4 Days Puerto Madryn, Iguazu Falls & Buenos Aires

Lighthouse, Punta Ninfa

           Sunday, 1 Mar 2020 – We awoke to our alarm at 6:15 AM for an early breakfast in the Terrace Café.  The staff was surprised to see us since they were accustomed to us arriving just before closing time.  After breakfast, we finished our last minute packing and proceeded to the Insignia Lounge to meet for our excursion, “Overland - Patagonia Penguins and Thundering Iguazu Falls.”  Iguazú Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of Argentina and Brazil.  Together, they make up the largest waterfall in the world.  The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu.  For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil; however, most of the falls are on the Argentina side.

 Shoreline, Punta Ninfas

Penguin Rookery, El Pedral

            The 73-passenger group loaded into five small buses and started our one-hour drive through Puerto Madryn and Patagonia to Punta Ninfas.  Our first stop was at a lighthouse; we walked to the shore where we could see the steep banks descending down to the ocean.  Next was El Pedral Penguin Rookery.  As the bus stopped quite a distance from the penguin colony, it was a 2.5 mile roundtrip walk to the ocean where the penguin colony was located, though some smaller groups were sitting in shady spots near our path.  Although these penguins were smaller than those on the Falkland Islands, we did get close to some of them.  We also saw a few flightless rhea birds in the distance.  Jesse found a rhea egg near the path, and as he was trying to photograph it, the guide picked it up and handed it to him for the photo.  This made Jesse a little uncomfortable because he was concerned that the rhea bird might abandon the egg after it was touched by a human, but the guide wasn’t concerned and just told him to be careful and place it back where he found it.  We returned to the bus exhausted and were the last ones to get back, although a few of the passengers had chosen not to participate in the walk.

Rhea Egg, El Pedra

            We then enjoyed lunch at the El Pedral Lodge, where we sat at a long table across from Roselyn and Roger from Brisbane, Australia.  Several dishes were served, including lettuce, shredded carrots, meat pies, and Patagonian lamb that had been roasted outside over an open fire for four hours.  We were also served wine, beer, or nonalcoholic beverages, and fruit cocktail for dessert.

 Ranch House, El Pedral

            In the late afternoon, the buses returned us briefly to the ship, just to freshen up and pick up our luggage.  The road that our buses took to El Pedral and back was extremely rough, and the noise was very loud from rocks hitting the sides of the bus; however, on our return trip, Sally turned down her hearing aids and actually slept for a while on the bus – almost unheard of for her!   The Insignia staff had been kind enough to leave sandwiches in our stateroom, since the ship’s restaurants were not open.  Although we had only about 45 minutes in our stateroom, Jesse took a shower. 

Trelew Airport

            The tour group met in the Insignia Lounge where we picked up our passports, and then boarded two large buses to take us quite a long way to Trelew Airport.  At about 9:00 PM we boarded the plane, and at about 11:00 the plane landed in Buenos Aires.  There, we stayed in a very nice Sofitel hotel, though Jesse had to stand in a long line for 20 or 30 minutes to get our room assignment.  It was about 2:00 AM by the time we got to sleep.

            Monday, 2 Mar 2020 – We awoke to our alarm at 7:15 AM, had breakfast, and left the hotel at about 9:30 AM for the 30 minute ride back to the Buenos Aries Airport, Aeroparque Jorge Newbery.  After a long wait, our plane left at about 11:45 AM for the 1 hour 45 minute flight to Iguazu, Argentina.

