Jesuit Missions

From Iguazu Falls, we stayed on the Argentina side to visit the ruins of a Jesuit mission at San Ignacio Mini, then crossed over to Paraguay to visit two more missions. The region had more than 30 such missions. Much bigger than California missions, these missions each had thousands of indigenous population and only a few Jesuit priests. They were a lot more autonomous. There were no colonists. A major incentive for the natives to join the missions was to elude the slave raiders from Brazil. As far as colonialism goes, this seemed rather mild and gentle, therefore it was eventually dismantled by its enemies and critics.

Though the three sites fall under two separate UNESCO listings, we expected them to be overpriced and underwhelming, but actually turned out to be rather edifying and engaging.

We saw many pine tree plantations, saw mills, and lumber yards on the bus from Puerto Iguazu to San Ignacio.




The bus dropped us off on the side of the road. From there it was a 1 kilometer walk carrying our backpacks to the ruins.




UNESCO Marker.


The massive church, with two angel reliefs above the entrance (see first below), was not completed before the Jesuits were expelled from all Spanish territories.




Housing for the indigenous people.


The large arcaded cloister.


Looking across the Plaza de Armas towards the church.


Back on the main road waiting for the bus to take us from San Ignacio towards the Argentina-Paraguay border.


Crossing the border on the International Bridge from Posadas, Argentina to Encarnacion, Paraguay.


We stayed in an apartment near the Encarnation long distance bus terminal. In the morning, a bus and taxi got us to Jesús de Tavarangüé Mission, located about 45 kilometers east of Encarnacion.


This site was easy to tour; there was a free audio guide. Below is a photo of the ruins of the church. It has 2 massive pulpits, left and right, "good and evil" said the attendant.










After this Mission, we hitched a ride to the next one; La Santísima Trinidad. This site was the most visited of the three. And was "accessible".




Another massive pulpit.


Surviving statuary, and ornamentation. Check out the keyboard player in the relief 3rd below, and harpist 4th below.








Not to mention a small crypt under the church floor.


There was a not-attached-to-the-church bell tower.


Huge site.




We waited for over an hour to catch a bus back to town, but did see some "local color".

Iguazu Falls

From the Pantanal, we flew to our other major destination, Iguazu Falls. We spent the first day visiting the falls from the Brazil side, and the second day on the Argentina side. In general, best views of the falls are on the Brazil side, and the falls are experienced more intimately on the Argentina side.

Photos cannot do justice to the falls. It has to be experienced, an incomparable experience at that. In September water is considered to be at 40-50% of top volume, forming countless individual falls, very scenic. It's a good thing we didn't visit Iguazu until now. All waterfalls we are likely to encounter will seem underwhelming.

The free bus from the entrance to the falls.




We stepped off the bus at the Cataract Hotel stop and 30 meters later ....


The walkway continues for about 1 km and the views keep getting better. And we can see the boardwalks on the Argentina side that we will be walking tomorrow.




Rainbow.


More waterfalls upstream.


There are several viewing platforms.


After an hour or so we reached the walkway out towards the so-called "Devil's Throat".




The experience on the walkway is great. Everyone is having fun. There was a bit of spray, but we stayed dry. The 360 view is amazing.










We took the elevator back up to the main path and ate our picnic lunch. More amazing views.








We rode the free bus back to the park entrance, picked up our bags from the hotel, rode bus #120 to the border, crossed into Argentina, and took another bus to the Puerto Argentina Bus Terminal. From there it was a short walk to our apartment. Whew!




Then we had to change money to get some Argentinian pesos to buy groceries.




The next morning, we took a bus from the terminal to the Argentinian Iguazu Falls.


There's a mini train to take you directly to the beginning of the boardwalk to the Devil's Throat. We did two less exciting walks before catching the train.


The boardwalks are literally right over the tops of the falls.






Can you spot Sun-Ling (with the hat)?




From one of the longer boardwalks we spotted a toucan.




On another loop we spotted nesting Great Dusky Swifts on the rocks next to a raging waterfall.


After lunch we rode the train to the Devil's Throat Station and walked out.










And finally made our way back to Puerto Iguazu bus station.