Iguazu Falls National Park

Day 1 – Brazilian Side

We woke up today to heavy rainfall – to be expected in a jungle environment but still a slight bummer. At least the rain will increase the water over the falls for the next few days which will be cool to see. We walked to the central bus station and bought tickets to the Brazilian side of the falls. The Iguazu river separates Argentina and Brazil, and both nations have national parks dedicated to their side of the falls. The Paraguayan border is also close by with the “Triple Frontier” being a famous tourist attraction in this area.

Immediately, it was clear that the language shifted from Spanish to Portuguese. This is what it must have been like for Calvin or Jaeson with Spanish because we understood only about 20% of the words. It wasn’t totally foreign but sounded distinctly different. No Brazilian border crossing/stamp was necessary, just a stop to scan the passport on the way out and in from Argentina. After arriving at the visitors center, we got onto another bus to head further into the park.

We walked the waterfall path along the cliffsides and saw the falls at the different viewpoints. Despite the rain and clouds, they looked magnificent. It was incredible because there weren’t just a few falls, but many that stretched for kilometers across. How the river water is able to fall at some points and then continue onward to fall at another point along the rock cliffs is baffling. All the while, the Jurassic Park theme song was stuck in my head. From the top, we got a glimpse of the boat ride we were about to go on. We saw it go up the river and duck under a smaller section of waterfall. This was gonna be fun.

The noise got louder as we walked closer to the epicenter of all the waterfalls. The main lookout point on this side takes you along the middle shelf where you can look up to see water falling toward you and look down to see the second set of waterfalls falling away from you.

From there, we walked back along the path and took the bus back to the boat station. An electric tow vehicle pulled a wagon of people down to a trailhead where we walked down to the coastline. The jungle was so dense it felt like an episode out of Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls.

The raft-type boat took us up the river to reveal amazing views of the waterfalls from inside the canyon. Hunter and I even managed to get the front row. The highlight of this tour was when the driver edged us closer to the cliffside where a smaller waterfall soaked the entire boat. Here are some of the go-pro pics and screenshots. On the way back, the sun peeked out for just 5 minutes and the timing could not have been more superb.

We got back to the entrance and bussed back to the Puerto Iguazu town on the Argentina side. We took some time to dry off and found a street food vendor right next to the Airbnb. The dish was toasted bread with roasted sausage and chimichurri sauce, delicious. We decided to get dinner in the main central square to enjoy the ambiance and to listen to reggaetón music again. It’s been a while. Although we were eating around 8pm, most of the other people out and about were families and kids. We were way too early for any of the nightlife to begin.

Day 2 – Argentinian Side

This morning, we woke up to clear skies and warm jungle weather. We packed up and headed back to the bus station to catch a different bus to the Argentinian park. The station was packed, which was to be expected. The same could be said about the park entrance. The rain yesterday may have deterred some of the eager tourists.

The Argentinian park had several more kilometers of walking paths and lookouts in comparison with the Brazilian park. There were more snack shops and overall development. The paths were either stone or brick if laid on the ground or grated metal if raised above the floor. It was cool to see where we were walking yesterday from this side of the river.

We walked both the inferior and superior loops to see all the different spots. The paths were busy but we still got good pictures and views. I still find it funny to see locals walking around with their mate gourds and a massive thermos to keep refilling it. Seems a little impractical.

The superior route was definitely a highlight. It lead us up and over the edge of the highest falls so we could get a view from above. It looked like a scene from a movie or a Disney roller coaster set. Unreal.

Here are a few more pictures of the animals we saw today too! The cutest was a little baby monkey. Overall amazing to see this place. One more natural wonder checked off!