Jesuit Missions and Amazing Iguazu Falls

This weekend, I took a wonderful trip to the Missions province in northern Argentina. This is the province where a number of Jesuit missions dating from the 1600s can be found, as well as the amazing Iguazu falls, which is on the border between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The bus trip was over 17 hours long, but it was more than worth it. I took LOTS of photos!

Last Thursday night, my roommate Christelle, her boyfriend Cedric, her two French classmates Anne and Violet, and I hopped on a (really luxurious) bus and headed north. After about 13 hours on the bus, we arrived in San Ignacio, Argentina, which is the site of the San Ignacio Mini mission.

This is a panoramic view of the Jesuit mission called San Ignacio Mini. It was formed in 1632 and at one time held a population of 3,000 people, mostly of the Guarani tribe. The Jesuit missions were part of the colonial period but weren't exactly part of the colonial effort... the priests did try to change the lifestyle and convert the Guarani to Catholicism, but they also tried to protect them from the most harmful aspects of colonization. The Jesuits seem to get mixed reviews for their interactions with the Guarani, which I guess is better than most colonists can say for themselves....

The front of the mission at San Ignacio.

Part of the church at the mission

Me with the ruins in the background

There was a huge cactus on the outskirts of the mission. My roommate Christelle's boyfriend (named Cedric) is standing at the bottom left of the photo, for size comparison.

One weird thing at the mission was that, although the ruins are very well-preserved, the city has been built up around the ruins. So you see incongruious sights like this one, with the ruins in the foreground and a hotel in the background. It's an odd justaposition.

After visiting the mission, we got back on the bus and finished the ride to Iguazu falls, which was about 4 more hours farther north. I don't know how to describe the falls except to say that they were truly impressive. The falls are on the border between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, and both Argentina and Brazil have national parks on the site. We visited both parks, doing the Brazilian side on Saturday and the Argentine side on Sunday.

On the Brazilian side, you are looking across the river at the falls, so it gives you panoramic views of the falls. They seem to go on and on... they are actually about 4 km long. The Argentine side takes you right up to the falls (on the same side of the river as the falls, so sometimes you are walking right over them) and although it has some panoramic views, the really cool thing about the Argentine side is that you get to see each of the falls individually. The way it feels is like you are walking through the forest to a beautiful waterfall, and then you walk another minute and see another gorgeous waterfall, and on and on for hours. It was really an indescribable experience, so I'll try to let the pictures speak for themselves.

This is a map of the park. Brazil is on the left, and the squiggly brown line is the path on the Brazilian side. Argentina is on the right, and we did three hikes on the Argentine side. First, we did the blue hike toward the bottom right of the map. Then, we did the yellow hike right above the blue one. Then, we did the red hike toward the top of the map.

The Brazilian side:

The Argentine side:

The last hike we did on the Argentine side was called "Garganta del Diablo," or "The Throat of the Giant." This view was absolutely crazy. We walked on a metal bridge out into the middle of the river, where there was an island. From one side of the island, water was coming at you from three sides. It looked like all the water in the world was rushing toward one giant hole, which was right in front of where we were standing. Pictures don't do it justice, so I tried to capture the feeling on video. I actually tried to record four video clips, but somehow I only ended up with the third and fourth clips. Anyway, try to imagine a 270-degree panorama of water rushing toward you. (Oh, and to top it off, there is a rainbow in the falls.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU6vrzRL-u4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT_6EjALjyo

I really don't think the pictures and video do it justice.... It was really a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's kind of a let-down to be back to normal life now, but I don't have time to get too sad because I am off traveling again next weekend, to visit a law school friend who is working in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!