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Published: March 28th 2008
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The ace in the hat
The Garganta from the Brasilian side I almost feel like I don't need to write anything here, except maybe one word - 'Wow'. The photos say it better than any words could. But seeing as this is a blog, I suppose I should write something...
Iguazu is one of the main tourist draws of Argentina, if not all of South America, and it's very easy to see why. They're around 3km wide, and are made up of around 270 individual falls, with the main one being the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat in English). I think they're wider than Victoria Falls, but as it's not just one individual waterfall it doesn't count as the widest in the world. Or something! The falls straddle the border between Argentina and Brasil, with national parks on both sides. I managed to spend three days at the falls - two days on the Argentinian side, and one day on the Brasilian. Yes, they are that amazing!
I went to the falls with an Australian brother and sister, Erik and Octavia, whom I'd met in the hostel in Buenos Aires. They were coincidentally travelling to Iguazu at the same time as me and didn't mind me tagging along. On our
first day we stayed on the Argentine side of the falls. This park is much bigger than the Brasilian side, with a few walking trails that take you close up to the falls. It's all very touristy, of course, but not horribly so - although it was incredibly busy, as it was the week before Easter. Anyway, we started out by getting the little tourist train all the way to the Estacion del Garganta, from where there was a walk over the river to the Garganta del Diablo. If anyone reading this is planning a visit to the falls, I'd recommend not doing this walk first! While you definitely get a sense of the power of the falls, watching and listening to all the water gushing forward, you don't really get to see what they look like - you're just too close, and the spray from the falls obscures the view.
So we were feeling a little cheated by our first experience of the falls...until we started on the 'Circuito Inferior' (Lower Circuit). This gives you a much better view of the falls, of the kind that just makes you stand and gape in awe....and take lots of photos.
I just went snap happy, and took about 150 photos over the three days (anyone want to see the slide show?!?) From the lower circuit you can catch a little ferry which takes you over to the Isla San Martin, from where there are a couple of short trails which lead to lookouts with yet more photo opportunities. You can also take boat trips right up to the falls, but being the penny-pinching cheapskates that we are, we chose not to.
By the Isla San Martin there's a little roped off area where you can sort-of swim in the water. I say sort of, as the water is only about waist deep. It was stinking hot there, and very humid, so by the time we got to the Isla we really wished we had our swimming stuff with us. So we decided to come back the next day, finish off the trails we didn't do, and then cool off in the water. Which is what we did. It was definitely the pool with a view!
I still hadn't had enough of the falls by the third day, so I went over to the Brasilian side. Getting there was
The falls in their setting
One of things I loved about the falls was their lush jungle setting a bit of an adventure - starting off with the bus crashing as it pulled out of the bus station. I was expecting that we'd all have to get off the bus while the police came, etc, etc...but the bus driver and the car driver just exchanged details, and the bus driver got out a broom, swept away the broken glass, and then we were on our way. You have to go through border control to leave Argentina, and then again to enter Brasil. I'd heard so many people say that you don't need to get your passport stamped for one day at the falls, but the bus driver herded all the non-South Americans off the bus and made us all go through border control. All in all, it took the best part of two hours to get to the falls...about the same amount of time as I spent actually at the falls. The park is much smaller, with only one trail. They try to make up for it by adding in more optional activities, but they're all really expensive and not all of them actually involve the falls. You do get a much more panoramic view of the falls
from the Brasilian side, and their one ace in the hat is that you get a much better view of the Garganta del Diablo. But all in all, it felt like the poorer cousin of the Argentine side. Still, at least I could say I'd seen the falls from pretty much all angles!
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