Salto to Cachi

Today we went south and west into the Argentine Andes Mountains. Before we left the hotel in Salto we put all of our luggage into garbage bags to protect them from the dust.

Preparing for our drive

The scenery continued to change as we climbed higher into the mountains.

We saw a lot of amazing cacti
Not sure what these are

We also saw a lot of llama-like animals but I’m not sure if they were llama, alpaca, vicuña or guanacos.

Not sure what this is
Or this
Or this

We continued to climb and eventually went over a pass at more than 11,000 feet.

A vista point Climbing up into the Andes

When we finally got to Cachi we had a late lunch followed by ice cream.

Tamale and lemonade
Some of our empanadas
Ice cream

We are staying at a winery about eight miles outside of Cachi.

Miraluna Bodega where we are tonight

We had a picnic dinner and tasted two local wines to decide which we liked best.

Getting ready for dinner
Desert

After dinner we had fun playing Rummikub.

Iguazu to Salto

This morning our plane to Salto was supposed to leave at 7:45 so we got up at 5 and a taxi picked us up at 5:30. The plane was about an hour late leaving and the flight was just under two hours so we got to Salto about 11. Renting the car took about an hour but eventually we were on the road.

Our rental truck
Our luggage.
Checking in

The hotel where we are staying Legado Mitico is very nice.

Our room

As you may know Argentina has terrible inflation. It’s about 120% annually. Duke asked the very helpful man who checked us in about the best way to change money. If we used an ATM we would get the official exchange rate which is something like 347 pesos to the dollar. If you change your money on the street you get the black market rate which is 830 pesos to the dollar!

The front desk guy who spoke perfect English said “I know it’s weird but changing your money on the street is perfectly safe!” So that’s what we did. We changed $400 and came away with 3 ‘bricks of $1000 peso bills and a few loose bills.

Duke and Brian changing money

By this time we were all very hungry. We hadn’t had anything to eat all day except the cookie on the airplane. So we found a restaurant on the main square. The tourist map we got at the airport said that the number one must do in Salta is to taste empanadas with a glass of Torrontés wine. We had beer instead of wine but we did order a sampler platter. It was all delicious especially the empanadas.

Brian with the money to pay the bill.
Our sampler platter

Since we had been up since 5am the next task was naps. Finally we sat in the lounge and played cards.

Cards

Later we went to the grocery store to get picnic supplies.

At the grocery store

Foz do Iguazu, Brazil to Iguazu, Argentina

This morning we checked out of the Wish Hotel Golf Resort and took a one hour taxi ride across the border into Argentina.

Entering Argentina

In Argentina we are staying at the Grand Meliã Iguazu. It is perhaps my favorite hotel in the world.

This is the view as you walk into the lobby.

Our rooms weren’t ready so we walked and took the tourist train down to see the falls and the Garganta de Diablo (throat of the devil).

Walking to the Garganta de Diablo.
Duke and I at Garganta de Diablo.
On our way back to the hotel Bonnie met this guy.

It was over 90 degrees today and it felt like 90 percent humidity so when we got back to the hotel we immediately went swimming.

Swimming

Before dinner we played cards.

Playing cards before dinner

We had a fabulous dinner at the Meliã.

My fish
This dolce de Leche volcano cake was exceptional
My fried cheese

They had tango entertainment going on while we ate. Duke got right into the swing of things.

Duke doing the tango

Foz do Iguazu

After breakfast when we were ready to leave our hotel and return our rental car we discovered that now the left front tire was flat. Because we were already using the spare on the right front and though we were only about 5 miles from the airport where we planned to return the car, returning the car still took three hours! We had to go through a whole hassle to get hold of the company, find someone to translate, get a tow truck, have the car towed, and then go to the airport to complete the paperwork. Finally about 2pm we were on the way to Iguazu Falls Park.

Left front tire
The car finally getting towed.

We bought tickets and did the boat ride to the bottom of the falls. It started with a very interesting walk and ride through the park forest to the boat dock.

On the way to the falls
Leaf bug
On the boat
On our way
Some of the falls from our boat

In addition to a fun and beautiful ride, the boat also took us right under the falls. Tons of water dropped on us! It was so much fun!! I bought the GoPro pictures they took but I still have to get them off the thumb drive.

We were absolutely soaked but it was a hot day and as I said the whole experience was fantastic.

Next we went up to the viewing platforms overlooking the falls. Words fail me when I try to explain the beauty and grandeur.

Iguazu Falls
You can see we were still pretty wet

Dois Vizinhos to Foz do Iguazu

This morning when we came out to our car we had a flat tire!

Flat tire

A very nice man in the lobby offered to help change it for us. I think he was just a guest of the hotel.

Changing the tire
Duke helped
The flat tire

Luckily we made it to Foz do Iguazu where we will turn in the car with no further problem.

Along the way we stopped to look at an enormous dam and hydroelectric plant on the Iguazu River.

Dam. I think on the Iguazu River

At the Wish Foz da Iguazu resort where we are staying for the next two nights we met up with our good friends Bonnie and Brian who we will be traveling with for most of the rest of the trip. It was so good to see them!

Relaxing at the end of the day after rendezvousing with Bonnie and Brian

For dinner we went into the center of Foz and had a fantastic steak dinner.

Dinner