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Published: August 12th 2010
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The bus into Puerto Iguazu was a couple of hours late which was pretty unexpected since Argentinian services are normally reliable. We bought a few supplies and caught the local bus back out of town to the hostel we'd booked (3 nights for the price of 2: bargain!) which was more like a resort, complete with swimming pool. We spent the day doing not a lot in preparation for our big trip to Iguazu falls the next day.
After (yet another) breakfast of bread & jam, we set off towards Brazil to see the falls from their side first, with a plan to see it from the Argentinian side the next day. Although the park on the Brazilian side is supposed to be much smaller, it has several brilliant viewpoints where you can see the falls as a whole as opposed to being up close and personal which is done on the Argentina side.
Catching the bus back to Puerto Iguazu, we immediately jumped on a bus heading for the border. It stopped at the Argentinian immigration no problem so we could get our exit stamps but then just sped through the Brazilian immigration without stopping (apparently a common
occurrence). We asked the driver to stop and had to walk back several hundred metres to the border to get entry stamps into Brazil. Now a lot of backpacker don't bother with this formality if only visiting the falls for one day (which would save a lot of hassle!) but not wanting to risk being caught in the country illegally, we took the trouble to do it all officially. After doing this, we waited around for the bus that would take us to the town of Foz do Iguacu.
Arriving at the bus terminal and not speaking a word of Portuguese, we were relieved to find a tourist information counter that with a helpful guy that directed us to an ATM and then the bus to the waterfalls, or 'Cataratas'. It was amazing riding through the town to see how different the place was compared to Argentina, with tall buildings and big shopping centres.
Half an hour later we arrived at the entrance to the national park, bought tickets and jumped on another bus that would run us the last 7km to the falls. As soon as we got off and saw them, it was immediately worth all
the hassle as they are simply stunning to behold. With 275 waterfalls in total, the area is an amazing spectacle of the power of nature, set amongst lush tropical surroundings. Firstly we took advantage of an elevated viewing platform, then took a lift down to get a little more closely acquainted with the water by means of a concrete walkway leading out across the river surface to the edge of one of the falls. After this, we followed the short track through the park, taking in the views at several points before deciding that we'd better head back to Argentina since we weren't sure what time the border closed.
After several more bus connections and many hours of travel, we stamped ourselves out of Brazil and back into Argentina. Stopping in Puerto Iguazu for a few supplies, we just missed the bus that ran back to our hostel and, since we'd spent most of the day waiting around for buses, we gave up and walked the last 5km back. It was an exhausting day with a total of 9 bus connections but our first glimpse of the falls was fantastic. As the Argentinian side was supposed to be even
more spectacular, we had high hopes for the next day.
So up bright and early, we set off to catch the bus to the falls once more. As we waited on the main road for the bus with two other people a taxi driver came over and offered to take the 4 of us to the falls for the same fare as the bus would charge and we jumped at the chance to not have to wait for another bus. Again, we paid our entry fee (85 pesos - around £14) and went into the park, noticing on a map how much bigger it was than the Brazilian side.
The park is split into two with the Garganta del Diablo (the HUGE set of falls) at one end and the other sets of falls nearer the entrance, with a small train running between the two. We started off at the nearest ones, walking out onto platforms at the tops of the falls, looking down over the sheer drops into the huge plunge pools, glistening white with spray and mist. Already we were amazed at all the beauty and were pleased to have saved this side of the falls
for our second day since it is even better than in Brazil.
After walking along the tops of the falls on raised platforms, we descended to see them from low down, walking through the lush tropical jungle to reach the lower falls. This is where we began to get a little wet with all the spray and mist in the air but managed to take several photos without the camera getting completely soaked.
Further down on river level, we took a boat over to the Isla San Martin (the 'island' is formed by the river and falls having isolated it from the 'main land') for yet another set of viewpoints, this time really getting wet with the spray from the plunge pools. There were also some rather nasty looking grey vultures that were sunning themselves on the rocks, waiting to pick off other animals and small children. A long climb back up the other side and we sat at the top of the falls for lunch, noticing how busy the park had started to get with the tour groups being bussed in.
After lunch we caught the train along to the Garganta Del Diablo (throat of the
Devil) and walked out on the 1.5km stretch of walkway to a platform right at the edge of the falls. There is so much water coming over the edge that you couldn't even see the bottom for the spray. Its at this point where the falls are at their highest, a whopping 82m high. We stood for a while taking it all in before deciding that we'd had enough sun and headed back to catch a bus, having spent a respectable 6 hours in the park marvelling at water falls.
We had to by pass our hotel and head into town to buy bus tickets to Rio. Unfortunately, the bus for the next day was full but there was space the day after which meant we'd have to stay another day at our hostel/resort- what a shame! Needless to say that we weren't too disappointed after having four or five intense days of travel and activities: a break to sit by the pool and plan our time in Rio would be most welcome. The bus would be 'full cama' instead of the usual semi cama so we're expecting great things! The down side was that it sapped literally all
of our remaining pesos so we had to find an ATM to get enough funds for our remaining few days. Of course, this was easier said than done as the only cash point we could find was having 'issues'.
After a while wandering round town in the heat we were relieved to find a friendly ATM that let us withdraw cash, meaning that we'd be able to eat and sleep inside for another few nights. Stocking up on supplies, we caught the bus back along to our hostel, totally shattered and looking forward to the following day of doing nothing.
The next day we successfully carried out our plan of doing not much. We did meet a couple of girls that we'd meet previously at the Tango Show in Buenos Aires (small world) and caught up with them before sitting by the pool and planning our few days in Rio. That turned out to be quite disconcerting since the Brazil guide book was filled with advice on staying safe from muggers and violent crime - it would seem that Rio is rather a dangerous place so keep your fingers crossed for us!
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