Iguazu Falls and Misiones

We´ve spent the past few days in the northeast corner of Argentina, next to Paraguay and Brazil, at Iguazu. We spent a day in Iguazu Falls National Park, which are the widest waterfalls in the world and are absolutely gorgeous. Since they are within a national park, the surroundings are almost completely undeveopled and natural.

The next day, we went to a Guaraní community near Misiones. We prepared lunch and an afternoon snack for them, and got to play with the kids and talk to some of the people who spoke Spanish. The Guaranís are the indigenous peoples of that region, and talking to one of their leaders I learned that their way of life has changed dramatically in the past 15 or 20 years. Typically a nomadic community, they would hunt and fish, moving around as needed. They have since been confined to a type of reservation, where there is little to no game available and one of the largest dams in Latin America has dried up their fishing rivers. He told me that they have been struggling to adapt to a completely different way of life, and he has been working to get the government to give them more resources. I was glad to have the opportunity to meet them all and learn about another aspect of Argentine culture you don´t hear much about in the States.

Upon returning from Misiones, we hopped on a bus, and almost 30 hours later arrived here in Salta. Today we hiked the highest peak over town. Tomorrow is zip lining and white water rafting.