Monday, September 16, 2019 - Puerto Iguazu

Hello dear travel diary,

when the alarm went off early this morning, it was 6 o'clock in the morning. It was a bit difficult for us to get up so early on vacation, but we had a lot planned for today. So after breakfast, we went back to the bus station and took the Easybus to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina.

The bus had very comfortable seats and apart from the fact that it was freezing inside, the ride was really pleasant. At the Argentine border, we had to get off, check into the country with our passports in a small house, and when we came out at the other end of the building, the rolling refrigerator was already waiting for us.

In the bus, we met a super friendly Brazilian who travels to the border almost daily as a tour guide. He also explained to us that the bus, contrary to our assumption, does not go all the way to the waterfalls on the Argentine side but to the bus station in Puerto Iguazu. He also revealed to us that we had exchanged too little money in Brazil. We had only exchanged the entrance fee for the waterfalls and a few pesos for safety for a bottle of water or something similar.

Info: Since the Argentine peso currently has a bad exchange rate, the entrance fee had to be paid in cash at the waterfalls. Card payment was not possible.

But we didn't have enough money for two more bus tickets from the bus station to the waterfalls. However, we were able to pay for the tickets (although at a slightly higher price) at the bus station luckily in Brazilian reals.

When we arrived at the park, we drew a number to take the next train through the park to the waterfalls and went directly to the large viewing platform (second station) to avoid the huge influx of visitors throughout the day.

The whole park has something magical. It is fascinating and breathtaking how close you can get to the waterfalls on the Argentine side.

After an impressive and exhausting day, we were looking forward to a comfortable ride back to Foz de Igazu. So we were shocked when a rickety and definitely no longer roadworthy Easybus stopped at the bus station. The door in the back of the bus didn't close properly anymore, and with 40 degrees in the shade, the bare plastic seats were far from comfortable, but the bus driver was super charming and we survived the ride anyway.

Now it's 'sleep time' for us. Tomorrow we will board a plane again...I have to admit, this vacation is not really climate-neutral.