Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

One of the last adventures on our bucket list was to visit Iguazu Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world. Our AirBnB mentioned that he helps people find transportation to the falls and sure enough, when he saw that we were four, he told us that it would be cheaper to take a taxi than to pay for four bus fares. That is when we met Mingo, our driver for the next few days (It also turns out he was our lifeline when trying to leave Argentina too!).

But first, the falls! There are two countries that showcase Iguazu Falls; Argentina and Brazil. We went to the Argentinian falls first. When we arrived, it was pouring rain, and even though we had our raincoats with us, Mingo insisted that we would need some plastic ponchos, so we picked some up, and we are certainly glad that we did. There was so much rain, and our raincoats were a bit dirty. They definitely need to be treated again to be fully waterproof. So wearing our plastic ponchos we walked through the deep puddles to a train that took us to the trails to the waterfalls. We hiked across what seemed like hundreds of metal boardwalks over rivers and streams that would soon become the Iguazu Falls. 

As we walked across the many boardwalks, Charlie spied some huge catfish!

Our first stop was the “Devil’s Throat” where you can get a view of the biggest part of Iguazu Falls. It is pretty amazing the amount of water that passes through the Devil’s Throat.

It is pretty crazy to think that there are so many places in the world that are in a terrible drought, while here, there is such an over abundance of water at the same time!

The most exciting part of visiting the falls for the children was, of course, the wildlife. There are signs everywhere reminding people not to touch or feed the coatis and monkeys. This is the first time we have seen coatis, which are small animals that are similar to a raccoon.

There were lots of coatis at the Falls! 

They are very sneaky like raccoons and seek out food anywhere they can find it...even out of the hands of unsuspecting guests. We witnessed the aftermath of a coati jumping onto a lady to steal her empanada. I don’t think she was hurt, though they can leave people with some nasty gashes, but she was pretty shaken up.

We also saw some monkeys. I am pretty sure they were looking for a free meal also, but they weren’t as bold as the coatis. There were workers at the park designated solely to chasing the animals away from the guests.

There were a few trails to explore to see the different views of the waterfalls. All of them offering spectacular photo ops.

One of the things we really wanted to do was to ride in a boat that went up to the falls. Unfortunately, the kids were too young. But Mingo let us know that we might have luck on the Brazilian side….

The next day we went to the Brazilian side of the Falls. Instead of a train, we took a bus to the falls, and I think that we all agree that we liked the Brazilian side better. The trails weren’t quite as long, but there was a nice boardwalk where you were able to walk right overtop of a large waterfall with almost a 360 degree view of other waterfalls.

Another reason we liked the Brazilian side better was because Mingo was right, we were able to ride a boat right under some waterfalls! First we went on a small jungle tour where we saw wild pineapple plants and spiders that spin golden webs. Then we boarded the boat! We put on our plastic ponchos and expected to get drenched! And we did! The boat focussed on one waterfall in particular and the driver did a great job at entering at every angle to make sure nobody was left out! It was good that we wore our ponchos, but even so, we still got wet! 

That will be a memory the kids will not likely forget for a while!

After the falls, Mingo suggested we go to the Parque das Aves, which is a bird refuge. It had a lot of local birds in some pretty beautiful enclosures. The videos of the baby birds at different ages that showed how they fed and cared for them in the refuge was definitely a highlight for the kids. There were several enclosures that allowed people to walk through so you are up and close with the birds. One of the most impressive was the macaw enclosure. 

It was so large, and there were so many different kinds of macaws swooping and eating and biting their wooden toys prepared for them right at the refuge. There were a few other animals at the refuge that weren’t birds. We saw an iguana, caimans, butterflies and snakes. Amanda was pretty sure she saw a capybara, but not in a cage, just in the wild.

So many fun photo ops! 

We were pleasantly surprised with the food we found in Puerto Iguazu. We never had time to buy groceries at the store, and really, our AirBnB didn’t have enough pots and utensils to prepare much of a meal so we went for a walk and found Calle Brazil which had restaurant after restaurant that served what we know as charcuterie. 

The kids absolutely loved the pieces of meat and cheese with olives served with toothpicks (so fun for the kids!). In fact the restaurants were right around a small market that sold all sorts of olives. Adeline and Charlie were in heaven! We ended up buying a jar of olives, just for them to eat back at our apartment. It didn’t last long…

The Aussie family from Uruguay gave us a great tip. They had also spent some time in Puerto Iguazu and they found a fantastic ice cream shop called Cremolatti. We decided it was important to give it a try…. And they were right. It was pretty delicious.

Yum! Cremolatti  was definitely a winner in our books!

