Argentina: Iguazú Falls

Deep in the jungle, where the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet is an outstanding feat of nature. For over 2 and a half kilometres stretch the Iguazú falls, waterfalls so great they make our own Canadian Niagara Falls seem small.

A Coati looking for food

What makes Iguazú so impressive is the shape of them. The water spreads across a large distance in a series of U shapes, interrupted only by small sections of tree-covered land. For most of the falls, the water dumps first from its highest point down to a middle section, then cascades further down to create two levels of waterfalls. Add that to the surrounding jungle and it is beautiful!

I arrived early (the first bus you can catch is at 7:20 am) and headed straight for the Upper Falls viewing platform. I followed a boardwalk that went right over the edge of the first, small waterfall. I could look right down to the crashing water 40 metes below. The walkway continued over two more waterfalls and I was looking down at the rocks and water when Mr E gasped and told me to look up. Ahead of us was a view of the entire stretch of waterfall...

My first glimpse at Iguazu Falls

Because we arrived so early, we had the falls completely to ourselves for the first twenty minutes but it was far from silent. That much water falling onto that many rocks creates write a roar!

After we'd explored the Upper Falls boardwalk, we took a train 20 min further into the National Park along the wide Paraná river that feeds into the falls. Another 20 minutes of boardwalk walking over the river brought us to a large platform that looks down into the most impressive section of the falls called The Devil's Throat.

Half of the water from the Paraná falls over the edge here, in a deep U-shaped channel. You can see water falling from the three sides of the U altogether onto the rocks below. Actually, its really difficult to see because so much mist is created from that much water falling at once. We were soaking wet by the time we left!

We took the train back to the entrance but this time hiked down the Lower Falls path. This is where you can see the two layers of falls, which is so beautiful. It's also where you can hop onto a boat that takes you closer to the falls, like the Maid of the Mist at Niagara, except much smaller.

We sealed our belongings in a dry sack, just wore our bathing suits, and held on tight for what would be a wild ride! First, the boat took us close to the Brazilian side of the falls so we could get pictures. Then, over to the Argentinian side. Next, the captain told us to put our cameras away and hold on... He steered the boat back to the Brazilian side but kept going and going until we were right under the waterfalls! Water pounded down on us from above, so hard that it was impossible to look up. Everyone was screaming like we were on a roller coaster. It was so much fun!

We had lunch with a view across Iguazú. At one point, we had to move because a curious coati tried to steal our snacks. Visiting Iguazú Falls had been the Number 1 thing that I had wanted to do before my trip stated and it did not disappoint!

Chile: An Easter Treat

From the coast of Argentina, it was a 12 hour bus trip back to the Andes. I spent two weeks hiking in El Bolson, then Bariloche, Argentina, before crossing the border into Chile. Chile is a skinny country that stretches from the desert in the North to the End of the World in the South. I was there earlier in the trip when I trekked through Torres del Paine National Park (click here to see my earlier post). They also speak Spanish, and the Andes create a natural border between them and Argentina. Chile's quality of life is similar to Argentina's, but to me it seemed a little bit better. The cities were much cleaner, there were sidewalks, and the National Parks are run very professionally. But to be fair, I haven't seen very much of Chile, so I would need to explore more to make a fair comparison.

I celebrated Easter in the capital city of Chile, Santiago. We met up with two friends from our trip to Antarctica, and rented an apartment together. We cooked a big Easter dinner on Easter Sunday and each called home to our families. Then on Easter Monday, we got a real Easter treat...we boarded a plane and flew to Easter Island!

Easter Island is tiny spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is the furthest place you can be in the world from somewhere else that's inhabited by people. It's literally in the middle of nowhere! Easter Island was formed over time by three volcanic eruptions and was settled by a group of Polynesians. A few explorers happened upon the island in their travels, the most famous being Captain James Cook in 1774. Easter Island became a part of Chile in 1888.



The native name for the island is Rapa Nui, which is also the name of the language and the people who live there. It is famous for their big rock statues carved to look like humans, called 'Moai.' Researchers have studied the culture of the Rapa Nui people and the moai for many years and they believe that the moai were carvings made to honour village leaders or important people in the village when they died. Their bodies were buried under the platforms, called "Ahu" which the moai stand on.




