We finish our trip at the Amazing Hot and Humid Iguazu Falls

***NOTE:  This is the last posting for our trip to Antarctica.  Start reading at the beginning of the posts by clicking on the link above in the listing of previous travels entitled:  ANTARCTICA!  The White Wilderness.

After disembarking the ship in Ushuaia, we flew to Buenos Aires, spent one night there and then flew to Iguazu Falls.

We have been to Iguazu Falls before--twice, in fact.  But what can I say....we LOVE waterfalls and each time we visit, we see the falls a little differently due to varying water levels.  Last time we were here, the water level was unusually high; this time, a different story.

Our early flight brought us to the Argentinean Iguazu airport by midmorning.  What a change from Antarctica...it is hot and humid.  We then set off to cross the border to view the falls from the Brazil side.

Located on the Argentina/Brazil border, the falls are among the world's most impressive sights.  They are twice as high as Niagara Falls and 65 feet wider with 275 cascades stretching over 1.5 miles.

There is rain in those clouds as we wait at the border crossing for our passports to be stamped.  It lasts for several minutes and then stops.

Once we are inside the national park, the rain starts coming down again.   We quickly get out our rain gear and walk the stone path to our first look at the falls.

Through the low clouds and rain, we can barely see the falls.  And we gasp as there is not much water flowing--definitely not what we last saw when here two years ago.  Our guide explained that there had not been much rain during the past several weeks and that there is a dam up river that controls the amount of water that will be released over the falls.

It still is a breathtaking site and we are anxious to walk down the trail and be closer to the falls.

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We know there are some great viewpoints coming up as we descend to the main part of the falls..

Ahh, here's our first good view of the falls; we can see there is much more water flowing in the distance....and the skies are clearing.

We reach the boardwalk that takes us out for a full view of the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls.  There are plenty of visitors in the park today!

We walk closer to the base of the falls 

There is an elevator at this point that will take us up to the top of the falls.

And here's what it looks like from above.  It truly is breathtaking, even if the waterflow is down a bit.

The next day we spend the day seeing the falls on the Argentina side.  Once inside the park, we walk about 1/2 mile on the catwalks...

 to the "Devil's Throat".

It's a U-shaped chasm where 14 falls plunge more than 350 feet.

 It's almost impossible to take any photos right next to the falls as the mist rises up and messes up the camera.

so, as we have done on previous visits, we opt for the professional cameraman to take our photo.

After viewing The Devil's Throat it was time to walk through the rainforest along the top of the falls

We walked on the catwalks right over the streams that would soon become a cascading waterfall.

Some of the streams had very little water flowing over the ridge

 And some had none.  Of the 275 cascades that make up Iguazu Falls, we were told that only about 250 of them actually had water flowing over.

That afternoon we took a fun boat ride on the river and headed to the falls.

The boat actually goes underneath the falls at two different spots.

We got totally drenched.  But it was lots of fun and we enjoyed the 74 degree water.  Quite a contrast from our Antarctic Polar Plunge!

Here's a few photos taken from the video we purchased of the ride under the falls.

In we go...

We loved it!  Do it again...

What a fun experience!!

It was great visiting the falls again.  We never tire of it.

If you made it all the way through this trip's postings, here's a few bonus photos of Iguazu.  On a previous visit I purchased a CD with professional photos.  

First, an aerial view of all Iguazu Falls.  It is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

The water is really flowing on these professional photos.

On her first sighting of Iguazu Falls, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed: “Poor Niagara!”

Thank you for following along on our adventure through this travel blog.  I like having the blog to relive the wonderful adventures Terry and I have been able to experience....just looking at the photos brings to life the memories of an adventure of a lifetime!

Our next adventure is planned for the summer of 2020.  Originally we had a month-long trip planned to Mongolia, China, Tibet and Cambodia.  With the recent corona virus epidemic threatening lives throughout China and into many other countries, that trip is cancelled.

But, Overseas Adventure Travel is great--we just moved all the money paid over to another trip:  A small-ship adventure along the coast in the Adriatic Sea starting in Croatia and ending in Greece.  Hopefully travel will be possible this summer.  We're keeping our fingers crossed!!

