The Mighty Iguazu
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| Argentina in foreground and left, Brazil to the right and Paraguay ahead |
I will confess to knowing little about the Iguazu falls before booking my journey to Argentina. In fact all the travel books I was reading before climbing aboard the plane had images of Patagonia and most particularly, Mount Fitzroy on the cover. That is not to say Patagonia or Fitzroy is not deserving and that will be covered in a later blog.
Getting to Iguazu was simplicity itself. I took a LATAM (formed from the LAN TAM merger) to Iguazu airport from AeroParque (Jorge Newbury) the city centre airport in Buenos Aires. Latam Argentina It was my only LATAM flight which did not under go a schedule change. From Iguazu it was a 20-30 taxi ride to the hotel, the Panoramic Hotel. It afforded views of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay from the swimming pool.
The falls can be reached a number of ways. The most popular is by taxi or emis but you can also book a tour. It is also possible to view the falls from the Brazilian side in a similar way. Just allow 30 minutes to cross the border.
I traveled to Brazil on the second day but on the opening morning a remis took my party to the Argentinian side.
There is a charge to enter the falls although to us as Europeans it did not seem excessive at about £15, $19. It was also possible to book some water borne excursions with thin the park. We chose one of the two trips which offered to sail to the foot of the falls plus a second described as an eco tour. First though we took a short walk. Tourists have the choice of taking a train to the far end of the falls called the devil's mouth. It is busy. It is also possible to see a great many of the falls by foot. That was our first option. It was the right one.
Almost from the start the sound of the roaring torment draws you to the wonders of Iguazu. Even the smaller falls at the start of the walks have drama but eventually a clearing brings you a remarkable panorama of falls. It what seemed no time but was in fact an hour we arrived at the boat jetty. Climbing off the boat the previous trip smiling but drenched from the falls. "You've no chance of staying dry," and American called out. They were right.
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| Sailing to the falls |
The boat takes you right into the teeth of one fall. It is well organised. Tourists can take pictures up to the point where the boats does its dowsing. A heavy duty rubber bag is provided to protect valuables and electronics.
The tourists disembarked, cameras and valuables bone dry while dripping wet themselves. However is the 30C heat drying was rapid and the walk continued.
Eventually we came to the interim station on the train line and elected to take it up to devil's mouth.
By this time in the late morning it was less busy than it had been when all the tourist buses and taxis had disgorged their passengers.
A sedate trip took us to the fulcrum of the falls. Here Brazil seems just a fingertip away as the noise and the spray from this gigantic fall overwhelms you, and this is at the top. Such was the drama and majesty of this fall I stayed a while. Eventually though it was time to leave for the Eco tour.
Climbing aboard a small inflatable craft four of us were paddles along one side of a river system that would eventually fall hundreds of metres below. yet this was quiet; sedate.
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| Toucan at Iguazu |
Eventually our time was up and we all agreed that the Eco tour had been worth taking. You book all the boat tours once inside the park. They are not especially cheap but you can get a discount for booking on more than one trip.
The boat company, Jungle Tours returned us to the interim railway station where we caught the penultimate train from the park. We had arrived early in the morning and were leaving as virtually the last visitors. That is how the wonderful Iguazu Falls captivate you. A day I have no intention of forgetting.
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