The longest dirt road ever
Tuesday, October 18th: Colonia Carlos Pellegrini > Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
It was our last day in Ibera – we had breakfast, packed up our car and went on guided walk through the marsh with Jose. We looked for monkeys, but they must have been hiding because we only saw capybaras, marsh deer and birds. He took us into the education / discovery center at the entrance of the park, and we did our best to read and translate the placards that were all in Spanish.
The only animals we hoped to see but didn’t get a chance were the anteaters and jaguars, both of which were reintroduced to the region after becoming extinct. The jaguars lived in an island in Ibera without visitor access.
After the “caminata” we started our 8-hour drive to Puerto Iguazu. There were no gas stations on our route for over 150 miles and we were able to make our half tank last. The 120 mile dirt road along the edge of the marsh was a slow and dusty trail, and we were grateful to finally make it to asphalt. We filled up our tank and had burgers and ham flavored chips for lunch at the Shell gas station.
We finally arrived to Puerto Iguazu after dark and our host gave us the grand tour. We went into the city center, a tourist strip for those visiting the falls, and ate at La Rueda. We had an empanada, ribeye dressed with mushrooms sautéed in Malbec, rustic potatoes, a tropical salad and pineapple flambé with ice cream and passionfruit. All of that cost us $27 on the blue dollar rate.
Accomodations: AirB&B, Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
