We woke up bright and early, and by 6am were UBERing to GIG for our early morning LATAM flight to IGU.
Destination: Iguazu Falls, the largest and one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. The Iguazu River and its falls form the border between Brazil and Argentina, and each country has a national park on the site, with nearby international airports (IGU in Brazil and IGR in Argentina)
We scheduled one day to spend on each side. You need to visit both parks to truly experience Iguazu. The Brazilian side offers more panoramic views of the falls, while the Argentinian side allows you to get up closer to and even inside the falls
Fresh Brazilian Coffee To Start The Morning.
Our Gate.
Plane Spotting At GIG.
Airplane Views.
A cloudy descent.
We were greeted by heavy mist as we landed in IGU at 10:40 AM. A few short minutes later we stood outside the arrivals area to get a taxi. We had a difficult time ordering an UBER, and settled on a sketchy local, who wore a UBER hat and claimed to work for UBER (which he clearly did not). We agreed on 20 BRL (way over priced) for the short 5 Min. drive to the entrance of Iguaçu National Park, on the Brazilian side in Foz do Iguaçu.
Our
Uber Driver
We headed to the welcome center to buy our entry tickets (72 BRL) and a locker for our luggage (30 BRL). Located to the left of the welcome center, the lockers are pretty large and had plenty of room for our luggage.
Lockers.
There Is a Souvenir Shop Near The Entrance/Exit.
We packed a daily backpack with the camera gear and food for the day, and waited for the bus which takes visitors from the welcome center into the actual park and trails.
@Marco Polo We arrived at noon, and began 5 enjoyable hours exploring the 2 miles of paved trail alongside the falls. There are many great viewing points and photo spots along the way, and we kept stopping to take pictures of the vast panoramic views. Along the trail are also a few gift shops where we picked up sodas and magnets, and picnic tables where we stopped to have lunch in view of the falls. The trail culminates beneath the roaring falls at Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat), where we walked out on the boardwalk and experienced the roaring water and heavy mist up close. Some tourists wore ponchos here. We didn’t, and definitely got a bit wet!
Photos don’t do justice to the spectacular views in this magical landscape of lush greenery and water, where rivers and hundreds of waterfalls cascade down miles of rock face and the beautiful green of the rain forest. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, "Poor Niagara!"
Map Of The Park.
In Case You Face off With A Jaguar.
We Started The Trail At
The Belmond
We Didn't Have Much Luck With Birds.
Lunch Views.
The Ubiquitous Ring-Tailed Coati.
Orange Mushrooms.
Our Balcony In the Gran Meliá As Seen From The Brazilian Side.
Rainforest In Argentina.
Golden Silk Orb-Weaver.
Panoramic View.
It Is Always Nice To Find Kosher Ice Cream In Foreign Countries.
Argentinian side overlooking Garganta Del Diablo As Seen From The Brazilian Side.
Souvenirs.
Souvenirs With A Higher Price Tag.
We had booked a room at the
Gran Meliá Iguazú, which is situated inside Iguazu NP on the Argentinian side, overlooking the falls.
I had read online that they offer a free pickup from IGU to the hotel, so I called earlier in the day to arrange for a pickup at 5:30 PM, confirming with Concierge that it is complimentary.
We Ubered back to IGU (8 BRL), and were greeted by a handler holding a sign with our name. He introduced us to our driver, who would take us across the border to Argentina. Approaching the border a few minutes later, we accompanied our driver inside the building to get a Brazilian exit stamp on our passports. A bit further down the road, our driver pulled into a parking lot before the border, and explained that we were transferring vehicles, to cross into Argentina with a driver from the hotel. The hotel driver, Juan, paid the Brazilian driver, and we were on our way again to the border and Argentinian passport control. This time we stayed in the car while Juan went in and got Argentine entry stamps on our passports. We bypassed the long line of cars at the border with a special permit Juan had.
It was a pleasant drive from there through the jungle and into Iguazu NP in Argentina. We chatted with Juan, who told us he had seen a Jaguar once on the road leading to the hotel. We got to see some Black Faced Capuchin monkeys swinging in the trees as we pulled up to the park. The hotel is situated within the park border, and so we paid our park entrance fee on the way in (880 ARS) and arrived at the hotel a bit over an hour from when we departed IGU. Juan was a friendly person and so I handed him a nice tip when we got out, only for him to explain that the fare wasn’t covered and we owed him money. I was very perplexed and headed over to the front desk to speak to the manager, who told me that I owed 4500 ARS. I explained that I called earlier and confirmed that it was complimentary. She said she will look into it and proceeded to check us in. (it was awkward to say the least and left a bitter taste in my mouth)
Entrance To
Parque Nacional Iguazú.
Can You Spot It?
There Is Deer Xing Signs And Than There Is This.
We had reserved a waterfall view room, which was beautiful with the most amazing views (Avg. seems to be around $500.) IMO it is only worth saying at the Gran Meliá in a waterfall view room. The pool closed at 8PM, so we headed to the infinity pool overlooking the falls for a quick swim.
View From Our Room
Infinity Pool Overlooking The Falls.
We had some deluxe tuna sandwiches for dinner and headed to the lobby floor bar for some local Quilmes beer, which has since become one of our favorites…
Quilmes Time.
We headed in for the night, there was a long day ahead.
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