This Side of Paradise

Hiatus, that´s what it´s called. I had a two week hiatus in Buenos Airies. It was necessary. I would like to think of it as a sabitical but I have actually been on sabatical now for three months. I am struggling to find a word or phrase which means taking a break from taking a break but it escapes me. I am sure there is a verb for it in Spanish as they seem to have a specific one for almost everything else. My first order of business was to address my suitcase which looked as though it was in the third tri-mester of a pregancy. I dispensed with the all of my winter clothes and "aquired items" and sent them all back to New York. I also updated the ipod, got a hair cut and picked up some new books. You wouldn´t imagine that would take a full two weeks but it did. After restricting my transportation to nothing greater than the subway and taxis for 14 days, it was with itchy feet that I found myself at Aeroparque Newberry Airpot yesterday. Destination, Puerto Iquazu.

Traveling in South America sometimes feels like an aptitude test in logistics. Unlike Europe there is no high speed rail anywhere. Unless you enjoy 24 hour bus rides it is necessary to fly. If you look at the route maps for the airlines it becomes obvious that they are all set up in a hub and spoke pattern. If you want to fly 800 Kilometers East or West you must double back to the hub and fly from there. The concept of a shuttle service between second tier cities does not exist here. To make a lateral move requires three airports. So the question of how to navigate the continent efficently is one that often requires hours of thought and pouring over maps like a cartographer in training. Is it possible to move about Latin America without backtracking? My experience tells me "No." It´s like those "Seven Bridges of Königsberg" or "The Chinese Postman´s Dilema" type math puzzles. Perhaps if I knew something about Graph Theory I could probably write the definitive travel guide here.

Puerto Igazu is a small parcel of subtropical rain forest in the upper right hand corner of Argentina in the province of Missiones(think Jesuit.) This area is known as the triple frontier. It is where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina join hands. Spanish, Portuguese and Guarani are spoken here, often in the same conversation as locals seem to be fluent in all three. The main attraction is of course the cataratas - Iguazu Falls. Iguazu makes Niagra look like a leaky bathroom faucet. You hear them some 2Km before you see them, 6.5 million liters a second of water flowing is a sonic force. The park is beautifully laid out, narrow trails thread throughout the rainforest heading towards the falls. Along the way toucans, butterflies and monkeys go about thier daily business. The spray from the falls is almost ubiquitous. Iguazu spills out over a gigantic U shape of basalt rock. At a little over a mile and a half wide there are some 300 inividual falls, the highest of which are 30 stories. The constantly replinished moisture in the air creates a sequence of never ending rainbows. The “Garganta del Diablo” at the top is one of the most impressive displays of raw power there is to be seen. The Brazillian side of the Falls is supposed to be even more impressive. Amen. I managed to salvage some photos from my water-logged camera. You can see themHERE