Nov. 25/12 – Iguazú Falls – One of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world is located among the borders of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. It was declared Natural Patrimony of the Humanity by the UNESCO in 1984.
ARGENTINA SIDE: On the Argentina side, the Iguazú Falls is located inside the National Park Iguazú, in the city of Puerto Iguazú. Founded on 1901, Puerto Iguazú is the border separating Argentina from Brazil. The Iguazú Falls means “Big Water” in Guarani language. It comprises of 275 falls gushing in the shape of a half moon along 3 kms.
The National Park Iguazú which shelters the famous falls, expanses 67.000 hectares and houses more than 400 kinds of birds and about 2.000 plant species. It is indeed one of the richest natural environments in the world.
BRAZIL SIDE: When one reaches Brazil, this same falls is now called Iguassu Falls. It is located in Foz do Iguacu, in the state of Parana and is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Brazil.
Once at the Falls, one can get lost in the magnificent views that are perfect subject for photos. To get a closer view, one can take the elevator to go to the walkways out overlooking the Falls. And once out on the viewing platforms, one sees the spectacle of Devil’s Throat with views across to Argentina.
Our 2 hour flight journey here didn’t start off very good. We found out after we got to the Buenos Aires airport that there was a strike at the Transportation Department, therefore there were no bus, plane or train services on that day, Nov. 20th. Some people were able to reschedule their flights to Nov. 21st but because the service attendants at the airport could not find our reservation, I was asked to go back and forth between two counters. And by the time this ended, the flights for Nov. 21st had all been booked and we were told that the earliest we could leave would be late afternoon of Nov. 22nd which would mean we would miss BOTH the Argentina Side or the Brazil side of the Iguazú Falls because our flight to Rio was at 9am on Nov. 23!! Well, I was not about to give up the fight so I used my last WEAPON on them. It worked! So, finally we were booked for the Nov. 21st flight. Oh, so what was the “weapon”? TEARS! I cried, telling them between sobs how unfair it was, that I needed to talk to their manager because I had been there for over an hour and if they hadn’t sent me back and forth between counters, then I would be able to leave the following day. Twenty minutes later, I got just what I wanted: our boarding pass to leave the following day which meant that we would 30 hours instead of 54 hours behind original schedule.
But the truth is that my tears started flowing not because I purposely wanted to use that as a weapon but because I was just so upset. Admittedly though, I did take advantage of the situation when I saw the reaction on the lady’s face when she saw the first few drops of my tears. lol
Despite the fact that we were 30 hours delayed, I was determined to go and see both the Argentina and the Brazil side of the fall. With proper planning, we managed to set everything up as soon as we landed the night before so that we could make it to both sides within the same day. We started our day at 7:30am for the bus up to the Argentinean side and spent 6 hours there, then got a private taxi ride over to the Brazil side and spent another 2 hours here.
We went on a 12-minute boat ride on the Argentina side where the boat would crash onto the huge waterfalls. What an awesome experience! But the 45-minute hike down there and back up to the train station was so tough because the temperature was 35 degrees and very humid. HEAT + HUMIDITY are the worst enemy of Amy & Deon!!
While walking tiredly with soaking wet clothes on, we did consider giving up visiting the Brazil side since we were very exhausted by the end of the 6 hours of walking, but we felt we shouldn’t give up since we had come all the way there already. So glad we didn’t cancel because I actually liked the view from the Brazil side more than from the Argentina side.
Seeing the falls from both the Argentina side and taking in the Brazilian view gives two perspectives of this natural wonder. It was so worth a rushed day’s trip to see its vastness and the majesty of Mother Nature’s power.
So many tons of water gush constantly and spectacularly, creating a pandemonium of noise but to the ears of someone who loves nature, this is music not noise.
It is hard to put in words just how spectacular this place is.
Originally posted on Amy’s travel blog: TravelwithAmy.ca