First Day at Iguazu Falls
Date of Entry: December 1st 2015
Date of Writing: December 6th 2015, Natura Hostel, Puerto Iguazu.
I’m finally here. Iguazu Falls, a place I’ve been eagerly desperate to visit since landing in Cartagena Colombia, and in fact long before that. In many ways this is the waterfall that tops all waterfalls, granted Angel Falls, Victoria falls, and several others are still unknown to me though I cant imagine a place more impressive than Iguazu, and at time of writing I’ve only visited one side of it. But back to the beginning.
I get to Puerto Iguazu with my friend Laura from France coming from Asuncion in Paraguay on a 6 hour bus ride to Ciudad Del Este, before hiring a taxi to leave Paraguay, take me through Brazil without registering at immigration and then stop to get my entry stamp to Argentina, something a lot of people do but I’m not that comfortable with. After wandering town in search of hostels we find ourselves a dorm at Peter Pan Hostel for (130 Pesos). It’s a good place to stay but there’s nothing great about it. Still that hardly matters when we wake up the next morning, making a quick stop at a grocery store before wandering down to Brazil street and heading left from Bambu restaurant, looking for a place to change dollars at Argentina’s black market blue rate (read about that here). Then we head to the bus terminal and buy a round trip ticket to the Argentinean side of the falls with Rio Uruguay. The buses cost 50 Pesos each way (3.50 USD at slightly below blue rate). They leave about every twenty minutes from 730 or so in the morning until close to 8 pm, though the park is open just from 8 am to 6pm.
The bus ride is the longest, most agonizingly exciting 30 minutes of my life and as we climb out at the ticket office I’m bubbling over with excitement. I think this blog has showcased quite well how I feel about waterfalls, and Iguazu is the crown jewel of the world of waterfalls. I run up to one of the entrance windows and quickly hand over the 260 AR (18.50 USD) collecting my ticket and heading to the entrance. Here I’ll just put a quick note that if you want to come back the next day you can get in for half price by stopping at cash 4 or 5 when you’re leaving and revalidating your ticket. Not everyone has time for two days on one side, but if you can spare the time do it, because this place is insane.
Sadly sand happily the falls are not all that close to the entrance. To get to the three main trails of the park we have two choices, a short train ride which leaves every 30 minutes or a roughly ten minute walk on a paved path through the jungle. With a chance of seeing Monkeys, toucans and lots of other animals. It’s called the green trail and it leads to estacion las cataratas, which is near the start of both the lower trail, and the upper trail, and also where the train to Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s throat)leaves from.
After a short discussion we choose to take the lower tail first,leaving the most famous Garganta del Diablo for last. I bound along the paved and somewhat crowded path heading for the beginning of the lower trail and delighting in some of the warning signs all over the park.
We also pass by the first animals of the day, some Coati, racoon like creatures I first saw in Costa Rica almost 11 years ago, scrounging for food near the picnic tables and a fascinating blue and white bird which proves to be quite common through the park.
As we hurry down long sets of metal staircases through the jungle, (though Iguazu is not in the amazon, the forests all around it are most certainly sub tropical jungles) my excitement grows as a narrow babbling brook appears through the lush green wilderness beside us. Honestly I’m starting to believe that Iguazu has been an elaborate hoax to bring my hopes up then dash them sort of like the truman show. I mean it can’t exist can it. We continue on and I get my first glimpse of the main river below the falls.
This only wets my appetite further and Laura and I continue our regular habit of passing people on the walkways which turn into more attractive wooden designs the closer we get to the falls. As I each the bottom of the stairs in the photo above I get my first brief glimpse of one small sections of this wonder of the world. It’s a long ways off and the mist of the crashing water blocks a good portion of what might be visible (It’s apparently been raining non stop for 2 months meaning remarkably high water levels) but it’s incredible and sets my heart to racing, a smile blooming on my face.
Now there’s no time to waste as we hurry on ahead pausing just a second at a fork in the road eventually taking the left option which leads to a set of waterfalls quite distant from the main set of about 225 different cascades which make up Iguazu (the exact number changes with the season). About a minute later we’re walking out onto a metal bridge into the spray of a waterfall which anywhere else would be a significant attraction in it’s own right.
The path then leads up to a bridge above the falls and we head up there together before heading back down one by one to take some pictures of each other.
