Day 306: Iguazú Falls National Park
In comparison to Victoria Falls, Iguazú is just a little bit shorter (82M vs 108M) but it is a LOT wider, stretching 2.7KM (one kilometer longer than Vic Falls). As a result, Iguazú feels grander. Also, Victoria Falls flows into a very narrow ravine, so it’s hard to view the whole thing – you can only see pieces of it here and there. Iguazú, on the other hand, opens up into a much larger canyon, and there are many viewpoints where you can appreciate the vastness of the falls before you. Not that there’s a competition or anything, but in our humble opinion, Iguazú does it betta’.
When visiting Iguazú, you have two choices on where to view the falls: the Argentinean side (called Iguazú) or the Brazilian side (called Iguaçu). Many people choose to visit both, and we would have as well, except Brazil requires a tourist visa for Americans and does not allow an online e-visa – you have to visit a consulate and physically leave your passport for 1-5 business days (however long it happens to take to process that week). Had we planned to visit Brazil ahead of time, we could have taken care of it in the USA, but since we changed our plans to include South American while we were already on the road, we had no opportunity to surrender of passport for up to 5 days. We were a bit bummed at first, but now that we have fully explored the Argentinean side and we could see the Brazilian platform across the river, we don’t think we missed much.
So, even though the guide books all say you can’t (or shouldn’t) do Iguazú Falls in one day, that’s exactly what we did. And while the Argentinean side of the falls has a much bigger park than the Brazilian side, it’s still not gigantic and we were easily able to cover all three of the main trails starting around 8:30AM, just after the park opened, going at an easy pace (Igor’s foot was FINALLY healed, but Lindsay’s pinched nerve or whatever was wrong with her leg was still hurting) until about 4PM. If we had had the energy, we could have fit in the last nature trail before the park closed at 6PM, but we had little hope of seeing any wildlife so we decided to skip it.
Riding the 7:45AM bus from Puerto Iguazu to the National Park. Little surprise the ticket cost for foreigners is 65% more than the cost for Argentineans (gotta subsidize the locals’ vacations!)
We saw a lot of these piles of black worms all over the park trail in the morning. At first, we just thought they were piles of poo left by some small animal, until we noticed a fellow tourist taking a picture. Most people don’t take photos of poop (although, Argentineans are weirdos…LOL) so we decided to get a closer look: these are worms that most together en mass to appear bigger so birds don’t eat them. Very clever defense strategy, but very freaky in appearance – they reminded Lindsay of the demonic cursed worms from the movie “Princess Mononoke”!
We started our exploration of the National Park by hiking the Lower Trail – a path that meanders through the jungle and eventually all the way down to the river bank. Since there were so many ups and downs, it was much less crowded than the flat, Upper Trail. There are several boat ride options from the Argentinean side as well – many require an extra cost and take you on a tour along the river and even within a “splash zine” of the falls themselves. We skipped the paid excursions – we just wanted to take the free 1min ferry across the river to San Martín Island where you get an AMAZING view of the San Martín half of the falls. Igor had read that the park limits the number of visitors who can go to the island every day, so we wanted to make sure we were first in line so we didn’t miss our chance.
When we reached the bottom of the trail, there was no one there. Apparently, the park does not run the boat everyday – it’s dependent on the height of the river on any given day and they make the call whether or not to run the boat around 9:30AM (an hour after the park opens). We waited around until 10AM, when the tour operators for the paid excursions showed up – guess the water level was just fine for their money-making operation! We followed them to the riverbank to see if we could figure out what was going on. We finally found some park rangers at the bottom, sitting in the park’s boat, chatting and drinking mate (a bitter, messy, loose-leaf tea that Argentinos are fucking obsessed with – seriously, who drinks HOT TEA in the JUNGLE?). They seemed a little annoyed that park guests were showing up, and it took them another couple of minutes before they could be bothered to take us across the river, however, the views from the island were our favorite in the park and totally worth the effort.
Starting our exploration of the park on the Lower (Blue) Trail
The path leads us through the jungle and opens up on some minor falls and the lower part of the river, before we get our first sight of the San Martín section of Iguazú Falls
The San Martín section of Iguazú Falls – it is a wider curtain of smaller waterfalls, and incredibly pretty!