Other than the falls, Puerto Iguazu is pretty neat in that it is where the borders of three different countries meet up; Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Our next destination we were planning was Bogotá, Colombia, so we decided to fly there, and after some research, David found that the cheapest flights were out of Asuncion, Paraguay, which wasn’t too far away from Puerto Iguazu. So on our last day, Mingo our driver agreed to drive us through Brazil to Paraguay so we could catch a bus to Asuncion.

Los Tres Fronteras; Argentina to the left, Brazil to the right and Paraguay straight ahead! 

It seemed as though it was just not meant to be…. He picked us up and headed for the border with Brazil which was about 10 minutes away only to find that the people of Puerto Iguazu were protesting the Argentine government and had shut down the bridge to Brazil. No problem says Mingo, we’ll take a ferry across the river directly to Paraguay. So we hopped on the next ferry, got to the border only to find that we needed a visa to get into Paraguay! 

Oh no! No visas and only 48 hours to get to Ascuncion to catch out flight!

Shoot, we hadn’t needed a visa to get into any of the other South American countries, and we got a little lazy checking those entrance requirements! And the worst part, we could only buy a visa at the airport in Asuncion or at a consulate! Oh boy! So back on the ferry back to Puerto Iguazu and Mingo took us to the Paraguayan Consulate to buy visas. Unfortunately, it would take a day to process, so Mingo found us accommodation at his pastor’s hotel, made sure we got food to eat and picked us up the next day to take us back to Paraguay. We were told that the visas should be ready by 9:00 am, so we were at the consulate at 8:30 am to make sure we were ready to go! But 9:00 came, and 10:00 came and eventually, some time after 11:00, we finally got our visas and we hightailed it back to the ferry and, hooray, we were allowed in! Lesson learned.

Hooray! We got our visas and made it to Paraguay!

Mingo took us right to the bus station, made sure to find us a good bus line, and took us to the special seating area just for that company. He really took care of us! I kind of felt a little embarrassed having a driver in Puerto Iguazu. That really isn’t our style, but it certainly proved to be extremely helpful, but it probably wouldn’t have been the same if it was a different person. Mingo really was a stand up guy, and we were certainly grateful for that!

Salto, Uruguay

Back at our Workaway in Chile, we learned about an interesting place in Uruguay. We heard that Salto is a place where you can find an amazing parrilla (BBQ) and relaxing hot springs. Sounds like our kind of place! So we headed to Salto.

The more we walked around town, the more interesting it became. While walking to our accommodation, we saw several homes with horses. We didn’t see many people riding horses, but they were tied up in their front yards.

As we ventured closer to the hot springs, there were more hotels, and people were walking around in their bathrobes. Maybe they were on their way to the hot springs, or on their way home, or just felt like they wanted to be cozy. Who knows?

Our second day in Salto we went to the hot springs. These hot springs were more luxurious, or developed compared to the hot springs we visited in Chile. 

There were about nine different pools and apparently they were all different temperatures. Most of them were very hot! There were pools meant just for adults and pools that had slides and other fun water elements geared towards children.

That night we headed to the parrilla we heard about from our Workaway in Chile. And indeed it was amazing. We ordered meat for four with a salad and fries, and there was plenty to spare. The meat was served on a hot plate with warm coals underneath. Most of the meat was identifiable, some wasn’t, but it was all delicious!

It was a short stay in Salto, but it was tasty and relaxing!

Altos Eco-Village, Uruguay - Our Second Workaway

After our adventures in the far south, we decided that it might be time for another break. After a quick look on Workaway.com we found a perfect place to dig in some roots and get some work done. We found “Altos Eco Village”. An Australian family of travellers who had been travelling and working at Workaways (sounds familiar), found a beautiful country hotel in the countryside of Uruguay, and bought it! Now they are fixing it up so other travelling families can take a break from their vacations and relax in their eco-village!

The Aussie’s are a family of seven. The parents Kym and Matt have agricultural backgrounds and definitely have a love for adventure and learning new cultures. Their children ranging from 3-12 years old, are full of life and were the perfect antidote for Charlie and Adeline’s homesickness.

Charlie and Adeline had so much fun playing with their new buddies! 

The hotel had an amazing kitchen so I spent most of my time helping cook meals (all of our favourites from home)! David spent his time doing odd jobs from repairing the netting around their veggie patch, to cutting logs into chairs, to patching the tiled hallway.

When the Aussie’s bought the property, they acquired a pair of ponies. While we were there, they bought twenty chickens and two horses. 

Charlie with some of the rescue chooks!

They bought the chickens from a farmer nearby, and it was from a farm that mass produced eggs in conditions that weren’t so nice for any living being, so many of the “chooks” were missing feathers and really weren’t sure what to do once they were put in their roomy hen house and pen. But it didn’t take long for them to start dusting themselves and scratching the ground for bugs; natural behaviours of chickens that they never would have learned at their previous farm.

