Cataratas del Iguazú, Argentinan side
¡Buenos días!
So after a full day of waterfalls we decided to take on some more. Would it be worth it? Should we rather go for some rafting, mountain biking or other more adrenaline filled activity? Still we read this was the gran finale so couldn't really back out now. We thought about our alternatives, of course public transportation would be cheapest. But it was quite far and you need to make sure the driver stops at immigration and we had friends who had to go back and forth since the bus driver didn't stop and they didn't do immigration correctly. We decided to pay a little more for a fixed shuttle instead of the above hassle although we were a bit afraid that we wcould be moved like cattle with a guide around the premises. Shuttle excluding entrance to the park cost the two of us 186 BRL. I.e. worth it. And the company we booked with had an office located at our hotel so we could sleep 'til last minute. 7:10 at the lobby and breakfast opened at 6:30 although it kept coming stuff until 7 the day before.
We got down the lobby 7:12 and it was very quiet. For a short moment afraid we might have missed someone calling but then remembering this is South America. They picked us up after 7:30 am...
Included in the trip was a stop at the changing office so we could get Argentinean pesos for the tickets. Apparently we could pay everything else (food, snacks, water) with reals, dollars etc inside the park. We had tried to find some supermercado to buy our own food but it was too far from the hotel and all small shops seemed to be pharmacies. So we were glad we could buy this with the Brazilian currency and not estimate how many pesos we needed. What we were not happy about was the exchange rate, what a rip off. And we queued with the other tourists to get inside the building in the ice cold morning air. Just so you all know it was not only me being cold, even J complained about this.
After this we stopped two times before entering Argentina, once to check out of Brazil and once to check in to Argentina. This took its time and we were quite happy we had this alternative where everything got taken care of straight away.
Not even when on the premises of the park did the transportation end. Nope we had a train ride inside as well, at a maximum I'm 5 km/h. This train took us to the devil's throat where we started our first hike. And guess what? We could walk freely! As freely as possible zig zaging other tourists. This was a Saturday and we suspected this was why it was even more crowds than yesterday.
The devil's throat has the biggest drops in the park, don't remember in meters but it is spectacular! Yikes! Enormous. Over here we could also get a good view of where we had been the day before. So far we were very happy with continuing our waterfall experiences. It was a a bit scary to snap photos with all people around, didn't wanna lose my phone. But of course I got some good ones for you.
At the beginning of the trail I noticed people spotting coites, animals that reminded us of racoons. I was a bit sad I missed the photo opportunity in the crowds since we didn't see any the day before. Before the day had ended I realized they were not a rare sight at this side. Sneaky like racoons in that you had to watch your food and definitely used to people considering they didn't care about us even with the young ones around. Of course it was forbidden to feed them and it was signs with quite bad bitten hands. I mostly worried about having to get to a hospital if bitten for rabies shots. So we kept our distances. But they were very cute.
After the devil's throat we had two more hikes left, an upper and a lower circuit for different views of the falls. Both close and on a panoramic view. One option (not included) was also going by boat close to the falls but we weren't in the mood to get soaked. Our barcelonan company from thr hotel assured us afterwards that we missed something very special but at least we have an excuse to go back then.
We had a quick bite of our protein bar and made it to the upper circuit. What a reward! This was indeed the gran finale. Surreal. Like a movie, like Avatar or something. Once again we snapped a thousand photos but we also just enjoyed the view together. One couldn't get enough. And by this time the sun was up enough to warm you during the way. Oh my. I'm still astonished.
Still we had to get from the falls to get something to eat and since it's a national park you won't find anything with a view of the falls. So we had just some regular fast food and then took on the lower circuit. This one also crazy beautiful and these hikes were longer than on the Brazilian side which was nice. We travelled quite a bit in a few days so we longed to use our feet. You also walked by the river and in the jungle which was nice, and in many occasion we were quite alone in these hikes. Some people probably skipped the third hike (2.5 km).
Less lovely was the company of many spiders during our way. J checked thoroughly everywhere we went and had done some research of the species online. Thankfully it seemed like most were non poisonous. He saw quite a big huntsman spider in one of the restrooms. This also led to me resting and enjoying the view at different locations by myself on benches while I had standing company. And I thought I was the one scared of these 8-legged creatures. How about other bugs? Well we were quite bugged (he-he) by a butterfly-like insect with blue and red wings that kept getting on to you during the way. And pretty resistant too. This was probably a mole. Otherwise we were quite lucky, no flies or mosquitos (thankfully since we forgot the mosquito repellent). And no jaguar.
We ended the full day tour going back with the bus (over half an hour from scheduled time, mañana mañana). This was more of a full day tour whereas the Brazil side is done in half a day. So getting back at the hotel we found an Argentinean restaurant just 15 m outside the hotel and sat down. We shared parilla (grill) meat and it was really good meat with different sides. Fried banana to mention one. More funny than we had so far.
After this we headed to the room to get our stuff ready for an early flight. Back to airport.