Igor stands on the lower viewing platform beneath the San Martín Falls
We climb all the way down to the river to catch a free boat to San Martín Island, which sits in the middle of the river, right in front of the falls
Waiting for the Argentinos to finish their friggin’ mate break before they escort us the short 200M across the river to the island
Looking up at the falls from the beach
Panoramic view of the San Martín Falls
We continue along the trail around San Martín Island, where we get our first glimpse of the Devil’s Throat & the Brazilian side of the falls in the distance, plus a clear view of the Iguazú River as it flows down toward the Paraná River and the border with Paraguay
The San Martín Falls are pretty and worth the effort to see up close, but man that hike back up the trail in the hot summer sun is a BITCH
We brought our own snacks for lunch, but after our hike we couldn’t resist the smell of hot, savory empanadas! We share a trio of cheese & spinach stuffed handpies – YUM!
We see a few curious animals hanging around the picnic area: a Plush-Crested Jay and a Giant Tegu
The end of the Lower Trails takes us to the entrance to the Sheraton – the only hotel in the park. While it would be a perk to have access to the park before/after hours to avoid the crowds, at USD$500/night (for a non-falls facing room) it’s way out of our price range!
It was already noon by the time we started the Upper Trail section of the park. This part was our least favorite – the San Martín falls are more scenic than powerful, and the view from the top of the falls isn’t that impressive. Plus, the trail is absolutely packed with tourists since this is the easier trek as there is no up and down. And even though the trail was supposed to be a one-way loop, there were tons of annoying visitors who decided to return the wrong way, just to spend more time on the edge of the falls, rather than taking the “backwater” return trail.
Joining the crowds of tourists on the Upper Trail at the top of the San Martín Falls
The trail is a loop – going along the top of the falls on way, then snaking back on a quiet boardwalk over the river behind the falls on the return. Even though there was no view, we preferred the peace and quiet of the return trail
The final section of the park is the Big Daddy: the Devil’s Throat! A huge basin of the river dumps down a relatively small opening on the cliff ledge, creating an absolute torrent of water thundering down ~80M below (this is the tallest section of the falls). The force of the water was so strong here and there is so much spray, we actually had difficulty taking photos before our camera lenses were completely covered in drops (especially since we also had to contend with a large crowd of selfie-snapping fellow guests). It took a little patience, but we finally got our “money shot” of the Great Iguazú.
Lindsay’s gimpy leg is starting to bother her after so much walking, so we take the free choo-choo 5KM to the Devil’s Throat
We spot some pretty butterflies and HUGE catfish along the trail
We watch as a dumb tourist pulls out a package of crackers and starting feeding the coatis (a type of jungle raccoon). Not only is she encouraging aggressive behavior (these guys can bite when they think you are withholding food), she’s fucking up his poor little tummy. These are WILD animals, people, and they are supposed to eat NATURAL things like plants and bugs – not cookies filled with synthetic preservatives and partially hydrogenated corn syrup.
We see a mist coming up from a precipice in the water – we join the throng of people on the viewing platform and fight for a spot on the railing
A river of water disappearing at the top of the falls
The Devil’s Throat – the most MASSIVE waterfall we have ever seen!
Powerful, thunderous and awe-inspiring – the Devil’s Throat of Iguazú Falls
By the time we took the tourist train back to the center of the park, we were exhausted. We went back to the ticket counter to get our tickets validated (you can get half-off admission the next day if you register your ticket before leaving) just in case we decided to return tomorrow. We then caught the return shuttle back to Puerto Iguazú.
Unfortunately for us, we didn’t realize that it was Sunday, and all the grocery stores would be closed by midday. We were so tired – we really didn’t have the energy to walk all the way back into town for dinner, and would have preferred to stay in and cook again – even pasta! – but everyone was shuttered down for the day. Since we were only a few blocks away from the touristy area of the Three Frontiers, we decided to walk over to the restaurant on the riverbank. It was pretty pricey, but it had a nice view and we ordered the cheapest things on the menu (plus a bottle of wine!).
Sunday night dinner with a view of the 3 frontiers