The waterfall is amazing and I’m giggling with glee, though the giggle turn to full on manic laughter as we continue on and five minutes later come to the first real viewpoint of Iguazu falls.It’s just… how can a place like this exist? It’s madness, and I honestly don’t know what to do. My cheeks are already starting to hurt from smiling so much. This is why I travel.
Like seriously! How? We also have an Iguana just below us pointed out by tourists less lost in the waterfalls, and I manage to look away from the crashing water long enough to snap a few pictures of the big lizard.
Eventually we carry on from the first viewpoint, me thrilled to find the trail just keeps leading closer and closer to some key points in the myriad of falls, the sound of crashing cascading water becoming all encompassing save for a few rare bird calls with strong enough vocal cords. As we go we find little windows through the jungle giving us still more incredible views of this ridiculous natural spectacle, my brain cannot even process how much water is pouring over the cliffs ahead of me.
And the crazy thing is pictures can’t even begin to capture it (I’ll be adding video to this post later this weekend so please do revisit it as video gets another element of the staggering beauty of this place).
We reach another little viewpoint of the falls through some jungle and stand there utterly captured by the insane beauty of this place, the think clouds of mist from the water don’t even let us see everything, leaving many of the more distant falls obscured but I find myself agreeing with Eleanor Roosevelt, something I almost never do. Upon visiting Iguazu she supposedly remarked “poor Niagra” and went on to compare it to a kitchen faucet after seeing Iguazu.
By George she was right! Laura and I continue along the trail past a small tour booth which normally provides ferry access to the Island of San Martin out in the middle of the falls (free), as well as the small adventure boat ride under the falls (350AR), unfortunately both of these attractions are currently closed and the only boat adventure available is booked at the main entrance of the park. The big adventure includes a longer ride up the river to the falls and what is billed as a jeep safari but is really a quick ride through the jungle on an open air jeep. At 650 AR I decide I’ll wait to see if the small adventure opens up, if not I’ll probably end up booking the big adventure one of these days. As anyone who knows me could have probably guessed, I’m planning to be here for a while.
We reach the best viewpoint on the whole lower trail, a metal platform jutting out straight towards one of many epicenter’s in the impressive falls, immense amounts of water pouring down from above and continuing in a second set of drops directly below us. The water levels are so high that caution tape has been set up half way out the platform to block tourists, but thankfully I know how to step over things. Leaving my bag and camera behind and donning my go pro (videos coming soon) I head out into the madness of the spray and well and truly lose myself in Iguazu. As I watch the water rush around me, it;s honestly hard not to climb over the fence and try to get down even closer to the flow, though the countless tourists behind me and the thought of being barred from the park scare me out of that idea.
And now the go pro coverage, something I’m very glad to have, even if I paid too much for it back in Medellin Colombia.
Eventually we carry on, me drenched to the bone as the path winds away from the main sets of falls though were hardly leaving waterfalls in general behind as soon we stumble upon a single beautiful waterfall which again, in another place on earth, would be the main attraction. Shortly thereafter we come to dos hermanos falls, a twin set of cascades maybe 20 meters tall with lots of water flowing into the pool before heading down to join the main river. The no swimming signs and constant guides walking by are infuriating but I’m soaked anyway so it’s not that big a deal.
After snacking on some peanuts and alfajores (delicious Argentinean cookie like creation) staring at the twin waterfalls above we head onwards and come to the end of the trail and one of many shops/restaurants in the park. Laura heads off to the bathroom and I enjoy watching some coati’s surround and pressure a french couple with an empanada into abandoning the table. The things are relentless in their pursuit of food and it resembles military tactics more than anything else, luckily if you make load noises and advance towards them they scatter pretty quickly.
We don’t wait long though, leaving the adorable but annoying Coati’s behind and following the signs heading towards the superior trail, which takes you up above the falls, and across the top of some of them. On the way though we pass another one of the blue and white birds and the sheraton hotel, the only one in the park, which has the massive benefit of rooms with views of the falls, as well as nighttime access to the trails when the park is empty (Actually, I went and asked at the hotel recently and you are not allowed on the trails after 6pm, could be possible to do it, but if the rangers find you they won’t be happy, this removes a lot of the allure for me.)
Next up we head long the paved pathways to the entrance of the upper trail, which provides a series of different viewpoints from above the falls. The access in Iguazu really is impressive for an organized attraction, as the metal boardwalk leads us out over the edge of the first few falls, dos hermanos and salt chico, which were the last three falls we passed on the lower circuit.
