(from halloween)

This past weekend I went to Iguazu Falls. The northernmost point in Argentina, Iguazu is at the top of the state of Misiones, a tiny wedge of jungle and rivers stuck between Paraguay and Brazil. Although I can't figure out what the hell this land historically has to do with Argentina, it's an incredibly trippy place. It was 80-plus degrees the entire time we were there; so the Misioneros, instead of drinking hot mate to keep warm, drink "pebebe", a mixture of mate and lemonade. 

On Friday we spent the whole day at an estancia near Posadas sipping pebebe by the pool and eating neverending plates of decent Argentine food. The guys working at the estancia were super excited to practice their english and spent a lot of time discussing the merits of Boca and River, the two Buenos Aires soccer clubs, in English and Spanish. 

Saturday morning we woke up early to spend the day at the falls. The park has incredible catwalks that run literally along the edge of the falls, straight through dense jungle foliage over masses of cascading water. The butterflies, precocious as they are, will land on your hands or back if you let them, and the poatí (basically jungle raccoons) will steal your food if you let them.

It was a full moon and so for a little extra we got to take a moonlight tour of la garganta del diablo ("the devil's throat"), which is basically a hole in the earth surrounded by waterfalls. You can't see the bottom really (even by daylight) and at night, the mist rises through the moonlight and splashes you in the face like standing at the front of a ship. The natives believed that you would lose your soul if you looked directly into the falls at that point, but it's a wonder how they would have even gotten out that far considering nowadays you have to walk across almost a mile of catwalks to get there.