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We're spending 4 nights in Puerto Iguazu, the town near Iguazu Falls, so we can visit both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides of the falls. The Brazil side is known for its spanning vistas of the falls and the Argentinian side really let's you get up close to the water. We'll tell you how we got here and what it was like to see the falls on both sides of the border, including what is was like to feel the power of the falls by getting on a boat.
Our adventure started with an evening flight on Aerolinas Argentina from Buenos Aires to the IGR airport near Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. There wasn't a lot of leg room on the flight. Fortunetely, the flight is less than 2 hours. When we landed, we took a taxi (for 13000 pesos) to the Bungalow Hostel. We booked a simple private room with private bathroom for under $20/night.
8:15: After a good night's sleep, we packed our passports, water, sunscreen, and a change of clothes into waterproof bags and walked to the bus terminal. We also stopped at the grocer along the way to pick up some bug spray ($6) and at a bakery for a quick breakfast ($5 for two people).
9:15: At the terminal, we bought two round trip bus tickets to the Brazil side of the falls. ($4 for a round-trip ticket CASH ONLY). We decided to visit the Brazil side first so we could get the spanning vistas of the falls and get a feel for the size of this massive waterfall system.
The bus left around 9:30 and our first stop was immigration. We all got off the bus and walked through the Argentinian exit control area, where we went to an immigration officer to show our passports. Once that was done, we kept walking through the area to the other side where the buses were waiting.
10:15: When we arrived at the Brazilian side of the park we bought our tickets ($54 CAD for 2 people)using a credit card at the automated kiosks, then walked to the area selling boat tickets ($211 CAD for 2 people) and bought those too.
The Brazilian side of the park has 2 main sections. The area you go for the boat, which you have to pay extra for if you want to do it, and the area you go to have views of the falls. We were told to go see the falls first, then do the boat second because you get really wet. But I really wanted to do the boat first, so that's where we headed.
There is a shuttle that runs through the park, so you just hop on it and then get off whereever you want. Our first stop was the boat tour area.
10:40:The boat tour starts off with a ride through the jungle, then a optional 600m hike to the boat launch area.
11:35:We chose to get on the "wet boat" meaning we want to go right up to the falls and get soaking wet. There is also a dry boat option. The boat ride itself lasts for about 30 minutes.
1:15: Next up is the walk around the falls. This trail is about 1.2km long and gives you so many views of the largest waterfall system in the world. I couldn't get over how many waterfalls there were, everywhere I looked I kept finding more.
Then we walked out onto the boardwalk and I could really feel the power of the water.
There were some restaurants and gift shops along the walk and right at the end, but we decided to get some food in town instead.
3:00: So we boarded the shuttle back to the park entrance and found our bus back to Puerto Iguazu waiting there.
And that was Day 1. Day 2 starts out like Day 1, except we get on a bus going to the Argentinian side of the falls instead. Let's see how they compare.
9:45: When we get to the Argentinian side, we buy our tickets and walk into the park. There is a train to get you closer to the trails that take you to the falls, but we opted to take the green walking trail instead so we could try to spot some wildlife.
The green trail ends where the train would drop you off. Unlike the Brazil side which only has one trail, the Argentinian side has 2 waterfall trails. The upper trail and and lower trail. Together they take about 3 hours to do. And there are some food and snack options between the two trails.
We decided to start with the longer upper trail. But before that a quick pause to put on sunscreen and bug spray as we remembered that the sun is intense here and there are mosquito borne illnesses.
The upper trail is about 1.7km long(1 mile) and follows the top of the water fall system.
The Argentinian side get you much more up close the falls where you get to see the power up the water. It was really cool to watch all the swirling water fall over the edge.
One thing about the Argentinian side is that if felt so much more crowded. I kept getting bumped around and there was a lot of waiting to get the views we wanted. 1:45: Then we thought we might try the boat on the Argentinian side but it was PACKED so we didn't bother getting tickets.
I did pick out a little carved toucan instead.
With that we headed back into town for some food and a good night's sleep. But we wanted to know if we could see the falls with less people.
8:15: We're back for day 2 on the Argentinian side. This time we're starting much earlier. And what a difference a few hours makes! There are so many less people.
11:30: With both trails now done a second time, we thought we'd try our luck with the boat again. But once again, the boats are completely full for the next couple of hours and we didn't feel like waiting around. That's ok, we already had a great time getting up close to the waterfalls on the boat on the Brazilian side. And we're told the tours and very similar.
We're on such an emotional high from getting to visit these amazing waterfalls. We feel so lucky to have been able to spend 3 full days here, first getting the panamoramic views from the Brazil side, then seeing the falls up close on the Argentinian side, and feeling the full power of the water when our boat went right up to the falls.