Puerto Iguaçu, The Devils Throat
Everyone says that visiting both sides of the Igazcu falls is a necessity, whether you do it Brazil > Argentina like we did or Argentina > Brazil. However I recommend Brazil > Argentina as although the Brazilian side was remarkable the Argentinian side was astounding and provided a whole day of wow!
Overlooking the Devil’s throat
We once again caught a bus from the man bus station at $70Pesos return, (Bus company is Rio Uruguay) you will need to buy this ticket from the ticket box and not on the bus as you usually would. The bus seemed to make a few stops along the way and then we arrived at the entrance of the National Park. This side of the falls is three times as large as the Brazilian side and although there is plenty to see and do and it is well organized, it is a little less “theme-park’esque” than the other side.
Getting close to the Iguazú Falls
We couldn’t use card for the $170Pesos entry tickets, which is frustrating as we can only get $1000Pesos out at the ATM at a time so using cash is really annoying, read more about our solution in an upcoming post. Once inside we purchased Nautical tickets which would take us on a 12 minute speed boat ride up close and personal with two of the waterfalls, this cost us $220Pesos which we were happy to handover, even happier when after two goes the credit card worked.
There are three tracks within the park, one will take you to the port for your boat ride, one is simply a walk along the top some of the waterfalls and the third can either be walked or undertaken by a mini train ride that runs back and forth from the Devil’s throat. Once you arrive at the station, you will take another walk on a wooden boardwalk that goes across the enormous river straight into the ferocious and largest waterfall at Iguaçu. The view was insane, and getting so close was such a fantastic experience. A natural wonder that basically beats most experiences I have had overseas in my life.
Small train at Iguazú Falls that will take you to the “Devil’s throat”, the greatest spectacle at the
Iguazu National Park
The 12 minute boat ride was also brilliant and we were luckily given a dry bag for all our gear as we literally went into the waterfall. We were entirely under and it was awesome, as soon as we popped out again I wanted to do it all over again, straight away. You must do this if you ever visit the falls!! I did the boat ride in my bikini and we had a towel to dry off afterwards, do not be deceived by the people you see returning from the ride, you will get saturated!
Boats that take you on a 12 minute joyride right into two different falls
Told you it gets wet
The food on offer was pretty average unfortunately, as on the Brazilian side where we packed our lunch the food looked really good. So we both had a schnitzel roll type of thing and shared chips for $155Pesos, with this whole day of walking perhaps I burned off half of the roll at least, and they took card, woohoo!
You definitely need a full day on this side of the falls, no flying in and flying out all in one day. Our 2nd day in Argentina and day at the falls was one of the best experiences I have had in my life. It’s magnitude has to been seen with your own eyes to believe. As the United States’ First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed when setting her sights on the falls, “Poor Niagara!”.
Puerto Iguaçu itself however, may I say is a horrible little town, it’s an awful introduction to Argentina if this is where you cross into the country as we did, and when compared to Beunos Aires it is almost impossible to believe that you are in the same country. In comparison Puerto Iguaçu shouldn’t even be a distant relative of this incredible city where we currently sit. Puerto Iguaçu has nothing going for it, it’s a dusty ugly place with limited facilities, no cultural feel to it, absolutely dead all day long as most visitors are at the falls, spend as little time here as you possibly can, we couldn’t wait to get out of there.