As we continue out along the boardwalk the views just get more and more impressive as e come to a viewpoint above Salto Bossetti, looking out at the first of two horseshoes that make up these falls, which in total span more than a mile in the middle of the sub tropical jungle. It’s insane, and again unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
We keep going along the boardwalk further out, drawing closer to the main sets of falls and eventually standing on a platform at the beginning of the long, all but uninterrupted line of beauty. The rush and crashing sound of the cascades is overwhelming and all encompassing. My cheeks already sore, they’re not getting any better marvelling at this world wonder.
As we continue along the seemingly never ending wooden metal hybrid boardwalk, crossing just above the brink of one of the falls, I look upstream at the quickly moving but surprisingly calm brown water, and see an interesting looking bird perched on a branch silhouetted in the grey light of the cloudy day. It looks like a smaller species of toucan, and I’m fairly sure my photos confirm this, I just wish the lighting was better.
The next viewpoint is maybe the best of all, almost inside the high water levels and up close and personal with some of the most powerful cascades, though the view stretches on a long way, an endless line of power and beauty.
We reach the final viewpoint which is more impressive in person than in photos, smack dab in the middle of the first horseshoe of waterfalls. Here you feel a part of the falls, and tracing the line where the water drops from the cliffs all around is a fascinating experience.
Eventually though we head back along the second half of the circuit, which is annoyingly quite a ways from any falls. Still I do spot a bird hanging out precariously close to the drop and once again feel jealous. Wouldn’t flying be just amazing, which brings me to a temptation I sadly do not have the courage for, skydiving on the Brazilian side of the falls.
As we walk the sun comes out and we’re greeted by tons of butterfly’s soaking in the rare rays of sunlight at this time of year, fluttering all around us and some even taking a mid flight break on me.
When we reach the end of the trail we quickly head to Estacion los Cataratas and wait for a train to the Garganta Del Diablo (Devil’s throat) which is supposed to be the highlight of most people’s visit to Iguazu. We’re lucky as we’re only waiting maybe five minutes for the train which runs once every half hour and then were climbing aboard the crowded open air train which winds through the jungle to the station a few kilometers back from the bring of the falls. One the way we spot countless more butterflies and even a few iguana’s though getting pictures from the crowded train is difficult and I don’t bother.
Once we get to the station we climb off and decide to wait a few minutes, letting the eager crowd get ahead of us for a bit so the walk on the long boardwalk over the river might be less crowded. The walk takes about 20 minutes strolling, though I recently did it in 10 motoring along and passing a lot of people. As we head out on the boardwalk the sun starts to come out even more, leading to more butterflies and the appearance of more of those blue birds on one of the narrow islands we pass through on the path to the devil’s throat.
We get to the devil’s throat and I honestly just have no idea what to do. I’ve never seen anything like it. The water surrounds us and it feels like we’re all about to plunge over the precipice into the impenetrable cloud of mist below. This place is just… how to say it. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than leaning out over the edge of the railing. It’s where I want to die If I’m in immense pain and know I’m dying. And If not it’s where I want my ashes, or my body, no matter the legality. To borrow from Eleanor Roosevelt It makes Niagra look like a kitchen faucet, and is my personal version of paradise. Photo’s and video just cannot capture it, but this is a blog so I’ll let them show what they can, but trust me when I say it’s so much better than it looks.
We spend a good long chunk of time here, probably about an hour, though it’s nowhere near enough for me and I feel sure that I’ll be back over and over again. It might be the happiest I’ve ever been, and is certainly one of the best experiences, producing the most awe, of my entire trip so far. I can’t imagine a more impressive place and I’m so thankful that I have the time and freedom to return to it many times over the next 4 months.
And again here is some go pro footage as often the mist of the falls was just too much for my normal camera, although the video is from my normal camera, which has now died on the brazilian side of the falls.
Eventually though we head back, Laura and I are both tired and overwhelmed, though unsure If we want to try to fit in another pass at the lower trail or not. There’s also a small trail which leads to a separate waterfall where swimming is possible, but on the way back across the boardwalk we learn that’s been closed due to a flooded path and heavy rains. As we walk along the boardwalk still more butterflies and birds dance around us allowing me to take some final pictures of our incredible day at Iguazu falls. Honestly I’m having a hard time thinking of a better day in my life.
