Scenes from Argentina’s subtropical edge
The Iguazu River, which cascades spectacularly over basalt cliffs, divides Misiones, Argentina's northeasternmost province, from Brazil.
JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images
| July 28, 2012
In remote Misiones, human settlement is scant, limited to a few lonely pioneers who eke out a living by planting tea, bananas, and tobacco.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
About a million people live in Misiones, one the smallest of Argentina's 23 provinces.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
Misiones gets its name from the many missions, such as San Ignacio Mina, established by the Jesuits during colonial times.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
Originally home to Guarani tribes, Misiones is now the turf of gauchos, or Argentine cowboys.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
Settlers cleared much of the province's original forest, but 4,250 square miles are still preserved in a string of wildlife reserves.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
Lianas fall from the canopy and epiphytes and philodendrons coat every exposed trunk and branch in what's left of the old-growth jungle.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
It's common to see blond-haired, blue-eyed villagers throughout Misiones, thanks to a 20th century migration of Poles, Germans, and Ukrainians.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
This particular South American rattlesnake is kept as a pet by a Misiones farmer, Juan Podkowa.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
At Misiones' Don Enrique Lodge, each cabin opens to a private, waterside veranda.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
Tacuapa Lodge's battered Isuzu takes visitors crashing through dense brush and across rivers and arroyos.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
Guide Fidel Ramirez used a machete to clear the path.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
Ramirez scanned the dense boughs of tropical cedar, earpod, and rosewood trees in search of birds.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
The black-throated trogon is one of the Misiones jungle's shyest birds.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
This black-throated trogon was summoned from the forest's densest recesses by Fidel Ramirez.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
The black-breasted plovercrest is a spectacular hummingbird topped with a purple crown.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
In the jungle, the band-tailed manakin is often heard but rarely seen.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012
A white woodpecker.
Colin Barraclough for the Boston Globe
| July 28, 2012