No one is certain the history of the moai but it is believed that the islanders themselves (the Rapa Nui people) pushed the moai over. It's easy to imagine how shocking it must have been for them to have explorers arrive and they suddenly learned they weren't the only people on the Earth! My favourite group of moai are the Tongariki group, which are 15 in a row on an ahu. These ones are enormous and it is a magical experience to watch the sun rise behind them.

My other faovurite place on the island is Rano Raraku, which is the quarry. A quarry is a big pit where rocks are carved out of the ground. The moai were made from hard volcanic rock. Partially carved figures, mainly heads, still scatter the hillside.





The moai are the main tourist attraction of the island, but it's also beautiful to hike around. The ancient volcanic eruption made it a very hilly place and there is one sandy beach that was created during a tsunami. The weather is tropical: hot and humid, and it's spectacular to watch the waves crashing on the cliffs. I absolutely loved the week that I spent here and felt very lucky to have come!

Chile: Rockin' in Torres del Paine

The Andes is the world's longest mountain range, stretching over 7 000 km through 7 countries in South America. When I went to Antarctica, I learned that the Andes range goes even further... underwater... to Antarctica! The Andes is also the tallest mountain range outside of Asia with its peak, Mount Aconcagua, in Argentina, rising to 6962 m in elevation.

In Chile and Argentina, I did some hiking in some beautiful National Parks. I was amazed by the types of rock faces we were seeing; they looked so different from our Rocky Mountains back home. So I was curious to do some research to learn more about how these rocks and mountains were formed. I'll focus on Torres del Paine in Chile, one of the world's most spectacular massifs.

It all started 12 million years ago...

Hot, volcanic magma spilled over the earth, cooling and hardening into the igneous rock called granite. Granite is very tough, it's about a 6.5 on the Moh's hardness scale of rocks. Thousands of years passed where layers of sedimentary rock on top helped to compress the granite even more.

Glacier Gray

Glaciers came next, covering the area. As they grew, retreated (calved), and shifted they wore away at the rocks (called erosion). (Check out my previous post about glaciers.) The glaciers lifted the layers of softer sedimentary rock and moved it as they moved. The rocks were slowly worn away until only hard, resistant rock was left: granite, in the shape of impressive, near 3000 m tall towers now called Torres del Paine.

I spent three days hiking and camping around the park. I saw one of the ancient glaciers, named Glacier Gray, and I woke up at 4 am to hike to the towers for sunrise. Seeing the first light of the day hit them made them even more spectacular!

El Calafate, Argentina: Icy Discoveries

In the mountains in Argentina, close to Chile, is the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Glacier National Park). At its South end, is the town named El Calafate, and it is the perfect place to stay if you love snow and ice. That's because it's only an hour or so outside of the third largest glacier in the world, and one of the only ones that's not receding (getting smaller). The glacier's name is Perito Moreno and it is roughly 30 km long, 5 km wide, and 60 m tall.





The glacier formed in a valley in between these Andean mountains, a place where many storm clouds have emptied out their snow. The snow builds up and the pressure of it turns the snow in to ice. Gravity pulls the ice down the hill and the bottom section grabs onto soil and rock as it goes, giving it the look of lines of dirt in it. As it moves, the ice can also crack, creating crevices. The sun warms the ice, and some of it melts, meaning that the glacier sits on a river or lake. When sections melt or crack, it can make parts fall off, into the water, which is really exciting to see!



The other really cool thing is its colour. The glacier looks blue because the ice is very compacted, meaning light has a long way to travel through it. The light refracts (breaks into the colour spectrum) and blue light is the strongest wavelength of colour we can see, so the ice looks blue.




Even though you can't really see the glacier moving because it's going so slowly, you can hear it! It creaks and cracks and groans as parts shift and melt. The really exciting part is when you see a section break off and fall into the water. Because the glacier is so big, it makes some of the chunks look really small. But when you see how big the splashes are that it makes, you realize just how big those chunks of glacier ice are!

