Iguazu and other falls

Okay, Ingrid has said I need to participate more actively in the blog. So, I'm going to give you the highlights of the past week or so ...

Iguazu: Water (see video below) - & other falls (see photos below)

If you ever get the chance to go to Iguazu, go. Be sure to stay at the Sheraton (it's in the National Park so easy access to everything) & insist on a Falls View room (well worth the extra few quid as the view is incredible).

Also, sign up for the boat trip (see small boat in photo to left near large falls) - the one where the captain is a madman & you come back to shore absolutely soaked to the skin after 20 minutes of skirting round the falls & darting up to the Devil's Throat & back. It's one of those experiences where you're laughing so hard & being bombarded by so much water that you spend most of the time gasping for breath. I suspect the captain could see that we were willing victims & decided to just go for it, i.e. I didn't notice punters from any other boat wringing out T-shirts or even, in some cases (step forward Ms. Maltrud), removing them altogether (although perhaps she should have rethought the choice of bra?)

Anyway, that first day was topped off by a near-death experience. Well, okay, let's call it a little accident. Having cleaned up a bit after our boat bonanza, we (Ingrid, Anthony - a friend from Australia, & I) were having a drink at the poolside bar. I'd had one margarita (yes, it really was only one) & at some point, while Anthony & I were chatting, I started swaying from side to side, fell from the bar-stool to the ground & cracked my right temple on the concrete. Poor Anthony had turned round for a second & hadn't seen a thing, Ingrid was fetching something from the room so wasn't there at all & I only know a little about what went on because we subsequently met up with someone who had seen the whole thing - my memory conveniently excludes anything between looking at photos with Anthony & finding myself lying on a sun-lounger surrounded by people asking me questions). So, off we all went to the hospital &, after an X-ray (am keeping it as a memento - Ingrid tells me I was moving around so much it couldn't possibly have shown anything useful), I got three stitches in the side of my head.

Thank goodness for State Registered Nurse I. Maltrud; incredibly calm in a crisis & magnificent in her refusal to move from the Emergency Room (or whatever they call the place in Iguazu General where the doctor does the needlework) - I remember her repeating "Yo prefiero aqui" each time the doctor tried to move her on. Many thanks also due to Anthony for pitching in with his brilliant Spanish (if it were down to Ingrid & me, I hate to think what organs I might have unintentionally donated) & for not taking a photo of my bandaged, swollen face & blood-soaked clothing for FaceBook purposes.

Strangely enough, I'm feeling fine although I look a bit the worse for wear. For the last few days I've been sporting a massive dressing which covers practically the whole of the right side of my face so I'm sure everyone thinks I'm some saddo who went to Argentina for cut-price cosmetic surgery & couldn't afford the whole package.

Anyway, let's move away from me & my desperate attempts for attention. The Falls at Iguazu are totally incredible. Ingrid & I decided to stay on at the Sheraton for another night so that we could make sure we saw all that was on offer. We left Iguazu for El Calafate, at the other end of the country in Patagonia. More to come soon on this amazing part of the adventure.

(note from Nurse I Maltrud - thanks to Nurse Nan for her concussion evaluation tips from afar..so glad all is well and dear Chrissie is verticle again and eating chocolate)

Chrissie After "The Falls" and Chrissie after "The Fall"