Sent on Apr. 24, 2003 from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina.

US$ = 2.82 Pesos, also shown as $; US $ shown as U$S.
Airport Exit Tax = US$18 at the airport.  Take the bus
operated by Manuel Tienda Leon from airport or bus or ferry
terminals to city-hotel for $15; Taxi = $35 from airport.
Post cards are about 60 cents each; mail to the USA is 5.50
Pesos, so nearly $2, the most expensive rates I know.

Hello from Iguazu Falls, Argentina and the Itaipu Dam,
Brazil-Paraguay

To the travelers among you, add Iguazu Falls to your list
of MUST-SEE places.  The falls and the Iguazu National Park
are awesome, unique, as Machu Picchu, Peru.  You better do
this as part of a package that includes say 3
days--2nights--in Buenos Aires (add a city tour), 3 days--2
nights--in Calafate, Patagonia and a tour of the Moreno
Glacier, then 3 nights--2 nights--Puerto Iguazu, but do the
tour of the Falls yourself at your own pace.  Then take the
flight back to Buenos Aires and connect directly to your
flight back home.  For Americans, this should cost about
$1,000 per person (from Miami).

Iguazu means big water in the language of the indigenous
people of here--Ig is the water part.  OK, how big is it? 
Imagine 275 waterfalls spread over a range 2.75km, dropping
some 70 meters.  As this huge volume of water hits the
bottom, the spray rises and the sunlight forms numerous
rainbows. The most awesome point is the Devil's Throat,
whereas other falls are as beautiful as viewed from several
catwalks and view points.The site was declared as a World
Heritage Site by UNESCO.

This is how it works.  There are hostels and motels right
across from the bus station.  Take one--Hotel Saint George
on the main street is nice.  Next morning, catch the 8:10am
yellow bus that departs from the bus station every 30
minutes and goes to the visitors' center at the Iguazu
Park, a ride of about 30 minutes for 5 Pesos.  There you
buy your entry ticket for 30 Pesos and also get a map of
the place.  You walk 400 meters to the train station for
the small train that departs every 30 minutes.  A 10-minute
ride brings you to the interim station.  I continued to the
next station where the catwalk to the Devil's Throat
begins. It is a 1km walk one-way over the waterways, thru
some of the most gorgeous sites I have ever seen.  Then you
come to the spectacular, awesome, gorgeous Devil's Throat. 
You walk back the same stretch and take the train back to
the intermediate station.  Do the 1.3km outer or exterior
walk first: very beautiful, and you see many of the 275
falls.  Walk back the same stretch and go in the direction
of the inner circle, about 2km of jungle walk, but not many
falls.  Somewhere near the beginning this catwalk
separates, one continuing the other going downhill to the
boat rides.  I also took the latter and signed up for the
grand tour (70 Pesos or $25), that includes ride to Devil's
Throat and another bunch of falls--where you get real wet,
so bundle your stuff--then a boat ride thru the rapids of
the Parana River, say for about 5 minutes.  They drop you
off at the shore; you walk up many steps to a safari truck
waiting for your group.  After driving thru the forest for
about 15 minutes, you are dropped off at the visitors'
center where you can catch the yellow bus back to the
quaint village of Puerto Iguazu.  The restaurant with the
pizza sign on the main street is very good and has other
items on the menu.  Eat as much steak in Argentina as you
want, for you won't find them as good elsewhere.

The Itaipu Dam, in turn, is some 12km north of the Falls,
erected as a joint project between Brazil and Paraguay.  It
is the world's largest dam--until the 3-Gorge dam in China
is fully constructed.