Water Ballet

It all began the night before Queensday (aka Kewnenginnenâch). Dogs, cats, and even dinosaurs started pouring down from the heavens, announcing the water ballet that would follow the next few days. In between the rain showers on Queensday, we managed to get to the Dutch pub Van Koning in Las Cañitas, where the bartenders - all porteños - sing along to every Dutch party song they play in Mamma Appelsap-style! We were dressed in orange, and orange alone, for we had accidentally left the schmink in the bag with orange balloons we gave to L.I.F.E. All we can hope for now is that the children in the villas have given in to Dutch soft power and are wearing our tricolore on their cheeks. 

[Geeky moment of the day, there is a perfect fusion between all of the above: water is the foreign policy niche for the Netherlands (a previous niche, development aid, was the topic of Jori´s masters dissertation) and should become the centrepiece of our economic-oriented post-overhaul foreign policy. It is personified by our crown-prince, who, conveniently, studied history. All this water on the anniversary of his grandma made the question pop up: will Queensday become King´s Day in a couple of years?]

Done with the rain in BA, we headed towards the Iguazu falls. There, we were confronted with even more water (average flow rate 1,756 m³/s (62,010 cu ft/s for our American buddies)). The falls are in the race to become one of the seven natural world wonders (vote here!) and rightly so: the lush green forest, the dozens of cataratas, and the never-ending rainbows make it into a true paradise. The (all-too) well-hidden Toucans, par contre, refused to show us their True Colours. A video of ´Indiana Steve and the hunt for the Evil Toucan´ will follow once we have access to formatting software. 

The water ballet reached a climax when we took the boat for an Aventura Naútica up towards, in and under the falls. A true wet-T-shirt contest, but then with busloads of 70-year old overly enthusiastic ladies. Our feelings can best be described by a song written by fellow travellers, (Hot) Todd, Dusty (Springfield) and Wendy (´s) - have a look at their blog! :

"Now I´ve had the time of my life

And I´ve never felt this spray before

Yes I swear, it´s the truth

And I owe it to Iguazu-zu-zu-zu-zu-zu-zu-zu

[dirty bit]"

(Black Eyed Peas original)

After Iguazu, we were due to see the world´s second largest dam, the Itaipú dam in Paraguay (for our dads: National Geographic´s MegaStructures - part I). Those plans, however, fell through - or as we would say in Dutchland, they fell in the water - because the workers had decided to go on strike. Damn Dam!

To ease our pains, we jumped (as far as you can jump with a 16-kg backpack) on the bus to Florianópolis, Brazil and it´s beautiful beaches. In Floripa, Paula, Lisette´s roommate from back in NYU, gave us a great tour of the island. We have now set up camp in surfers´ paradise Barra da Lagoa. First class (Jori´s that is, Lisette´s already a pro) is in 3 hours!

zoekplaatje

omnipresent coaties, we were attacked by an army of them during our after-lunch siesta

La Garganta del Diablo

view on the falls

getting ready to get soaked (the real hardcore oldies were in the front)

ultimate thrillseeker: taking photo´s while standing on a forbidden ridge

living on the edge... literally

artsy

first caipirinha in Brazil!

with Paula on the beach in Floripa

Fresh flower and fresh Havaianas

Barra da Lagoa, view from the Backpacker´s Sharehouse