Entrance, Iguazu National Park

            After picking up our luggage, we loaded onto one of the two awaiting buses, which drove us to the entrance of the Iguazu Falls National Park where we enjoyed lunch at the park’s La Selva Restaurant.  Afterwards, we were given the option of either a walking tour of the falls or a zodiac (motorized boat) cruise which allows passengers to view the falls from water level and get close enough to feel the spray and energy created by this great mass of falling water.  According to the brochure, there would be approximately 100 steps down to reach the boats, with no ramps, and 100 steps back up from the zodiacs along the same route.  But once there, we were told that there were actually 200 steps, and that park personnel would be screen passengers before allowing them to descend the steps.  Passengers appearing to have trouble walking, unassisted, would not be allowed to participate; and neither would passengers with hearing aids, unless they could hear relatively well without them.  Sally’s hearing problem alone would have prevented us from participating in the zodiac ride, but in addition, Jesse was still having problems with his Achilles’ tendon and Sally with her sciatica.  Also we had only slept a few hours in Buenos Aires and were still tired from the long walk to see the penguins yesterday.  At any rate, we both opted for the walking tour.
            Before starting that tour, we boarded a small train at the Estacion Central for a short 10-minute ride to the Estacion Cataratas (Waterfalls Station).  The temperature was in the 90’s and the humidity was very high, as we walked on a path through the jungle.  Eventually, we stopped along the path and were given a choice of continuing to walk for another hour to the Iguazu Falls or to take a shorter walk to the air-conditioned Gran Meliá Iguazú Hotel.  Since by then, we felt pretty exhausted, we and a few others opted to follow a different guide to the hotel, while the others (presumably) got their first view of the falls.  After reaching the hotel, we enjoyed sitting in air conditioning – and we also had a distant view of the falls.  Eventually, the other members of the walking group arrived at the hotel.  One of them had tracked their walk to the falls with a pedometer and told us that they had walked a total of about 5 miles!  Soon, we loaded onto a bus which took us back to the park entrance, where we picked up the zodiac group.  Most were soaking wet, but all were still excited and in very good spirits.

Hotel Bridge, Iguazu Falls

            The ride to the Loi Suites Iguazu Hotel was about 20 minutes.  Check-in was very well organized and only took a few minutes.  This was a very rustic hotel, having several separate buildings.  To get to our building, we had to walk across a wooden footbridge, which Sally thought was very scary because it creaked and the individual boards moved as we stepped on them.  The view from our window was close-up jungle!  But we had a comfortable bed and a huge bathtub.  Our TV channels were all in Spanish except for one channel: “CNN – ingles.”  
            Soon after we arrived in our room, it rained; however, it stopped in a few minutes before we walked back for dinner.  The dining room was set up in tables for eight, and the dinner was buffet style.  We sat at a table with Tom & Ruth, Brian & Jean, George & Porter, and Tom & Mary.  Jean had joined Brian on the cruise in San Antonio and would be cruising to Rio de Janerio.  They had attended high school together and recently became reacquainted and are now an item.  (Brian was in our group last year that went to Ayer’s Rock.)  George & Porter are from Louisville, KY.  George is a retired actuary and Porter is a retired attorney.  Tom & Mary are from Chicago.
            Back in our room, we saw on CNN that six people had died from the coronavirus in Seattle.  Sally fell asleep soon afterwards, but Jesse watched a WWII movie in Spanish about a tank crew, starring Brad Pitt!  (He said no English words were given, but the actions made the movie relatively easy to follow.)

Lookout Point, Iguazu Falls

            Tuesday, 3 Mar 2020 – We awoke to our alarm at 6:00 AM, had breakfast, and boarded the bus at 8:00 AM for the 20-minute ride back into the park.  We were scheduled to visit the upper circuit and ride the eco-train.  From the park entrance, we all walked to the Estacion Central, and rode the train for about 20 minutes to the Estacion Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat Station).  Then we walked for about 30 minutes on a metal grate catwalk to the observation platform.  However, to Sally, it didn’t seem like very long because much of the time we were walking above water and rocks, which was shallow and still.  The walk seemed much longer for Jesse since he fears both water and heights.  Along the way, sometimes we saw animals (raccoons, toucans, and one turtle in the water).  When we arrived at the observation platform, the water spray from the roaring falls soon covered us.  Our view was just about level with the top of the falls.  Photography was difficult because the water spray kept accumulating on the camera lens.  After a few minutes of admiration, we started our walk back to the catwalk entrance.

