On the border of Argentina and Brasil, and very near the
border of Paraguay, in the northeast corner of Argentina sits the Iguazu Falls,
one of the “Seven Wonders of the World”.
On Monday morning, we headed out by Uber to the “Aeroparque” (Jorge
Newbury Airport), the downtown airport in Buenos Aires, for our Flybondi (a
discount Argentine airline, which is a bit redundant) flight to Puerto
Iguazu. An uneventful trip (other than
having to pay for a bad cup of instant coffee), and made it to our apartment,
around the block from the main bus station—an important feature—in the early
afternoon. Took a bit of time to get the
Wi-Fi sorted out but we had a good late lunch around the corner at Holy Brewery. Puerto Iguazu is basically a
one purpose town. Everyone comes to see
the falls. But so far it has been good.
Tuesday morning, we got up and headed over to the bus
station and caught the 8:00 bus out to the Argentine side of the falls, about a
½ hour drive (everyone drives very slowly here). The Argentine side had been completely closed
last week due to high water levels, so we weren’t 100% sure what the situation
would be this week. It turns out most of
the trails were open, but not completely, you couldn’t do a complete circuit,
but had to come back out the way you came in on both the upper and lower
trails. Fortunately, it is not high
season and the crowds weren’t ridiculous.
And the Devil’s Throat, which is supposed to be a highlight, was
completely closed. But before we got to
any of that, just after we came through the gate, we got “hijacked” for the boat
tour that goes under the falls, in addition to a tour through the jungle on the
way, in open top trucks. We had thought
about this before going, but really hadn’t planned on it, in terms of what we
were wearing. Fortunately, they give you
a dry bag to put most of your stuff in, particularly your shoes and socks,
because you get completely soaked going under the falls. Fortunately, it was a gorgeous, 30C sunny day,
so we dried out pretty quickly when it was over.
Then we walked the upper and lower
trails. All in all, it was a spectacular
day. The falls are easily the best I
have ever seen. Unfortunately, I think my camera was acting up again, because some
of the pics that I thought I got, I didn’t.
And they say the views from the
Brasil side are even better, which I find hard to believe, but we will see
tomorrow.
2025-02-13