Iguacu Falls - Waterfalls on Steroids

When we were planning the scope and itinerary of this trip, we decided that a side trip to Iguacu Falls was something we needed to do. The falls are stupendous and straddle the borders of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. We consciously decided to stay in a very high end hotel on the Brasil side located inside the National Park. This meant that when the park closed at the end of the day, only the people staying at the hotel had access to the Brazilian side of the falls without the crowds. It also meant that we had to get a visa for entering Brazil as well as pay for the high end accommodations and food.

After flying to the airport on the Argentinian side, we took a taxi to the entrance of the National Park where the bus from the Hotel Belmond de las Cataratas picked us up and delivered us to a resort hotel that looked like something out of a period movie. The park was closing as we arrived so after getting settled, we walked down to the major falls on the Brazilian side. It was pretty spectacular.

 Front of the hotel

View from an arcade to some of the grounds

The word Iguacu means "big waters" in the Guarani language. Depending on the time of year, there are anywhere between 150 and 270 waterfalls with thousands of cubic feet of water pouring over the side per second. The spray from the cascade mists the air and depending on where the sun is, creates beautiful rainbows in the air above the chasm. The next day we hired a driver to bring us to the Argentine side so we could hike two trails - Upper Circuit and Lower Circuit and take the train to the Devil's Throat overlook.  

At the end of the day, we ate at the outdoor buffet barbecue at the hotel by the pool and relaxed on the grounds.

Since we had seen the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of the falls, the next day we decided to take a boat tour that brought you up the river to two of the actual falls. A tram takes you down to a path that leads to the dock where you board the boat. We were truly IN the rainforest (subtropical, semideciduous). Mosquito repellent was required. After getting down to the river, we all dressed in hooded plastic ponchos and flip flops and crammed into a long pontoon boat that seated about 40 people and headed up river. We headed into two falls and the guides maneuver the boat almost into the cascade and make sure everyone gets wet. It was very touristy but coming up close to the waterfalls is pretty impressive. I have a couple of GoPro videos but I guess they are just too big to upload to this blog.