Puerto Iguazu - February 23rd

Today is not going to be an easy day to write about, because it is hard to put the awesome spectacle of the Iguazu falls into words.  The pictures aren’t really going to do it justice as well, because the visual spectacle is just one thing, there is the sound, the feel of the spray and just the enormity of the whole thing that makes it one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world.

The day begins early; we are up and out of the hostel by 07.30 to get the bus (the 07.40 bus which we make by skin of our teeth after buying a picnic lunch).  After getting off the bus at the other end and buying our tickets, we walk with the crowds to the station for the internal train they have to shuttle people about the park.  However here we deviate from the crowd and follow the advice of our hostel, and Lonely Planet, and instead of taking the train we walk to the beginning of the waterfalls trails.

There are four trails, the first two of which are called the Upper Trail and the Lower Trail.  The Upper Trail is a set of walkways that walks you across the top of the falls.  Literally right out to where they drop 80m into the river below. One guide book said it is not that spectacular but is a good appetiser for the rest of the day, but I’ll say it is wrong.  On its own this circuit would be worth the entrance fee.  In fact the first view of the falls you get from this is so good, with them stretching off into the distance, that you would be happy paying the entrance fee for that one view alone.

But it is not alone.  After spending an hour up above the falls, it is time to get down and meet them from below.  Thus we start on the Lower Circuit.  I actually wasn’t as impressed by this one as the Upper Circuit, but that could be because by now the crowds were filling up and we were battling to get good views in a few locations.  This time you are standing right in front of some of the waterfalls as they cascade down.  Needless to say there is a lot of spray and you get soaked.

After this we start the third trail, on San Martin Island.  This is an island in the middle of the river that you have to get a free ferry across to.  Once there it is a steep climb up a flight of stairs to some more view points, including one that is right in front of the San Martin Waterfall (each of the individual waterfalls in the whole set has its own name).  This waterfall is quite spectacular, and wet.  But the beauty of the island is a little beach which we can sit on and have our picnic lunch.  You can even wade out slightly into the river to get some good photos.

Partially through rushing to beat the crowds, and partially because we didn’t queue for dinner, we have not spent that much time in the park when we get back to the mainland and finish the Lower Circuit.  Because we have this time on our hands we decide to go on a jungle hike 7kms through the forest to another waterfall.  Unlike all the other pathways this one is not constructed and it doesn’t get that much traffic.  Therefore the chances of seeing wildlife on the path are much greater.  Which is just as well because the waterfall at the end was not great.  On any other day it might have been, but today it isn’t.  And we didn’t see any wildlife on the way, other than some giant ants.  But on the way back we did see some monkeys so it wasn’t a total loss.

When we got back from the jungle trek it was time to do the final walk, that to Garganta Del Diablo, the Devil’s Throat.  This is the big one, the biggest drop and biggest volume of all the falls.  To get to it you have to take the train around the park, and then walk 1km across the river.  It’s only when you see the volume of water on this side of the falls that you can understand their power.  The platform at the top of the falls is amazingly positioned, and is some feat of engineering.  You are literally standing over the top of the waterfall.  You feel like an ant on the rim of a toilet bowl.   The power of the water is amazing, as is the noise and the mist.  The only thing that ruined it was some rain, a lot of tourists, and the fact that we were at the end of the day so had limited time before the last train back.

After that we left the park, by the train (which is a frustratingly slow train at only 7kph, you could almost walk as fast), and we got the bus back to town for our last night in Argentina.