5-18
Arrive early in Mercedes. I walked around this town for a little bit. It's very much a guacho (cowboy) town and all the men where these cool hats, scarves, special shirts, and these special leather boots (that arent really that similar to our cowboy boots). Then got on an old bus for an extremely bumpy ride on a dirt road to Colonia Carlos Pelligrini, a very tiny village near the pampas (swamp area) that consisted of just a few houses and small stores and dirt roads.
I took a walk in the afternoon on a subtropical forest trail and had the luck of seeing a family of howler monkeys, a fox, some kind of small deer, parakeets, and a capybara.
5-19
Near the town is a large lake, swamp, and estuary (esteros in spanish) area. I hired a boat and a guide and went for a morning boat safari. We saw tons and tons of caimans as well as lots of capybara (the worlds largest rodent, which can weight up to 180 lbs...talk about a big rat, though they are much cuter. They actully remind me of the wumps in Bill Peet's The Wump World, one of the great all time children's conservation book along with the Lorax by Dr. Seuss.). The boat went around these cool floating islands of plant mass that even had trees on them and capybaras and caimans walking on them. Makes you think that ridiculous floating plant mass in The Life of Pi isn't so far fetched after all. On the boat ride we also saw a marsh deer, a fox, and lots of cool big birds.
After the boat ride I took some hikes in the jungle trails and along the esteros. Of course I saw lots more caiman and capybaras, but I also saw some wild boar and a python. Near the park entrance station one of the rangers was fishing (for a relative of the parana). It was funny bc this Wild Jungle cat (an absolutely gorgeous cat, similar to an ocelot) would sneak up and raid the ranger's bucket of the fish he had caught. Usually jungle cats are nearly impossible to see bc they are very shy and nocturnal, but this guy was obviously a bit more habituated.
In the afternoon it rained pretty hard, so I took a siesta with the rest of the locals. The little family guesthouse I was staying at was hosting a a Quince (the 15th birthday celebration of a girl becoming a woman) for a girl in the town. They invited me, along with 130 other people from the town of approximately 250 people. In typical argentine style, there was a huge asado (bbq) with 200lbs of prime free range beef that they put on the big fire. Dinner didnt start until 10pm and of course included plenty of wine. The beef was absolutely AMAZING. Maybe the best I have had in a very long time. THe girl didnt join for dinner and then arrived later, about 1230am in a fancy dress very similar to a wedding dress. THe rest was an awful lot like a wedding actually. The place was all dec-ed out. Some people gave toasts. There was a slideshow of her life. She danced with her dad, her brother, and seemingly every other teenage boy there (cousins, friends). There was a cake cutting and then dancing until late into the night (5am).
5-20
As it was Sunday, there was no bus back to Mercedes, so I decided to try my luck hitchhiking. There was hardly any traffic, but after 3 hours a whole group of young girls (13 of them in 3 cars) picked me up. We had a fun time, drinking Mate (the famous argentine tea that everyone carries everywhere and that you drink through this metal filter straw), listening to old cowboy music, and driving along a nasty muddy road from the previous day`s rain. We nearly got stuck a couple of times, but definitely some other cars (who had not picked me up!) got stuck. Luckily for me, the girl roadtrip was going to Corrientes, which is where I was going to go from Mercedes via bus, so they were able to take me right up to the bus station in Corrientes, 3 hrs passed Mercedes, which I really appreciated. They also introduced me to chipa, this tasty maiz meal dough thing mixed with cheese that is grilled over an asado that is dang tasty.
From Corrientes I took a night bus to Puerto Iguazu
Arrive early in Mercedes. I walked around this town for a little bit. It's very much a guacho (cowboy) town and all the men where these cool hats, scarves, special shirts, and these special leather boots (that arent really that similar to our cowboy boots). Then got on an old bus for an extremely bumpy ride on a dirt road to Colonia Carlos Pelligrini, a very tiny village near the pampas (swamp area) that consisted of just a few houses and small stores and dirt roads.
I took a walk in the afternoon on a subtropical forest trail and had the luck of seeing a family of howler monkeys, a fox, some kind of small deer, parakeets, and a capybara.
5-19
Near the town is a large lake, swamp, and estuary (esteros in spanish) area. I hired a boat and a guide and went for a morning boat safari. We saw tons and tons of caimans as well as lots of capybara (the worlds largest rodent, which can weight up to 180 lbs...talk about a big rat, though they are much cuter. They actully remind me of the wumps in Bill Peet's The Wump World, one of the great all time children's conservation book along with the Lorax by Dr. Seuss.). The boat went around these cool floating islands of plant mass that even had trees on them and capybaras and caimans walking on them. Makes you think that ridiculous floating plant mass in The Life of Pi isn't so far fetched after all. On the boat ride we also saw a marsh deer, a fox, and lots of cool big birds.
After the boat ride I took some hikes in the jungle trails and along the esteros. Of course I saw lots more caiman and capybaras, but I also saw some wild boar and a python. Near the park entrance station one of the rangers was fishing (for a relative of the parana). It was funny bc this Wild Jungle cat (an absolutely gorgeous cat, similar to an ocelot) would sneak up and raid the ranger's bucket of the fish he had caught. Usually jungle cats are nearly impossible to see bc they are very shy and nocturnal, but this guy was obviously a bit more habituated.
In the afternoon it rained pretty hard, so I took a siesta with the rest of the locals. The little family guesthouse I was staying at was hosting a a Quince (the 15th birthday celebration of a girl becoming a woman) for a girl in the town. They invited me, along with 130 other people from the town of approximately 250 people. In typical argentine style, there was a huge asado (bbq) with 200lbs of prime free range beef that they put on the big fire. Dinner didnt start until 10pm and of course included plenty of wine. The beef was absolutely AMAZING. Maybe the best I have had in a very long time. THe girl didnt join for dinner and then arrived later, about 1230am in a fancy dress very similar to a wedding dress. THe rest was an awful lot like a wedding actually. The place was all dec-ed out. Some people gave toasts. There was a slideshow of her life. She danced with her dad, her brother, and seemingly every other teenage boy there (cousins, friends). There was a cake cutting and then dancing until late into the night (5am).
5-20
As it was Sunday, there was no bus back to Mercedes, so I decided to try my luck hitchhiking. There was hardly any traffic, but after 3 hours a whole group of young girls (13 of them in 3 cars) picked me up. We had a fun time, drinking Mate (the famous argentine tea that everyone carries everywhere and that you drink through this metal filter straw), listening to old cowboy music, and driving along a nasty muddy road from the previous day`s rain. We nearly got stuck a couple of times, but definitely some other cars (who had not picked me up!) got stuck. Luckily for me, the girl roadtrip was going to Corrientes, which is where I was going to go from Mercedes via bus, so they were able to take me right up to the bus station in Corrientes, 3 hrs passed Mercedes, which I really appreciated. They also introduced me to chipa, this tasty maiz meal dough thing mixed with cheese that is grilled over an asado that is dang tasty.
From Corrientes I took a night bus to Puerto Iguazu
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