2022
The falls are formed when the Iguazu River falls of a plateau. Iguazu means "big water" in Guarani, an indigenous language spoken by communities near the area and also one of the official languages of Paraguay.
The Iguazu Falls are part of a protected rainforest ecosystem and are split between the National Parks of Argentina and Brazil: Parque Nacional Iguazú (Argentina) and Parque Nacional do Iguaçu (Brazil). Both of these parks are World Heritage sites of the UNESCO.
I was able to visit both of these parks, and a few other places on the Argentinian side, in a trip that lasted three days.
I stayed in Puerto Iguazú (Iguazu Port), the closest Argentinian town to the Iguazu Falls which is located in the province of Misiones. The closest Brazilian city to the Iguazu Falls is called Foz do Iguaçu, meaning Iguazu River mouth in Portuguese, and is in the state of Paraná. Unfortunately I wasn't able to spend a lot of time there because of the length of the trip.
Argentinian side ??
Nearly 80% of the falls are on the Argentinian side so there are more trails, but thankfully it has the Ecological Jungle Train so you can avoid walking some parts if you want to. The park entrance fee includes unlimited rides on the train. It takes about 2 full days to walk through all the trails of the park.
After purchasing my ticket and entering the park, I walked to the Estación Cataratas (Falls Station) of the Jungle Train through the Sendero Verde (Green TraiI), which is 600 metres long, and took the train to the Estación Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat Station) to get to Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat).
Devil's Throat
The Devil's Throat is the tallest of the waterfalls that compose Iguazu Falls, it's 82 metres tall. You can get at few metres length to it after walking a 1.200 meter trail. You end up so close to it that the mist that comes out of it gets you wet.
After visiting Devil's Throat I took the train back to Falls Station and quickly went through the Upper Circuit
Then, I went on a boat ride that wasn't included on the entrance fee but its a must-do. I recommend not eating much before doing this. The boat takes you under the falls, not completely under them as it's dangerous, but close enough for everyone to end up completely wet. They take you to the boat in a bus through the jungle, where they show you the flora of the area, and if you are lucky the fauna too, in my case I could only see spiders.
Everyone has a lot of fun and you can get a video of the trip afterwards. Waterproof bags are provided for your belongings, I recommend storing your shoes and socks too, which is something I should have done... I had to take off my socks afterwards and walk on my soaked shoes for the rest of the day ?
Because I went on the boat ride I didn't have time to walk through the small circuit, which supposedly has the best views.
The Jungle Train and important trails like the Upper Circuit and Devil's Throat are wheelchair accesible.
Brazilian side ??
Because most of the falls are on Argentina you can get the best view of the falls from Brazil. Or, as I heard some people say, Argentina puts on the show and Brazil enjoys the view.
Brazil has buses that take you to and from the Centro de Visitantes (Visitor's Centre) to other stops. The stops in between the entrance and the parada Trilha Das Cataratas (Falls Trail stop) are areas not included on the entrance fee like a 9km hiking trail, a boat trip similar to the one I took on the argentinian side and an environmental school.
After buying the entrance ticket and entering the Visitor's Centre I got on the bus and went to the Falls Trail stop.
Falls Hiking Trail
There isn't a lot of space to walk and there are some stairs, so it isn't wheelchair accesible and may be hard for some people to go through. There are a few lookouts in between to rest, admire the view and take pictures. You can walk through it in half a day, or less.
At the end of the trail, you can enter a bridge that takes you right to the falls and is next to Devil's Throat:
As you leave the hiking trail you pass by some lookouts with great views:
Like any tropical rainforest climate, there's rain throughout the year. One tour guide said that a lot of people make the mistake of visiting on winter to try to avoid the rain, but it still rains and on top of that it's cold.
When I went it was raining more than usual so I got to see less fauna than there usually is. Here are the species I was able to see:
They were everywhere in both parks. Visitors were warned all the time not to eat in open spaces as coatis have a strong sense of smell and could steal your food. We were also told not to give them food because they would try to take it from each other and fight. Basically we were told to stay as far away as possible.
Yacare Caiman
It was on the Devil's Throat trail of the Argentinian side.
In the jungle there were spiders everywhere, I think one tour guide said they were Nephila Clavipes. I didn't take photos of them as I'm not a big fan of spiders ☺
I was also able to see one Butterfly on the brazilian side, I think it's a Papilio Hectorides but I might be wrong.
People told me there would be lots of mosquitos but I didn't even get a bite nor did I see one in the whole trip, probably because of the rain.
Even though I didn't see other species, more animals can be seen in the are, like toucans, monkeys, tapirs, giant anteaters and vinaceous-breasted amazon parrots. If you are lucky you could even see a jaguar.
This are the few places I visited in Puerto Iguazú:
I made a short visit to the Argentinian side of the triple frontier between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. I found on Google Maps a Hidden Lookout that other Local Guides said has a better view, but I wasn't able to go.
Its main attraction it's a giant replica of a trap used by guaranies built with salvaged trees. It also offers yerba mate and rosehip ice cream and products made by tribes. Its purpose is to promote the care of the environment and make people aware of the importance of our natural resources.
It's a duty free shop as big as a small mall, located between the frontiers of Argentina and Brazil.
Thank you for reading!
If anyone has already been to the Iguazu Falls please share your experience in the comments 🙂
@HiteshPapaniya wrote:
I really like this one . Way of sharing the experience I really like . Also by this post I got a idea I am posting it later.
@HiteshPapaniya thank you for your nice words! I'm glad you liked it.
I can't wait for the post of the idea you got ☺
@Sagir wrote:
this is great post @Jesi
I enjoy the virtual tour as if i'm there... Amazon is in my list of places to visit; i will add this too.
thanks for sharing with us...
@SalmaanN @Julien44 @OSAMA check this out
Thank you @Sagir! It really is worth it to visit the Iguazu Falls, it's great that you added it to your list of plaxes to visit.
And thank you also for sharing this with @Julien44 @SalmaanN and @OSAMA.