Iguazu Falls

Perhaps the mightiest falls in the world! Two and half times wider than Niagara and much taller. It is in fact a multitude of 275 individual sections and falls.

Wiki mentions that on sighting the Iguazu, then United States First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" Such is the might of these falls. It is hard to compare these two falls and Niagara is charming in its own way but having visited both we can certainly say Iguazu is much bigger in scale and more dramatic. It has two sides: Brazillian and the Argentinian. Having travelled this far, all the way from California, we made sure to visit both the sides. Argentina side is much bigger and we can see the heart of the falls including a track to Garganta del Diablo(meaning Devil's Throat), a massive section of the waterfall.

Brazilian side is smaller but has more of a panoramic views of the falls. Atleast one full day on each side is highly recommended.

Brazilian side of the falls viewed from Argentina side of the falls.

You can either fly to the Brazilian airport (Foz De Iguazu) or to the Argentinian airport(Puerto Iguazu). Tickets to Brazilian airport is usually cheaper and you can fly from Rio, Sao Paulo or even Lima like we did. From either airport you can take a taxi and cross the border. Make sure to have necessary visas! We flew from Lima to the Brazilian side and took a taxi to Argentinian side and stayed inside the Iguazu falls national park(in the beautiful Sheraton Iguazu)! This is the only hotel inside the park on Argentinian side. There is one on Brazilian side too (das cataratas) but it is much more expensive and doesn't have the falls view.

Atleast a full day is needed to properly explore the Argentina side. The most important and farthest attraction is Garganta del Diablo or the Devil's throat.

From the Park entrance main station there is a small train to the Devil's throat trail-head

From there it is a mile walk across Iguazu river to the viewpoint.

From Sheraton, it is a short walk to main station. You can get more info on the hotel here: Sheraton Iguazu

The view of Devil's throat is exhilarating.

The flow of water is unbelievable and the rising mist can feel like rain.

From Devil's throat we got back to the main station and explored both upper and lower ciruits (called Circuito Superior and Circuito Inferior)

Both Circuito Superior and Circuito Inferior showcase multiple falls.

It was a sunny day and there were rainbows everywhere around the falls created by the rising moist.

We then visited Isla San martin which is just a short boat ride and a small but steep hike.

San Martin has stunning views of the curtain of falls on the Argentinian side.

There is a lot of wildlife around with Coatees, spider monkeys, capuccin monkeys, strange butterflies and rodents.

Just like Niagara Falls there are boat tours which get close to some of the waterfalls and literally drench the passengers. We decided against taking it due to time factor.

The next day we went to Brazilian side. We stayed in Foz De Iguazu and the Brazilian side of the falls is just a 20 min bus ride from the city.

Weather was a total contrast to the previous day. It was raining and we had to buy ponchos!

The rainbows were missing but the rain made the water cascades look more impressive.

We felt Brazilian side was more organized (they have a nice shuttle connecting all the view points), different yet somewhat less charming than Argentinian side.

For more travel info wiki is a good guide: Iguazu Travel Wiki Link Saying farewell to this paradise was tough but we had Rio as our next destination. That made it somewhat easier!

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