Slightly shocked at the Iguazu Falls

From Salta, we took a flight for the first time since our arrival in South America to cover a longer distance. 24 hours on a bus with three transfers versus a 1.5-hour flight for the same price - we just couldn't say 'no' anymore. Our destination was Puerto Iguazu on the border of Brazil and Paraguay. As the name suggests, it is a good base for visiting the famous Iguazu Falls. We had heard a lot of positive things about it beforehand, so our expectations were high. In the end, I would describe our experience as positive with some minor drawbacks:

First, when we arrived in Puerto Iguazu, we noticed that the town itself is relatively sleepy and uninteresting. In fact, we encountered the most grumpy service staff of our entire journey here - so it started off "well". The waterfalls are located on the border of Brazil and Argentina, and both sides have national parks for visitors to explore. So we planned two day trips for this purpose and decided intuitively to stay on the Argentine side the first day.

The journey to the park by public bus went smoothly, and we arrived relatively early (around 9 a.m.). As we entered the park, we were immediately... puzzled. It felt less like a national park and more like a hybrid of Disneyland and Jurassic Park without the dinosaurs: souvenir shops, crowds of people, and signs directing visitors to the park's tour train and two stops. I (Tabea) do enjoy amusement parks, but I had imagined visiting one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World would be different.

We first went to the upper part of the park, where the so-called Devil's Throat, the largest gushing mass of water, is supposed to be. From the train station, we walked in single file with the rest of the tourists along a trail built into the jungle. At this point, Tim was very disappointed and annoyed. I, on the other hand, could see a positive side: I didn't have to worry about encountering reptiles, with which I have a complicated relationship (to put it mildly). On the way, we only saw a few birds and the coatis that were already announced to us. Unfortunately, these coatis have become very accustomed to humans and can get quite aggressive in search of food at picnic areas. When we arrived at Devil's Throat, we were once again positively shocked by the seemingly endless masses of water plunging into the depths. The water spraying up provided a welcome cooling effect. At this point, we understood very well why this attraction is so popular and highly recommended. Pictures can only partially convey these impressions. The rest of the day on the Argentine side was marked by beautiful views of countless waterfalls spread out over a valley. We took two longer circular routes, which distributed the flow of visitors much better than in the morning, to get very close to the waterfalls from both below and above. Sweaty and happy, we returned to Puerto Iguazu.

The next day, we stuck to our plan to visit the Brazilian side as well - even though we heard that it only had a much shorter trail. The bus journey, including entry into Brazil, went smoothly, and when we arrived at the park, the amusement park procedure started again: lining up, taking a compulsory photo, lining up again, and hopping on a shuttle bus that takes visitors to the trail. Here, once again, we walked in a column along the approximately 1km long path. This path runs along the other side of the valley mentioned earlier and offers distant views of the waterfalls that we had seen up close the day before. The most popular viewpoint here is also Devil's Throat - only this time from the other side.

In conclusion, we would definitely recommend visiting the Iguazu Falls - especially if you are already in the area, as was more or less the case for us. We preferred the Argentine side, and you should plan to spend several hours more time there than in Brazil. Both perspectives turned out to be worth seeing, and we would recommend two days for the Iguazu Falls.