Ciao,
S
So after a full day of waterfalls we decided to take on some more. Would it be worth it? Should we rather go for some rafting, mountain biking or other more adrenaline filled activity? Still we read this was the gran finale so couldn't really back out now. We thought about our alternatives, of course public transportation would be cheapest. But it was quite far and you need to make sure the driver stops at immigration and we had friends who had to go back and forth since the bus driver didn't stop and they didn't do immigration correctly. We decided to pay a little more for a fixed shuttle instead of the above hassle although we were a bit afraid that we wcould be moved like cattle with a guide around the premises. Shuttle excluding entrance to the park cost the two of us 186 BRL. I.e. worth it. And the company we booked with had an office located at our hotel so we could sleep 'til last minute. 7:10 at the lobby and breakfast opened at 6:30 although it kept coming stuff until 7 the day before.
We got down the lobby 7:12 and it was very quiet. For a short moment afraid we might have missed someone calling but then remembering this is South America. They picked us up after 7:30 am...
Included in the trip was a stop at the changing office so we could get Argentinean pesos for the tickets. Apparently we could pay everything else (food, snacks, water) with reals, dollars etc inside the park. We had tried to find some supermercado to buy our own food but it was too far from the hotel and all small shops seemed to be pharmacies. So we were glad we could buy this with the Brazilian currency and not estimate how many pesos we needed. What we were not happy about was the exchange rate, what a rip off. And we queued with the other tourists to get inside the building in the ice cold morning air. Just so you all know it was not only me being cold, even J complained about this.
After this we stopped two times before entering Argentina, once to check out of Brazil and once to check in to Argentina. This took its time and we were quite happy we had this alternative where everything got taken care of straight away.
Not even when on the premises of the park did the transportation end. Nope we had a train ride inside as well, at a maximum I'm 5 km/h. This train took us to the devil's throat where we started our first hike. And guess what? We could walk freely! As freely as possible zig zaging other tourists. This was a Saturday and we suspected this was why it was even more crowds than yesterday.
The devil's throat has the biggest drops in the park, don't remember in meters but it is spectacular! Yikes! Enormous. Over here we could also get a good view of where we had been the day before. So far we were very happy with continuing our waterfall experiences. It was a a bit scary to snap photos with all people around, didn't wanna lose my phone. But of course I got some good ones for you.
At the beginning of the trail I noticed people spotting coites, animals that reminded us of racoons. I was a bit sad I missed the photo opportunity in the crowds since we didn't see any the day before. Before the day had ended I realized they were not a rare sight at this side. Sneaky like racoons in that you had to watch your food and definitely used to people considering they didn't care about us even with the young ones around. Of course it was forbidden to feed them and it was signs with quite bad bitten hands. I mostly worried about having to get to a hospital if bitten for rabies shots. So we kept our distances. But they were very cute.
 |
| Coaties |
After the devil's throat we had two more hikes left, an upper and a lower circuit for different views of the falls. Both close and on a panoramic view. One option (not included) was also going by boat close to the falls but we weren't in the mood to get soaked. Our barcelonan company from thr hotel assured us afterwards that we missed something very special but at least we have an excuse to go back then.
We had a quick bite of our protein bar and made it to the upper circuit. What a reward! This was indeed the gran finale. Surreal. Like a movie, like Avatar or something. Once again we snapped a thousand photos but we also just enjoyed the view together. One couldn't get enough. And by this time the sun was up enough to warm you during the way. Oh my. I'm still astonished.
Still we had to get from the falls to get something to eat and since it's a national park you won't find anything with a view of the falls. So we had just some regular fast food and then took on the lower circuit. This one also crazy beautiful and these hikes were longer than on the Brazilian side which was nice. We travelled quite a bit in a few days so we longed to use our feet. You also walked by the river and in the jungle which was nice, and in many occasion we were quite alone in these hikes. Some people probably skipped the third hike (2.5 km).
 |
| Do you spot the bird? |
Less lovely was the company of many spiders during our way. J checked thoroughly everywhere we went and had done some research of the species online. Thankfully it seemed like most were non poisonous. He saw quite a big huntsman spider in one of the restrooms. This also led to me resting and enjoying the view at different locations by myself on benches while I had standing company. And I thought I was the one scared of these 8-legged creatures. How about other bugs? Well we were quite bugged (he-he) by a butterfly-like insect with blue and red wings that kept getting on to you during the way. And pretty resistant too. This was probably a mole. Otherwise we were quite lucky, no flies or mosquitos (thankfully since we forgot the mosquito repellent). And no jaguar.
We ended the full day tour going back with the bus (over half an hour from scheduled time, mañana mañana). This was more of a full day tour whereas the Brazil side is done in half a day. So getting back at the hotel we found an Argentinean restaurant just 15 m outside the hotel and sat down. We shared parilla (grill) meat and it was really good meat with different sides. Fried banana to mention one. More funny than we had so far.
After this we headed to the room to get our stuff ready for an early flight. Back to airport.
Ciao,
S
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