Iguazu Falls, ARGENTINA

We were blessed with one really nice day while here. That was the day we went to see the falls. And that’s really all that matters. We took a short jungle tour by jeep before boarding an inflated speedboat of sorts. Everyone prepped themselves to be soaked. I’d worn my bathing suit but my modesty kept me from taking off the sundress I had over it. If I’d seen the old women stripping down to their knickers before getting on the impossibly complicated life jacket, I probably would’ve followed suit. Old French women just don’t give a damn. A ways out from the falls we were flying through rapids I hadn’t expected. It felt like white water rafting on speed! I couldn’t understand how we weren’t flipping over but it was great. Ahhhh!!!! We sped up to the falls. They were spilling over a huge plateau in sheets of chocolatey water that free flew into suspended moments of blown glass bubbles and then burst into white water. Approaching Devil’s Throat, the biggest of them all, is as close as it gets. It’s so incredibly thunderous that you’re soaked from what looked like a half mile away. The earth shook. It was what I imagine the Grand Canyon would look like with water pouring over it. As fun as this was, my favorite moment was on the lower trail. There was a long metal walkway that perched out almost precariously close to the center of the falls. Walking down the walkway, the water, wind and vibrations from the sheer force of copious amounts of water pulled hard by gravity over giant cliffs intensify physically and audibly until you are literally swept up by it so that your heart is inflated with air and you can’t stop laughing and smiling. I did it again and again, just walking to the end and walking away. I was screaming with laughter. Everyone did the same. Men, women, and children all opened their arms and took in the tremendous feeling. Later as we walked the many pathways that take in the breadth of the falls, I realized I recognized that feeling. I remembered walking down the aisle when Bobby and I were married. I was so overjoyed at that moment it felt like I was floating and I couldn’t stop smiling. I don’t know if I was smiling on the outside. But, on the inside, it felt the same as walking into those falls. There really aren’t words for moments like that. You just try and hang onto them whenever you can.

K. . . .