great views of the Falls, but we were aware that there had been a drought over the previous months, so the Falls were very much reduced. We first went to the Brazilian side (Foz do Iguazu), where the panorama views of the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) are breathtaking. However, the lesser falls were almost non-existent. The second day we went to the Argentine side, starting at the principal falls, the Garganta del Diablo. The sound as you approach is already impressive and when you finally get to the viewpoint and look over the Garganta del Diablo you are lost in amazement. The sheer amount of water and crashing down, so that the spray rises like thick smoke. Then you see below hundreds of swallows darting about through the spray, as if it were a game of dares. Little did we know that during that evening there would be a tremendous thunderstorm and heavy rainfall, increasing the quantity of water at the falls by perhaps three times! We went straight back to the Garganta, on the way seeing the muddy swelling river and excited by the prospect of an even more powerful impression. And of course we were stunned by the difference! We also got a good soaking from the spray. We spent the rest of the day retracing our steps of the previous day along the trails around the lesser falls, which were now a lot more than just a trickle. The dense, lush vegetation and wildlife were enough to keep this enthusiast alert and scanning the surroundings with my mil ojos (thousand eyes). I wasn't disappointed. We saw some beautiful birds, lizards, coatis, caimans and a taiidae. Click here for the photos and here for a video of the falls.

Part II - Le Corbusier in La Plata

We took a bus out to La Plata on Jesus last day to see the Le Corbusier building, Casa Curutchet. Here are my photos of the building and the town.

1 Comments:

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