23 November 2006
En route to Iguazu Falls, we stopped in a small Argentinian town called Wanda.
Here, one can visit amethyst mines. According to myth, in the 1940s, a woman was washing her clothing in the river. She dropped her soap, reached in to get it, and was lacerated by something very sharp under the water. Upon further inspection, she found the cause of her injury was from a geode full of amethysts!
This area is volcanic and the geodes were formed by bubbles in lava floes. During the cooling process crystals or deposits are formed. We were suprised to see that the miners can carve out tube-shaped geodes (see picture above).
The mining store sold many gorgeous jewels that we resisted the urge to buy. . . but we did take pictures!
1 comment:
Those pictures are gorgeous enough -- and those tubular geodes are just so cool!
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