The arrival of the horses was pretty exciting too! I am not sure who was more excited, the people or the ponies. As the horses were being led out of their trailer, the ponies were watching intently and then running excitedly around their paddock! They must have been excited for new friends. After the horses had a day to adjust, Matt wanted the horses to start getting used to his kids. One of the horses was for Joey and another was for Mickey, so they have to take them for walks, give them water and eventually ride on them. Charlie got a chance to walk one of the horses and both got a chance to ride them. How exciting!

Horses, ponies and chickens weren’t the only animals we found on the property! There were also loads of frogs, tarantulas and fire ants! The first day we arrived, the kids found frogs in one of the swimming pools, and that provided endless entertainment for a few days.

They even had the frog olympics and the clear winner was Charlie’s “Big George”. 

The kids made a water slide for the frogs! 

Amanda found the fire ants the first day. There were several anthills in the yard, and we learned to check where we decided to stand very quickly. Luckily the nice cool water in the pool helped soothe the bites. We also learned how soothing aloe vera gel can be once the bites have turned into a ferociously itchy rash.

The tarantulas were a surprise, but luckily we only saw them outside. The kids became quite brave and collected them in an old plastic bottle.

Our two weeks at Altos Eco Village passed very quickly. We were lucky to meet some pretty amazing people. All home sickness was completely gone for the whole two  weeks and then once we left the home sickness was replaced by a longing to be back in Uruguay with the Aussies!

El Calefate, Argentina

There is a reason there is an outdoor clothing line named after the Patagonia region, it is an absolutely beautiful landscape that had us oohing and ahhing almost everywhere we went!

We took our first flight since arriving in South America from Bariloche to El Calafate. Adeline and UIKEYINPUTDOWNARROWCharlie were just bursting with the excitement to be on an airplane instead of a bus!

Finally! Back on a plane!

It was a quick flight from Bariloche and as we were landing we had amazing views of the bright blue crystal waters of Lago Argentina. It might have looked especially bluer because the rest of the landscape is rather barren and brown, but it was still pretty spectacular all the same.

Coming in for a landing in El Calefate. Look at that blue water! 

A closer view of the beautiful Lago Argentino.

Most people come to El Calafate for exciting outdoor pursuits, but the big ticket is the Perito Moreno Glacier in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Unfortunately, Adeline was too young to walk on the glacier, so as a family we decided not to. Instead we rented a car and went to visit the glacier from the viewing centre and walk the endless amount of boardwalks to see different viewpoints of the glacier. It was pretty exciting to witness pieces of the glacier breaking off with thunderous cracks and splashes into the water.

Perito Moreno glacier is pretty impressive!

The next day we took a boat ride up to the glacier. On the way, we stopped at a couple of places to get out and take some walks in the beautiful Patagonian wilderness to some waterfalls. In this part of the park, there were large trees because it is considered a rainforest. At one of the places we got off the boat, there was a beach made up of the perfect skipping rocks! So Charlie and Adeline spent as much time as they could trying to break their records of how many times they could skip their rocks.

The best rock skipping beach ever!

Another favourite part of the trip for Charlie and Adeline was probably when we learned what calafate berries look like. They resemble blueberries in look - and taste! Both kids spent some time berry picking - and eating! However, we did hear that if you eat calafate berries, you are destined to come back some day. I think that we are okay with that!

Once they found the Calefate Berry bushes, this is how they spent the rest of our hike!

Yum yum! Calefate berries! 

On another day, we drove to El Chaltén, another entry into Parque Nacional los Glaciares. The other days, we had to pay to get into the park, but from El Chatan, you don’t have to pay. This could be due to the fact that to see glaciers from this village you have to hike in.

This backpack might be a little heavy for our trip!

El Chaltén is definitely a hikers paradise. There are several treks that start here. We chose to hike to an amazing viewpoint of Mt. Fitz Roy, which did not disappoint! This was a popular hike and there were probably hundreds of other people eager to capture a view of the rugged peaks of Fitz Roy. We met people from France and a family from the United States. It is pretty neat how Mother Nature can bring different nations together in an uplifting and positive way.

For most of the day, the peaks of Fitz Roy were hidden amongst clouds. We heard that that’s the way it usually is, and to get a glimpse of the top is pretty lucky. Well, Lady Luck must have been on our side that day because after we lounged on the glacier beach with swarms of other eager hikers for what felt like hours, the clouds finally lifted for us to get some sights and pictures of the spectacular giant!

Thank you for your cooperation Mother Nature!

It would have been nice to spend more time in El Chaltén and to go on more hikes, but unfortunately we didn’t have the equipment and it might have been a bit too challenging for the kids. Maybe another day…