UPDATE:  Well, this trip was cancelled as well as a small-ship trip on the Turkish Coast and Greek Islands for late summer.  Hopefully we can start traveling again.... if not in late 2020, then by 2021.

So stay tuned!!  And if the "Travel Bug" has bit you, check out Overseas Adventure Travel/Grand Circle Travel and if you book a trip, mention our names for a referral, Terry and Joyce Angell and #1883762...you will receive a $100pp discount on your first trip!

Day 4 in Antarctica and we have our last landings and then head across the Drake Passage.

During the night the ship has turned north toward the South Shetland Islands chain.  Our morning expedition will be at Deception Island.  

The island is a very rare geological phenomenon - a flooded volcanic basin known as a caldera.  It is formed by the collapse of the central part of a volcano.

 We enter the caldera through Neptune's Bellows.

And cross the caldera to Telefon Bay where we then go to the shore on the zodiacs.  The foggy weather mirrored the dark history that besieged this volcanic caldera over the last two centuries.

Whaler's Bay, one of the first beaches inside Deception Island, was once Antarctica's main whaling hub.  The Norwegians and British processed an estimated 86,000 whales from the Southern Ocean.  Luckily, most of those species of whales are now making a slow comeback from their near extinction.

We set off on a hike towards the rim of a recent volcanic crater to take in a bird's eye view of the surroundings.

 A good view was not possible through the thick fog.

On the rim our Expedition Geologist filled us in on the history of the volcano eruptions.

The orange chain was a reminder to keep back from the edge...

It was a deep crater.

 Couldn't see very much due to the heavy, wet fog.

 We headed back down to the beach and watched the Chinstrap Penguins wander to and fro.

And as we returned to the ship and sailed out of Deception Island, the sun started to come out.

The ship now headed to our last destination in the Antarctic - Walker's Bay on Livingston Island.

Once there, we disembarked the ship one last time for a walk along another volcanic beach.

We gathered around a display that included petrified rocks from millions of years ago,

and plant fossils.

and whale bones possibly 100 years old.

There were groups of Southern Elephant Seals on the beach, all huddled together and going through their molt.

They come ashore and stay on the beach for 3 weeks during the molt, and then return to sea for another year.

Brown skuas birds were scanning the beach up and down for something to snack on.  They flew fast but I actually caught one on my point and shoot camera.

I'm afraid this was a recent snack.

There was alot of yawning going on...

The penguins didn't seem bothered by these giant Elephant Seals.

Most of them seemed to be sound asleep.

 Occasionally they would raise a flipper

Then it was time to head back to the ship and take one last look at this beautiful white continent.  What an experience we have had!

By the next morning we were well on our way through the Drake Passage.  The seas were relatively calm, but that began to change after lunch.  There was a storm brewing off the west coast of South America and the captain was speeding us along in order to reach the protection of the Beagle Channel.

Here, Expedition Team Leader, Claudia, was explaining the weather we could expect.

During our crossing of the Drake Passage, the seas became increasing rough, but not bad.  Probably a mild "Drake Shake".  The Expedition Team presented more lectures about Antarctica, its geology, history of exploration, marine life, sea birds and climate change.

On Tuesday, January 7, we awoke to "Land Ahoy"--the southern tip of South America and would soon enter the Beagle Channel as we made our way back to Ushuaia.

The day was spent with more "Learning and Discovery" presentations and wildlife watching as we approached the entrance to the Beagle Channel.

Oh, and we also had to start packing up our luggage.  We would be disembarking the ship in the morning.

We shared our last dinner on the ship with our "travel buddies", Ken and Margaret and also Sharon and Richard.  We had met Sharon and Richard on our Patagonia trip in January, 2018.  It was fun to get reacquainted with them on this voyage.

 The food was always very good on the ship.  For our last dessert, the chefs made Baked Alaska and paraded through the dining room with lots of appreciative cheers from all us travelers.

In the morning we bid our final farewells to the Expedition Team and ship staff and crew.

We had shared incredible moments in one of the most remote corners of the world.

We flew back to Buenos Aires where we said goodbye to several of our group members who would not be joining us on the post-trip to Iquazu Falls.

But for us, the trip is not over.  We return to one of our favorite waterfalls, Iguazu Falls.  It's not one waterfall....there's 275!!

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