Iguazu Falls

Over three days in the Iguazu area we visited Tres Fronteras and both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of the falls.  The falls, taller and twice as wide as Niagara, were spectacular, but first, I must describe getting to Puerto Iguazu.  To get to Puerto Iguazu from Buenos Aires we had a choice of flying or taking a bus.  The bus was about half the price so despite my concerns about an 18 hour bus ride (that's right, 18 hours) we decided to travel by land.  The bus left Buenos Aires at 2:15 pm.  The size of the seats and leg room is comparable to business class on a plane (now that I know what that's like after our lucky upgrade to NZ.)  For the first hour, the tvs played only advertisements for a ski resort in Patagonia.  Eventually, the movies started and even though there were headphone jacks above every seat they thought it was a good idea to play the movies out loud.  There was not much we could do but try to enjoy the Spanish dubbed Mission Impossible and Journey 2.  I guess it doesn't say much for the movies when they were pretty easy to follow even though I could only understand a few words and phrases.  Those two treats were followed by Man on Fire in English (hurray!).  However, the next one, a Bollywood film in Spanish, was not something I would have enjoyed in any language.  By that point it was time to settle down and attempt to sleep on our partially reclining chairs anyway.  I will say that I was impressed with the amount of food we were given on the bus.  We expected dinner and around 5:00 pm we were given ham and cheese croissant sandwiches.  We were underwhelmed.  However, around 9pm, more food came out.  This time it was a full meal of salad, pasta, bread, and dessert, along with wine or soda.  Apparently the croissants were a snack.  We had learned in Buenos Aires that Argentinians are on a much later time schedule than we are but did not realize that would carry over to the bus.  So, for almost 18 hours, we ate, watched movies, and slept on and off.  It was not a whole lot worse than a long flight, but I still would prefer not to do it again.

Ready for a long bus ride

When we arrived in Puerto Iguazu, the nearest town to Iguazu Falls on the Argentinian side, we checked in to our hostel and got ourselves situated.  We decided to wait until the following day to visit the falls so that we would be more rested. So we wandered about the town, which is actually larger than I expected, and visited Tres Fronteras.  At this location, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay can all be seen from one spot.

Tres Fronteras

Tres Fronteras Monument

The following day we boarded a local bus to the Iguazu National Park on the Argentinian side.  From the entrance, a small train (similar to one at Disneyland) takes you out to the start of the trails.  There is an upper circuit and lower circuit.  The upper circuit follows walkways and bridges over the tops of the waterfalls.  You can literally look straight down some of the falls.  The lower circuit, for the most part, is a bit further off and allows a more expansive view of the falls from below.  There is one section of the lower circuit that goes right out to the bottom of one of the waterfalls, soaking anyone brave enough to get close.  After walking both the upper and lower circuits we boarded the little train again and went for a view of the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat).  The Devil's Throat is a U-shaped waterfall with water flowing in from three sides, creating the most powerful deluge of water I have ever seen.  The force of the falling water is so strong that the water explodes back up as if it were an erupting volcano.  There is always a 100 foot cloud of spray over the Devil's Throat because of the force of the water.    

Choo! Choo! Ready to ride the train to the falls

Coati - These guys were everywhere

Coati investigating my backpack

Simon and I at the Devil's Throat

The Devil's Throat

The Devil's Throat

Walkway to the Devil's Throat

Panoramic View

Waterfalls Up Close

The next day we boarded a tour bus to visit the Brazil side of the falls. The hostel owner told us we didn't really need to go to Brazil because the Argentinian side was the best, but we thought we were so close and should really see both.  The Brazilian side was just as breathtaking and incredible as the Argentinian side.  If we had not gone, we really would have been doing ourselves an injustice.  While we got right on top of some of the falls in Argentina, in Brazil we were treated to a panoramic view of the entire length of the expansive falls.  The two sides are incomparable and are both worth a visit.