Keagan’s World

Until this mini-trip, I was being kinda lazy.

I told myself spending the first 4 weeks in Buenos Aires without planning other travels around the country was just cause I was getting settled in, learning the culture, and improving my speaking skills to be functional before traveling around. But I was just being lazy.

Yeah there’s so much to do in Buenos Aires but there’s also so much more to Argentina than the capital. And honestly after seeing Iguazú that feels like an understatement.

Like Holy Miércoles.

There’s pretty. There’s beautiful. There’s stunning. There’s jaw dropping. There’s divine.

And then there’s Iguazú.

If you’re not familiar with Las Cataratas de Iguazú, just take a peek below.

And if you still aren’t convinced, let me share with you some of its accolades:

• Visible from 3 countries
• 275 waterfalls
• Largest drop of 269ft/82m (like 1.5x the size of Niagara)
• 8,800+ m wide (over 2x that of Niagara)
• Highest recorded flow rate (45,000 m³/sec) 3.5x larger than Victoria Falls + 7x larger than Niagara)

And if you STILL aren’t convinced, well, I assume you’re going through some dark stuff man so shoot me a text cause I’m worried about you.

Back to the trip.

Two days, two countries, one waterfall (thats really like hundreds of waterfalls together).

Two countries? Keagan you just said three like a couple sentences ago… are you just making stuff up? No. I just omitted the fact that Paraguay’s view is a bit distant and not on the same level as Brazil and Argentina.

Back to the action. Brazil and Argentina. One day per country. Who will win? Just kidding it’s not a competition. But if it was Argentina did get hamstrung a bit since their main attraction is La garganta del Diablo and it was closed due to recent weather patterns disrupting its accessibility 😦 Thanks El Niño + global warming!

BUT what Argentina did provide us was the opportunity to take a boat below the falls. And boy did they take us under the falls. Like to the point where you question had you gone a few feet/meters closer are you getting sank by a torrent of water and finding yourself drowning in the middle of a South American jungle.

Dramatic? Maybe a little. But take a peek for yourself.

Not only did we toe the line with the waterfalls, but our driver had a bit of fun surprising us by drifting our boat into massive swells on the rapids. And I happened to be victim #1. I literally had just switched sides on the boat to be in the edge and not ten seconds later he gassed the boat so a 5-foot (1.6 m for my international pals) wave came crashing over me. Got knocked clean 2 seats over. I reemerged dripping wet processing what the hell had just hit me.

It was freaking awesome.

Definitely not an OSHA-approved (or whatever safety regulatory body would oversee that) activity but hey, sometimes you compromise (not negotiating, thanks for reminding me how English works Meg) your safety for fun. It’s called living a little. Mom and dad feel free to forget those last couple sentences I promise I’m being safe 👀

Day 2, we went over to the Brazil side: new country, check ✅ And all I have to say is wow.

Just kidding! You knew I was gonna say more. But seriously words don’t do the view justice. A genuinely larger than 180-degree view of the falls. It was this exact shot below I understood why The Falls are considered a Natural World Wonder.

And it doesn’t even capture half of its essence. I could have sat there for hours just staring if it wasn’t for how freaking humid it was (all my friends know how much I love humidity).

So despite the lack of activities that would violate US safety regulations for tourists, Brazil’s view was also unbelievable.

Just all around a crazy experience first-hand.

And I can’t forget my lovely friends who this trip would have been impossible without.

They were the ones who pushed to get this trip going cause some of them were leaving 😦 so if it hadn’t been for them I may have waited even longer to start traveling to country and missed out on crazy experiences like Iguazú. The trip served as a boot in the rear to start traveling around the country and stop being a lazy bum. And now I’ve got 3 trips planned with more on the way despite only 8 more weeks in the country.

So maybe I’m swinging the pendulum a bit too much in the other direction now, but I don’t regret it. When you see something as magnificent as Las Cataratas, it, as dramatic as it may sound, awakens you a little. It’s like a shot of pure caffeine to the soul.

And most importantly, as always, it’s the people you’re with that make the greatest memories. And these are the greatest people, so these are going to be the greatest memories. So enjoy a couple moments with me before exiting the page 🙂

This is still only the beginning. There’s so much more to come. Until next time!