Iguazu Falls

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Take a twenty hour bus overnight from Buenos Aires, and you will end up in Puerto Iguazu, a town built
for the sole purpose of being close to the magnificent Iguazu falls. A twenty hour bus may sound fairly hellish, however it was possibly the comfiest coach I have ever taken. We opted for the 'cama' class, so the chair becomes fairly horizontal, similar to what I'd imagine business class on an airplane is like. The bus never stopped, and we were served a snack, dinner (which included red wine and a glass of champagne), and breakfast! Not a bad ride at all!

However.... The star of this blog is without a doubt Iguazu falls, an incredible natural wonder, so vast and powerful, it is hard to find the words to do it justice. We spent our first afternoon in Brazil. It is easy to take a bus across the border to view the falls from the neighboring country. We walked along the path with spectacular views of the Argentinian falls, before arriving at the "Garganta del diablo" which translates as the devils throat. Here we were able to go out on a walkway over the falls and be belittled by the noise and power of the falls next to us. As Fiona wisely put it... "It makes you feel alive!!" We also got soaking wet! It was a great start to our Iguazu adventure, and we returned to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina for dinner!

Incidentally, there is a great area called "Ferria" in the small town of Puerto Iguazu, where olives, meats, cheese and wine are sold on abundance. We sat outside with the crowds and enjoyed a mixed platter (called picadas) and a glass of wine for a very reasonable price. It's a great atmosphere and a must-do for visitors to this otherwise slightly vacant town.


Day two at Iguazu, and we explored the Argentinian side. There are a lot more paths on the Argentinian side, so we began with paseo superior which gave us unbelievable views of the vast stretch of waterfalls and mist coming off them. We began to appreciate the power of the falls and the noise they made. The distance these falls cover is immense. We also walked along paseo inferior, to view the falls from lower down. Again, we got wet standing in the spray of one fall. The spray alone was enough to soak us and force us to take photos as rapidly as possible! The mist did make some incredible rainbows when the sun came out. I don't think I have ever seen so many rainbows in a day!

We went on a boat ride at the base of the falls which is another awesome viewpoint. We went up both sides of the Isle San Martin which lies between Brazil and Argentina in the river. At the time of our visit, the island was closed due to high water levels. The boat was great fun and powered towards the base of the falls against the current and we all got absolutely drenched! We motored towards the falls about four times and each time got absolutely pelted by the water, and that was only the spray! It was hard to keep my eyes open as we approached the mighty falls, because there was so much water. Lucky for us it was a nice day and we found a sunny spot to try and dry a bit for a while afterwards!

To top off an impressive day, we walked up to the "Garganta del diablo" on the Argentinean side with a 2km walk across vast, calm rivers...little does that water know where it is heading! The platform at Garganta del diablo is awesome, and we spent a while there just taking in the sights and sounds. The amount of water is unbelievable and the clouds of mist that rise up higher than the waterfall itself are amazing. If the wind blows, you get quite wet too! It was hard to see the river at the bottom because there was so much mist!


A truly unforgettable place, and the location amongst the rainforest just adds to the majestic nature of Iguazu!


We had another day before our return to Buenos Aires, so we quite happily went back and viewed the falls again! There was another trail we had intended to take but the overnight rain had made it too muddy. (If you stamp your park ticket on the way out, you get in for half price the next day).


JHG

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