Antarctica: The Journey South

Ushuaia is famous for being the city the furthest south in the Americas. It's where the highway that starts in Alaska ends. There is an island further south that you can see on the map, which is a part of Chile, but there are only small towns there, and you need a boat to get around.

But my journey south didn't stop here. After a lot of humming and hawing, and a very fortunate opportunity that arose with a last-minute deal, I booked a ticket aboard an expedition ship sailing for... Antarctica!

The first land we spotted after two days in open water!

Antarctica, the seventh continent, is said to be the only uncharted territory left on Earth. Its harsh conditions and extreme temperatures left it uninhabited by humans (meaning there are no traces of humans having lived there). Its average winter temperature is -60°C! If you consider animals that spend all of their lives on land, the largest animal that lives in Antarctica is an insect that is 3 mm long and spends almost its entire life in the larvae stage. It can be frozen solid and still survive.





Only 2% of Antarctica ISN'T covered in ice. The ice can be 4-5 km thick before you hit earth, and under the layers of ice there are rivers and lakes that no one has ever seen, but scientists have discovered are there. There are currently 7 countries that have claimed a piece of Antarctica as their own, but at the moment no claims are being recognized and Antarctica is a land that is shared.


It took us two days to cross the Drake Passage, which is the body of water you need to sail through to get to Antarctica. As soon as you've passed the latitude line of 60°S, you are in the Antarctic region. On our third day of rocking back and forth, rolling in bed so much that I couldn't sleep, we spotted land and the ship navigated into calmer waters. We spotted whales, seals, and penguins from the deck of the ship.

On the fourth day, we were able to anchor in a bay and climb aboard zodiac boats to set foot on land for the first time.

My first Antarctic landing!

Zipping past icebergs and across a mirrored bay, the view from the boat was breathtaking. Our heads wound around taking in the full panorama of snow-capped mountains and their perfect reflections. The grey sky made it look like another planet and the shore looked like we were entering the polar bear enclosure at the zoo, complete with fake rocks. There was no question about our first landing: we were stepping directly onto continental land, not ice or even snow. The thought of, "I'm standing on Antarctica" was at the front of our minds.

We waddled single-file up a hill to a dome, then spread out to take it all in. Our ship provided perspective for the size of the mountains and other than us, was the only spot of colour in view. Everything was white, grey, and icicle blue.

We celebrated by doing cartwheels, made snow angels, ate snow, and took a group shot. After a half hour, we hiked back down and returned to the ship for breakfast. Everyone ate heartily after two days of seasickness, and the exciting morning activity. It was the first time we'd eaten without struggling against the ship's rolling and we enjoyed being able to carry things in two hands and be served full mugs of tea.




We would be on Antarctica for five days altogether, out of our 10 day expedition, and I hoped every day would be just as exciting!

Ushuaia: A Long Way From Home

Most of my flight to Ushuaia was over water, but as the plane approached, the land started to unfold beneath us, showing off mountains and winding rivers. When we landed, I could see a town in the distance that looked just like Canmore. The airport was even a wooden lodge with a peaked roof! Right away, I felt at home.

After 40 degree weather in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Ushuaia was a nice change. It's summer here in February, so the temperature was around 15 degrees each day, and I was lucky to have lots of sunshine. The wind that blows in from the water is cool and smells like fish. Many boats come in and out of the harbour each day to bring supplies, fish, and people on cruise ships. Ushuaia is the town the furthest south in the Americas, and they like to call themselves 'The Tip of the World.' It definitely felt that way because all around you is barren (empty) land. Instead of lush green trees, there are lots of greyish bushes, and orange lichen grows on the rocks. It looks very similar to pictures I've seen of the Canadian North in summer.

If you remember back to my post on longitude and latitude lines (click here for a reminder), Ushuaia is 54.8 degrees South of the Equator. That means Ushuaia is roughly as far south from the Equator as Grande Prairie, Alberta is North of it (at 55 degrees North).


Think about that: Ushuaia is the furthest point south that you can go in South America, but in North America, you can go a lot further north and still be on land. There's still Northern Alberta, and then the North-West Territories above it. So even though we might think that Ushuaia would have similar weather to the Canadian North, it's really not far enough away from the Equator for that.







