12/7: After Airport Mixup, One Step Closer to Iguazu Falls, Argentina Finally!

One of the places we'd been looking especially forward to seeing on our 3.5 month trip last fall to South America was Iguazu Falls from both the Argentine and Brazilian side. It should have been so simple getting to the Argentine side from Buenos Aires but we almost muffed it totally! Leaving our hotel, we gave the taxi driver the wrong airport to go to in Buenos Aires and didn't realize our gaffe until we arrived there. By the time we reached the correct airport more than two hours after we'd left the hotel, it was only 30 minutes until our flight was to leave. Despite our protestations to the airline's management, we were told that we were too late to check in and that the likelihood of getting another flight that day was slim and seats couldn't be guaranteed for another 28 hours.

Steven managed to get us seats on another airline to Iguazu Falls a few hours later for an arm and a leg as you can imagine when getting tickets the same day. However, we were both concerned about having as much time as possible to see the fabled Iguazu Falls. I tried right away to cancel our original tickets and get the money refunded but, after waiting on hold for 40 minutes while the Expedia rep talked to the airline, we were on the plane and had to hang up. The agent promised to call back but never did. By the time we arrived at the hotel by the falls, the park had already closed. The hotel owner suggested we make the best of a bad thing and visit the Hummingbird Center just a few blocks away.

To enter the center, we had to clap our hands, the most unusual entrance ever for us!

The garden was very small with lots of feeders on tree branches where hummingbirds gathered.

The flowers, many of which we'd first seen in the Amazon earlier in the trip, were as remarkable as the butterflies!

Loved this sign!

If you look closely, you'll see the hummingbird on the lower right. The birds moved so quickly, it was difficult to catch a photo of one.

Later, we walked through town to a sound and light show we'd heard about.

We took a different way back to the hotel and passed many murals that seemed to tell stories of life for the underbelly of local society.

Next post: The amazing, fantastic and awe-inspiring Iguazu Falls from the Argentine side.

Posted on May 23rd, 2018, from our annual summer escape to Grayton Beach State Park on Florida's Panhandle.