Posadas, Iguazu and Rosario

Trip Start Jan 14, 2010
1
19
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Trip End Sep 11, 2010


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Flag of Argentina  ,
Monday, May 17, 2010

Nathan: Posadas is situated on the banks of the Rio Parana, with Paraguay just a few kilometres across the river. The town is not really on the tourist trail, so had a very authentic feel to it. The town centre was very pretty, modern and clean, as was the river-front, with plenty of restaurants and bars. We had lunch by the river, wandered around town but with Rhi taking anti-biotics to reduce the size of her shnoz, we skipped the booze and had an early night. Posadas is located in the province of Misiones (literally, Missions) which takes its name from the period during which the Jesuits set up camps, or missions, to convert the local population to Christianity. The Spanish weren’t too happy with the growing political influence of the Jesuits in their empire so ‘suppressed’ them (read invaded and murdered). The nearest mission to Posadas was destroyed in 1817. We visited a museum, which was incredibly neglected, displaying artefacts from the mission, including guns, canoes, spears and necklaces made of teeth.They also had a stuffed alligator which was just chucked under a table and rotting
Iguazu
Iguazu
. We were the only visitors. Never-the-less, it was very interesting to see.

The following day our coach journey was only five hours to Puerto Iguazu, the nearest town to the falls (half an hour on a local bus). The town is ok, the hostel was ok (Aguara House), but the real star of the show, Iguazu Falls, was amazing. Easily the most awe-inspiring natural sight we have ever seen. The falls consist of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometres (separating Argentina from Brazil) and their beauty is impossible to describe in a way which would do them justice. You’ll have to make do with the photos!

After Igauaza we headed back south to Rosario, our final stop before our flight out of Buenos Aires to Rio. We hadn’t worried about booking a coach (although it was a beast at 21 hours), because it was during the week and we figured one day in advance would be fine. Unfortunately, we hadn’t taken the Bicentario celebrations into account (200 years of independence is a big deal, or something) and Rosario is second only to Buenos Aires in partying terms. This meant all the nice coaches were booked and we were stuck with crap seats on a crap coach. Needless to say, the journey wasn’t hugely pleasant.

All the guidebooks and blogs rave about Rosario
Iguazu
Iguazu
. Our impression was... it was fine. It was a city. Nothing special. The river is quite nice, The weather was terrible, which probably influenced our impressions, as did the flea infested hostel we wound up in. (Long story short, the hostel we booked ahead of time had no rooms left, problem with website, but guys were nice and spent two hours phoning around for an alternative. Found one, only dorms, no privates, very cheap. Flea infested, no breakfast, horrible beds, horror in toilets. Can’t name and shame because it, er, had no name). We did meet three crazy Argentine guys and spent the evening drinking with them, learning Spanish and bitching about the hostel in broken Spanglish. The final night we booked into a hotel, although this meant foregoing the £15 we had spent on the hostel. But it also meant foregoing another night of worrying which disease lurking in the beds/hostel was finally going to claim us.

Our impressions of Argentina were overwhelmingly positive. It has a huge range of landscapes and scenery and the majority of the people we met were extremely friendly and the random conversations we struck up with people too numerous to list.
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