Iguazu Waterfalls
Trip Start
Dec 14, 2007
1
61
301
Trip End
Nov 04, 2008
Cataratas de Iguazu,
Argentina
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Finally the day to visit Iguazu arrived! We had a horrible night due to the intense heat. Our room had a fan and it was acceptable right under it, but it had rained heavily around 7pm the previous night and then the sun came out again for an hour before raining again. That increased the humidity level to "no sleepable".
We did sleep but only after opening the room door and counting 325 llamas jumping over the waterfalls.
In any case, we were up early to catch the bus to Iguazu (it takes about 30 mins) and to avoid the crowds of tourists and backpackers as much as possible.
Believe us, it was well worth beating the rush of tourists. We managed to see 3 out of 4 places without a soul in sight. The only place which we couldnt avoid being surrounded by "picnic characters" was the Garganta del Diablo (where the waterfalls can be seen at the top and closest).
The visit to Iguazu waterfalls can be done from Brasil or Argentina. As we described the day before ("Road from Bagdhad to Iguazu") we passed on the Brasil visit and spent a whole day on the Argentinian side.
I doubt we missed anything from Brasil as we managed to see the falls from every perspective:
- Superior track: a top view
- Inferior track: going into a couple of falls
- Devils Gorge: from the centre of the falls at the top
- Sendero Macuco and Arrechea Falls: a 7 km walk along the jungle and a swim and shower under a 23 meter waterfall
More than sufficient.
Video Cataratas de Iguazu 1
We have now "been there and done that". It is an amazing show of nature and well worth the trip, but the fact that it is so accessible to everyone (Disney style paths and walks and explanations) just takes a large part of the "wonderful" out of it.We both greatly enjoyed the waterfalls from the Superior and Inferior track, as well as the long walk and swim. However the Devils Gorge was just terrible. Its comparable to trying to see the "Mona Lisa" painting and having 10,000 idioten pushing, jumping, shouting and taking annoying pictures in all sorts of poses.
We added a picture which we just had to take of a Chinese couple that actually didnt see the waterfalls at all but took 90 pictures of themselves there by pushing around and annoying people like us that just wanted to see the scenery.
Anyway, places like this cant get away from that sort of twats so one just needs to breath in and forget about them. A good example are the "Cai" monkeys which are all over the park and can be seen closely. People are walking around shouting and asking "have you seen any monkeys". We kept thinking - look at the mirror! The Iguazu of Argentina had 1 million visitors in 2007 - that says it all.
During our walks we managed to see the coaties (all over the park), a large animal similar to deer, cai monkeys feeding, Tucan birds, huge spiders and screaming ants (no joke here - its called the Solitary Ant and they are huge. If you get close to them, they produce small screams and emit a chemical smell...amazing)
We finished our day in the park with a 7km walk to the Arrechea waterfalls which you are allowed to swim in. It was great to have a dip with the 39 degrees heat around us and enjoy the semi solitude of the place.
Standing under the waterfall was a "must" so we did it in turns, but just quickly as the force of the freezing water is quite considerable after 23 meters.
The day ended with dinner at El Charro. The amount of meat they serve is just outrageous! Check the picture (and that was in the 22 peso menu! (4.5 euros))
