Wednesday 30th April
We had to get up at 0600 to be at Aeroparque by 0730 - but here is where things started to go wrong! When we went to check-in, we were told that our flight had been cancelled and we should have been on the flight which had just left! This was even though we had checked our flight times the previous week and were told everything was OK. They also had no seats left on any other flights that day, so could only put us on stand-by. So, really our only option to get there today was to go and try and get a ticket with Aerolineas Argentina (the airline we really didn't want to fly with, you will see why below).
So we managed to get tickets with Aerolineas for US$406(!) for both of us and got put on a flight for 1000. We thought "awesome", we're even gonna get there sooner than we originally planned - ha, ha, ha, what a joke that was. 1000 came and went, and we found that our flight had been delayed until 1030. We started boarding just before 1030, and had to get on a bus to take us out to our plane. The bus got out to the plane, and then one of the air hostesses came out and said we had to go back to the terminal! So, we sat around at the terminal for a bit longer wondering what on earth is going on. But made friends with a gay couple from Hawaii, who we later saw everywhere in Iguazu, who were absolutely hilarious, but so lovely. Finally at 1115, we get yet another boarding call, and get bussed out to a different plane, and actually get on board. We took off at 1145 (only 1 3/4 hours late - which is apparently pretty good for Aerolineas), and we are on our way to Iguazu!
We landed in Iguazu at 1345, after the pilot took a detour directly over Iguazu falls - boy that was a pretty cool experience, a sight-seeing flight over the falls in a big jet! But our bad luck wasn't over yet........we got inside the terminal and went to the baggage collection area, only to find most of the luggage was still in BA! Luckily my bag turned up, but Andrew's didn't. So then we had to queue to fill in a claim form (along with everyone else from the flight). We found out that the luggage was supposed to be coming on the next flight at 1500, and by the time we had filled out the form and everything, it was 1430, so we just decided to hand around and wait for it, rather than trust Aerolineas to deliver it to our hostel. So, by 1530 we had been reunited with all our luggage, and were on the way into Puerto Iguazu.
We stayed at Hosteria San Fernando, which is in a good location right opposite the bus station, but appears to have been stuck in a 60's time-warp (but hey - it was cheap). After dropping off our gear, we spent the next couple of hours wandering around the central part of town. One of the things that surprised me was the abundance of small deli type shops (some with attached cafe) that sold all sorts of imported and locally produced deli food - olive oil, olives, salami, cheese, wine, etc, and all beautifully presented. We even stumbled across a small food market surrounded by stalls selling all this good food (which we haven't seen since we left NZ), where you could pick a selection of nibbles and sit down in the courtyard and munch away while drinking a nice glass of wine. Andrew also found what looks like the South American version of "V", so he was well excited (but we discovered later that it tastes nothing like NZ "V").
We also found a really well-stocked mini-mercado (small supermarket) across the road, with an excellent bakery next door, so we bought a whole lot of yummy stuff for lunch at the falls tomorrow. We went to "Gusto del Litoral" for dinner, which was about 5 mins walk from the hostal, and the food was surprisingly good. Andrew had veal and I had pork with an apple and passion fruit sauce (it was the sauce which made it really good), and a decent bottle of Syrah. Then it was home to bed, ready for an early start in the morning to get to the falls.
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