We spent the last two days in Iguazu, a town on the Paraguay and Brazilian borders that thrives on tourism thanks to its natural wonder, Iguazu Falls. The falls were recently named one of the new seven wonders of the world. Friday, we had the great pleasure of visiting the falls. Unlike Niagara Falls (which is about five hours from Clarkson), they are surrounded by thick jungle and remain virtually untouched by technology (only one hotel sits on the property for miles and miles).
The waterfalls stretch quite far and are broken up into many small waterfalls. There are trails to the top of the falls and the bottom of the falls. There are also boat tours that will actually take you under some of the smaller water falls. We opted to take one of these tours, and it was quite an adventure! Everyone was positively soaked and thrilled with the ride.
Yesterday, while taking a small bus to Posadas (to meet our large, luxurious overnight bus), we stopped at a mate production plant called Pipore. Mate is probably the most widely drank product in Argentina. It's a social drink, sort of like a tea, but without the teabag. Someone in a group puts the mate plant in a special mate holder and adds a little water. Then the one mate is shared with the group, everyone passing it around and taking turns drinking it. It's a great Argentinian tradition that we have seen many times already.
The mate plant was very interesting because the mate industry is spreading out of Argentina, to places like the Middle East and Eastern Europe. We learned a great deal about the mate process and how the plant does business with other countries. The guide told us that Pipore tried to export to the southern United States a few years ago but did not find much success there. He also mentioned that the plant has had to become much more environmentally-friendly within the past year due to government regulations. For example, they can no longer take lumber from the jungle surrounding the plant because they were using 150 tons of lumber per DAY. Now, they use left over chips from hardwood factories in the area, so there is less waste and less destruction of the jungle. I found it very interesting that the government was the party to step in and force a better environmental choice for these types of companies.
After a very nice overnight bus, we are now in our last destination of the trip - Buenos Aires. Today, we are heading to a big open market and some members of my group are going to enjoy another great Argentinian tradition - Catholic mass. Since Argentina is about 95% Catholic, it should be easy for them to find one. They are excited to see the similarities and differences of Catholic mass in the different counties. I'll let you all know what they think of it!
The waterfalls stretch quite far and are broken up into many small waterfalls. There are trails to the top of the falls and the bottom of the falls. There are also boat tours that will actually take you under some of the smaller water falls. We opted to take one of these tours, and it was quite an adventure! Everyone was positively soaked and thrilled with the ride.
Yesterday, while taking a small bus to Posadas (to meet our large, luxurious overnight bus), we stopped at a mate production plant called Pipore. Mate is probably the most widely drank product in Argentina. It's a social drink, sort of like a tea, but without the teabag. Someone in a group puts the mate plant in a special mate holder and adds a little water. Then the one mate is shared with the group, everyone passing it around and taking turns drinking it. It's a great Argentinian tradition that we have seen many times already.
The mate plant was very interesting because the mate industry is spreading out of Argentina, to places like the Middle East and Eastern Europe. We learned a great deal about the mate process and how the plant does business with other countries. The guide told us that Pipore tried to export to the southern United States a few years ago but did not find much success there. He also mentioned that the plant has had to become much more environmentally-friendly within the past year due to government regulations. For example, they can no longer take lumber from the jungle surrounding the plant because they were using 150 tons of lumber per DAY. Now, they use left over chips from hardwood factories in the area, so there is less waste and less destruction of the jungle. I found it very interesting that the government was the party to step in and force a better environmental choice for these types of companies.
After a very nice overnight bus, we are now in our last destination of the trip - Buenos Aires. Today, we are heading to a big open market and some members of my group are going to enjoy another great Argentinian tradition - Catholic mass. Since Argentina is about 95% Catholic, it should be easy for them to find one. They are excited to see the similarities and differences of Catholic mass in the different counties. I'll let you all know what they think of it!
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