            Next, we took the train back to the Estacion Cataratas.  Then, we started walking toward the Gran Meliá Iguazú Hotel, that we visited yesterday.  We soon stopped along the path and were given three options:  (1) walk the lower circuit to see a lower view of the falls (about an hour roundtrip), (2) take a shortcut to the lower view of the falls (about 20 minutes round trip, but very few passengers would be allowed on this one), or (3) continue the walk to the hotel.  Already exhausted, we chose option 3 and continued our walk to the air-conditioned hotel!  At the hotel, we sat with Tom & Ruth.  Tom purchased a beer for himself and lemonades for the rest of us.  (He used his charge card and had no idea how much he paid.)

            Once the entire group had arrived at the hotel, the doors were opened to a large room where we enjoyed a buffet lunch.  Again, only non-alcoholic beverages were served with lunch.

            After lunch, we were given the option for a third walk to the catwalk near the top of Devil’s Throat, which affords a wonderful view of the falls at their most powerful; but we didn’t go on that one (and quite a few others didn’t, either).  We lounged in the lobby until the others returned from the third walk.  While lounging, we talked a little with Charles from Toronto whom we met on our 2018 cruise.  Amelia & Al had introduced him to us one night before dinner.  Amelia always joked that Charles was royalty and called him “Sir Charles.”  Charles uses a cane and has trouble walking, but he doesn’t let that stop him from participating in activities.  (In fact, he sometimes “bites off more than he can chew.")  He was traveling alone as he was in 2018.  Charles confirmed to us that he is definitely not royalty!
            After the others returned from the third walk, our bus returned us to our hotel.  We were back in our room by 4:30 pm and watched CNN until dinner at 7:30 PM, when we sat at the same table with the same group as last night.   We were asleep by 11:00, after watching more CNN on the TV.
            Wednesday, 4 Mar 2020 – We went to breakfast at about 9:00 AM.  Several passengers had gotten up early and taken an optional trip to Brazil to see the falls from the other side, but the rest of the group was able to sleep in.  (Sally would have liked to see the falls from Brazil; it is supposed to be the best view, and we were told that elevators take people up to the top.  However, we were tired, and Sally felt that we had seen enough!)  We had to pack up and check out of our room by 11:00 AM.  As we took our time packing, we watched CNN on the TV.
            After checking out of our room, we joined Tom & Ruth, and talked until the others got back from Brazil; then we all went to the dining room for lunch.  We sat at the same table again with the same group we had sat with for dinner for two nights, except Tonya sat in one of the seats that Tom & Mary had occupied.  (They weren’t very happy that Tonya had taken their one of their seats!)  Tonya had sat at another table for dinner with her friend who had boarded the ship in San Antonio and was flying home from Buenos Aires. 

 Saying Goodbye to Santiana at the Iguazu Airport

            At 2:30 PM, we boarded our bus back to the Iguazu International Airport.   Before going through security to our departure gate, we said our goodbyes to our Iguazu Falls tour guide, Santiana.  The flight back to the Buenos Aires Airport, Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, was a little less than two hours.

            After landing in Buenos Aires, we walked quite a distance to our buses.  Our Buenos Aires tour guide, Diego, narrated the 45-minute drive to the cruise terminal.  Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina. "Buenos Aires" can be translated as "fair winds" or "good air."  The Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of around 15.6 million.  In 2012, Buenos Aires was the most visited city in South America, and the second-most visited city of Latin America behind Mexico City.  A very popular tourist attraction is the Recoleta Cemetery, the final resting place for Argentina’s wealthy and powerful, including Eva Peron (which we visited in 2011).

            At the cruise terminal, we had to go through Buenos Aires security and immigration before boarding a shuttle to the ship.  Since the MSC Poesia and Costa Fascinosa cruise ships were also docked at Buenos Aries, our tour guides warned us to make sure that we boarded the Oceania Insignia shuttle!  We re-boarded the ship at about 7:30 PM and went to the Terrace Café for dinner, where we joined Tom & Ruth at a table for four.  We had a great time on our overland excursion to Iguazu Falls, but we are very tired and it was great to back in familiar settings!