The Trip to Misiones - Posadas - The Jesuit Ruins - Santa Ana

After leaving Loreto I headed to the third site located in the area of Posadas which is Santa Ana, for this you need to walk 2 clicks back and forth, and as Loreto it is worth while visiting only if you appreciate archeological sites, since the area is basically in an abandoned state.

Santa Ana was the largest of the missions and boasted a magnificent church with a rounded staircase, unfortunatelly it was raised to the ground, but you can still see the outlines of the buildings.

 

The Trip to Misiones - Posadas - The Jesuit Ruins - Loreto

 

I was told at San Ignacio that it was worth visiting all the ruins or archeological sites, If you are not a die hard explorer I think you can settle with only SanIgnacio.

Since i has set aside the day to visit the ruins I decided to go to Loreto which is not too far if you have a car. However it can get tricky going on foot, just taking the bus, which are basically the lomg distance buses that travel Ruta 12 and that may or may not stop for you and drop you off on the same road so you can walk 3 clicks back and frth to the ruins.

When I got there I saw that Loreto is in an archeolgical dig state, but there is a small museum and the guide was very friendly and took me to visit all the site.

The Trip to Misiones - Posadas - The Jesuit Ruins - San Ignacio mini

One of the must sees close to Posadas are the Jesuit ruins, I will not write the whole story, but only tell you that this small cities founded by the Jesuits in the 1600s were built with the latest knowledge at the time in Europe and housed thousands of natives.

Only 50 clicks away from posadas you can catch several buses from the Bus Terinal that will get you there in less than an hour, I do recommend spending the day and visiting the other two missions even if they are in a more ruin like state than San Ignacio that was partially reconstructed.

 

The Trip to Misiones - Obera -El jardin de los Pajaros

One of the must go places in Obera is "El Jardin de los Pájaros"

Thanks to a german Lady named Frida bunkowski who created this bird sancturay in her back yard, you can now visit this park where some birds are held in cages as they get familiar enough to fly free and others are on the grounds along with native flowers

For a small entrance fee you can see most of the tropical birds found in the Misiones province.

 

The Trip to Misiones - Back to Posadas via Obera

Since my bus from El Soberbio left at 2am I decided to stop by Obera which is the second largest city in Misiones. It was one of those horrible rainy days when it pours continuosly.Also remember that Misiones sits on the tropic of Capricorn, so when it rains its abundant
Never the less I did enjoy Obera, there are several atractions worth visiting, specially when the weather is fair

The Trip to Misiones - Mocona Falls - The Falls

Once you are in the Park you will be driven to the edge of the river where you can board the small boat that will take you along the river to Falls Mocona which are unique because they run the length of the river for to 2-3 kilometers.
Dividing the Uruguay There is a fault line spliting it in half. When water levels are low, the water from one-half of the river crashes down into the lower half of the fault line, During dry season, the falls can reach up to 8 meters

Mocona is the original name in Guarani which translates to “that which swallows everything. "Actually at the length of the river between Argentina and Brazil, the water gushes with such force that it’s as if it’s swallowing everything around it.

Since visibility depends on the water level, you should check the forecast and ring the Park to make sure it is not closed, either due to drought or excessive rain.