The Iguazu Falls

Wow, what a week Ive just been through. I must say, what Ive seen there was one of the most stunning things Ive eber seen in my short life so far. What im talking about are the gigantic waterfalls called "Cataratas de Iguazu" on the boarder to Brazil and Paraguay but mostly located here in Argentina.



my great friend and me





in the bus



Half of the group of the germans took the bus to drive there cause it was a lot cheaper. After an 18 hour during drive through the landscape of the "campo" of Argentina you could saw nothing but nature and some small villages. When we woke up in the morning the landscape had changed and a view over red roads expected us. The trees and forests around us got deeper and you could see many palmtrees and other interesting things such as seas and never ending roads.

At 3 pm we finally arrived in the small town called "Puerto de Iguazu"-a town full of hostels and hotels

and mostly touristic agencies.



Iguazu Falls Hostel



Our hostel was a sweet little place with a pool and just really nice. We met some nice people there from all over the world, cooked together and swimmed in the pool. The only thing that bothered us was the fact that eating outside was extremely expensive compared to the prices in Buenos Aires. A normal sandwich costed about 45 pesos (about 8$US or 6 euros!!) so we directly decided after the first day to cook for ourselves.

The rest of our first day we spent hanging out at the pool and walking in the evening to the port of Iguazu. A silent place full of peace and harmony. 

Our next day began early with a great breakfast (we only paid about 10$US dollar a night and even got a breakfast!) with one medialuna(croissant) and some bred with marmelade. Then the bus of our booked tour came and our adventure began.

Just after half an hour of driving we arrived at the nationalpark of Iguazu. There we walked just about 20 minutes, took a train that drove us through the forest until we arrived at our first point. From there we walked over some rivers, through the jungle until we got to the most popular and biggest waterfall "Gigante del diablo". You got wet all over your body and could barely speak because of the loud noise the waterfalls made. My mouth just stood open and I couldnt say any word. Never saw such a beautiful and immense thing in my life.



on our way...



oh you can already hear the waterfall!



Then we went back and started walking another rail to see the rest of the waterfalls. We walked even over them and sometimes i was so near them I could literally FEEL their energy and power. Surrounded by amazing nature, water, sun, trees (I could list a thousand of things) I felt like in paradise.

In the middle of the waterfalls was a little island (Isla de San Martin) and with a boat we drove there and relaxed at the beach. most amazing beach !!

there the island!



taken by a friend

Because I didnt have more batterie I took much better fotos from the brazilian side. Because the next day we drove to Bazil! Im very proud Ive already been there now. There you had a much better view over the whole waterfalls but in Argentina wou were like inside everything. Hearing portuguez was funny after hearing spanish the whole time but luckily everybody understood you when you spoke spanish whith them.



brazilian boarder







wooow!



the wind is blowing me away!





weird looking animals stealing food all the time



i could post hundred of photos of the waterfalls

Our last day we made a trip into the jungle! In the morning we drove with a huge jeep through the forest, deeper and deeper. It was called canoping and we climbed and drove with a rip over the trees. I will add some fotos in the future. This experience was the perfect ending of an unforgattable experience here in America del Sur. I recommend everyone in the world who is reading this: its worth the money visiting this place. I call it a once in a lifetime experience :)

Now just one months of my argentinian adventure is left and than Its alreday time to get home...



our group <3



Porteño Life

The weeks passed by and slowly I really begin to get used to this city, these people, the streets and huge houses. I know I will never get used to eat so late, or sleeping so long or drinking coffee without a coffe machine but some pulver that barely consists of real coffee (luckily they have starbucks here). But in fact, all these little things do not bother me that much-its another city, a complete different world so far away from home.

Its halftime-six weeks Im here now in Buenos Aires and six more weeks are left. All I can say until now is that I dodnt regret doing this exchange at all-my spanish got really good now, I met so many nice people but the most important: I learned a lot about myself, about my kind of beginning friendships and also noticed that Im not the most self-confident person in this world. I think in the past weeks I got mentally stronger-I hope these next weeks will be great for me: to enjoy maybe the last time this really interesting porteño life. But now-enough talking about myself, here some fotos and experiences I want to share with you.

My favourite place to relax and go for a run: the parks of Palermo

some really nice germans from school



Plaza Rosedal






Andalusia



 

a fruteria in Palermo Soho



Another must-do in Buenos Aires is the bookshop "El Ateneo" on the "Avenida Santa Fe" also in Palermo. It is a former theatre with a huge collection of books from latin america but also from around the world.



What I really enjoy doing too is sitting on the roof of our house, watching the traffic of Buenos Aires and the sun setting. Its amazing!

A Day In The Park

Even though the weather got colder you still do not need a thick jacket-autumn started in Buenos Aires. Because I had nothing much to do and my exchange parter had to learn much for the following week full of tests, I decided to spent some time in the park near the house. The place is called "Plaza Castelli" in the middle of Belgrano. Its small but really nice, relaxing and clean. Like I said in some posts ago, Belgrano is the district of people who have money-you can notice that especially in this park which is mostly full of families and children playing at the playground. Apart from that young people or couples spend their time here too, and drinking, like all the others, "Mate".

So, I laned against a tree and began to read a pretty famous book about some spirituality stuff-Now by Eckhart Tolle. I listened to some music, enjoyed observing the people and suddenly three persons came to the park to play some really stunning music. Different than the one in the "Recoleta Park", the past week; it was much more for themselves but to entertain. Then, one of the guys came over to me and asked me to join them. I did it and they welcomed me so kindly and lovely and began to sing some Mantras. I was so happy to get to know these people, who treated me without any prejudices, just really nice. And to all the people who were walking by the gave a smile and said "Have a nice day" and when the song ended everyone of the musicians clapped their hands. I talked a lot with them, laughed and had a pretty good time...



people drinking mate





the nice people



Shots of Buenos Aires



a bridge with colorful art



Because my camera wasnt working well I could only take a few photos of my last weekend which we spent in Recoleta. On sundays there is a a huge "feria"(market) in the park which Ive told you something about in one of my last posts, and its full of people drinking the famous "Mate" and enyoing the sun laying in the grass. For those of you who dont now what "Mate" is: its THE drink of Argentina and Uruguay. Almost everyone here drinks it everywhere-even while they are walking, working or just sitting in a park. Its more than just drinking this interesting tasting kind of tea-which many foreigners do not like at first. Its kind of a sharing, talking to friends and drinking and drinking their mate. Many people drink it with sugar even though thats kind of destroying the tradition. In my case-after drinking it a few times I really got into it and every time I drink it I feel a bit more like a "porteño".









recoleta park



university of law

 Another thing I really enjoyed-apart from alternative looking people-was the music they were playing in the park. Amazing jazz music which sounded so great together with the sun setting and the whole growd of people.