The other neat thing is that the further you are from the Equator, the longer the days are in summer (meaning the more hours of sunlight you have in a day), and the shorter the days are in winter. In Calgary we notice this. It gets dark as early as 5pm in winter time, but in June and July it can stay light until 10pm. The further you are from the Equator also means that the sun rises and sets slower in the sky. (Earlier in my trip, when I've been close to the Equator in countries like Kenya, Uganda, and Malaysia, I couldn't believe how quickly the sun set!) For my first night in Ushuaia, it was clear enough that I enjoyed the most beautiful sunset I'd ever seen...and it lasted for over an hour!

From Ushuaia, I also spent a day hiking in the Tierra del Fuego National Park to see the beautiful scenery and walk as far south as you're allowed in South America. It is where the highway ends that links Alaska to Ushuaia (that's one really long road!).

Paris: The City of Lights

France is a beautiful country, and five days was not enough time to explore even its capital city, Paris. There is so much history to learn and famous places to explore. I did my best to visit as many sites as I could while enjoying listening to French being spoken around me and soaking in the lovely culture. You'll likely recognize many of the pictures below because so many books and movies are set in Paris.

I visited in January, winter, when the weather is not at its best. It's cold (around 4 degrees C) and rainy most days, but I was lucky enough to have some sun the first two days I was there. Paris was easy to travel around on public transportation and I had the opportunity to speak French many times. Here were my favourite places:



Montmarte
This is the neighbourhood where many famous writers and painters, like Picasso, lived. It's a very creative place with artists in squares trying to sell their work. The neighbourhood is set on a hill, and the views of Paris from the top are beautiful. It's also home to Sacre-Coeur, a large, white, domed church. A cute merry-go-round is set at the bottom of the steps that lead up to Sacre-Coeur.

The Eiffel Tower
I'd seen it in so many pictures and movies but never appreciated how beautiful it really is. At night, it lights up with a soft glow, and every hour, on the hour, for five minutes, it sparkles. I loved looking at it from all views: from Sacre-Coeur, from Trocedero Station, and from right underneath it. It was foggy most of the time I was there, so I chose not to climb it, but it will have to be something I do on my next visit!

Venus de Milo

The Mona Lisa, known to follow
you with her eyes wherever
you are in the room!

The Louvre
The Louvre holds some of the world's most famous works of art, like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. I was also excited to see two original Vermeer paintings after reading Chasing Vermeer two years ago with my Grade Fours. Below is The Astronomer and The Lace Maker. The Louvre itself is a beautiful building with huge archways and grand staircases.

                       

Outside the Louvre:
The Pyramid is where you enter!

The Arc de Triomphe
Napoleon had this huge monument build to honour those who fought for France in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Along its walls there are the names of great generals inscribed, and underground is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War One. The arch stands at the centre of a huge roundabout, but there's a tunnel you can walk through that takes you right up underneath it. You can also climb to the top. If you look at how little the cars look next to it, you'll notice how HUGE it really is!

Notre-Dame
You might know this Catholic cathedral from the story, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, written by the famous French author, Victor Hugo, but it's also well-known for its architecture. Huge, intricately carved gargoyles and statues cover its outside walls, while inside its vaulted ceiling is highlighted by massive stained-glass windows. It's an incredibly beautiful building.

The Seine
Lastly, a visit to Paris would not be complete without a walk along the River Seine. It flows through the city, much like the Bow River in Calgary, and has wide pathways for walking and picnic-ing. Many houseboats and barges can be seen sailing along the river. One of my favourite bridges is the "Love Bridge" where people close locks on the gated side and throw the key into the river to secure their relationships and wishes.

Now, technically, this does not count as another country that I visited on the trip, because you might remember that I travelled through Reunion back in October. La Reunion is one of the islands around the world that France owns and governs. So, at this point, I'll stay at #12. But it is interesting that this is the only country on my trip that I'll be visiting that is in the continent of Europe.

                 

 

If you're interested in learning more about France, I found this fun website for kids:

http://www.kids-world-travel-guide.com/france-facts.html