We woke to sunshine the morning of our visit to the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls. Talk about good luck with timing! Despite a deluge our first night in Puerto Iguazú, a cloudy morning had turned to blue skies for our previous day on the Brazilian side of the falls and now the cloudless skies and warm weather were about as good as we could hope for this day’s adventure.
With the national park entrance only 20-25 minutes from our jungle hotel, we arrived not long after opening and bought tickets on the spot. Moderate crowds were already gathering, but we picked up free timed tickets from a kiosk en route to the Estación Central for the open-air park train and were aboard a short time later. We bypassed the intermediate stop to head straight for the terminus of the train track, wanting to get to the top of the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat) before things got too crowded.
Snaking around groups in guided tours, we walked briskly on the raised metal walkway constructed over water and through small islands thick with vegetation. Beyond a open stretch of shallow moving water and rising above trees of yet another islet, we spotted the telltale column of mist rising into the sky that signaled Devil’s Throat ahead.
Mist rising in the distance signals the approach to Devil’s Throat
Stopping at a bench at a small rest area, we suited up in the rain gear we’d brought before continuing on. The distant roar of the falls grew louder as we approached. Ahead to the right, water streamed into a massive circular space truly looking like some leviathon mouth.
Approaching Devil’s Throat
This was Devil’s Throat from above. And to the left at the end of the walkway, those towering columns of mist from a gorge where massive cascades spilled. Once again, we were drenched as we stood smiling and awe-struck at the top of these mighty waterfalls. It’s an experience I’ll remember the rest of my life.
On the summit of Devil’s Throat
Retracing our steps to the train, we could slow down as we passed the growing tour groups heading out to Devil’s Throat. Turtles sunned on rocks in the shallow moving water that flowed under the raised walkway. What looked to be a large catfish swam past. A sign stated that many of the fish on this upper portion of the Iguazu River are unique and evolved separately from the fish below, where larger predators could be found.
We rode the train back to a midway stop to begin our hike on the Circuito Superior (Upper Circuit) where walkways run along the upper rim of a long string of waterfalls. We’d seen people on the walkways the day before while on the Brazilian side of the Falls and now we could look back down and across to where we had been. Periodic viewing spots widened to allow visitors to stop and take in the spectacular view and roaring water as it spilled over the cliffs at our feet. The sheer power and scope of these waterfalls is mesmerizing!
On the Upper Circuit of Iguazu Falls, Argentina
After hiking the length of the Upper Circuit, we were hungry so stopped to eat outdoors at one of the small restaurants that dot the park. Before we sat down, I noticed several people looking upward and followed their gaze to see a monkey dining from a Styrofoam clamshell he’d stolen from below. We shooed a coati from our table and watched another coati swipe food from a nearby table, running off with its loot while some of his buddies followed on his heels. When they ducked through the fence, a veritable swarm of coatis appeared to follow the thieves further into the thicket.
(A lot of) coatis stealing food.
The Paseo Inferior (Lower Walk) took much less time to hike than the Upper Circuit, as a portion of this circuit was blocked. Still, the views were spectacular.
Back at the mid-point train stop, we watched a large group of monkeys in a tree as we waited for the train. Their eyes searched for visitors with food who ventured out of a wire-enclosed dining area, ready to dart in to steal a prize.
Back near the main entrance, we spent our remaining time in the park in a free exhibit about jaguars. A woman told us she’d become a volunteer after learning about a project to protect the dwindling population of jaguars in the “Green Corridor” area that includes both the Argentine and Brazilian Iguazu National Parks. She invited us to watch a film in an air conditioned tent set up nearby. We readily agreed, intrigued both by the subject and the offer of cool air as the day had gotten progressively warmer. Impressive conservation efforts have seen the population of jaguars rise to over 100 jaguars in the Green Corridor up from a low of just 40 in 2005.
It was a beautiful day in the Parque Nacional Iguazú and an unforgettable experience at what is truly one of the great natural wonders of this beautiful planet. If you get the chance, don’t miss it!
I’d been excited about visiting Iguazu Falls, the enormous collection of spectacular waterfalls that straddle the Argentine/Brazilian border, from the minute I planned this trip. I knew I wanted to see both sides of the falls but wasn’t sure which side of the border to stay on. A little research confirmed that it made the most sense for us to fly from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, rather than neighboring Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. There were good flight options on Aerolíneas Argentinas from the close-to-downtown AEP airport in Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú. So, I chose a nice-looking lodge in the jungle just outside the town of Puerto Iguazú and arranged for a driver to take us to the falls on each side of the border.
I’d also been eyeing a fun night called The Argentine Experience with locations in Buenos Aires and Puerto Iguazú. The Argentine Experience included wine tasting, cocktail- and empanada-making, a steak dinner and dessert followed by making yerba mate and popular alfajores cookies. Reviews were great for both locations, but I thought it would fit perfectly into our time on the border since the Brazilian side of the falls apparently only took half a day to explore while most sources said the Argentine side took a full day. I decided we’d do the Argentine side of the falls on our first full day, then the Brazilian side on the second day with The Argentine Experience that night. I could foresee ample wine drinking at The Argentine Experience and didn’t want any lingering effects to take away from a following day at the falls. That plan got reversed when The Argentine Experience contacted me to say they needed to move our booking by a night. They offered us a mate cup and bombilla as an apology for the inconvenience, I re-worked things with our driver, crossed my fingers that post-drinks headaches wouldn’t be an issue, and we were set!
A driver from our hotel was waiting when we exited the small Puerto Iguazú airport. Selvaje Lodge Iguazú turned out to be all I’d hoped. It’s a gorgeous lodge in the jungle with a beautiful pool, boardwalks out to the guestrooms, lovely common areas, a good restaurant and friendly staff. Our room was spacious with a balcony looking onto lush jungle greenery. We enjoyed a varied, included breakfast each morning in the airy dining room.
Selvaje Lodge Iguazú
The Lodge arranged a driver to take us into town the first evening (a 10 min. drive). Our first glimpse of Puerto Iguazu convinced us our choice to stay in the jungle was a wise one. The city is not particularly charming and street noise could be a problem depending on where you stay. We asked to be dropped off at a grocery store near our chosen restaurant so we could buy a large bottle of water before dinner. Happily, we made our purchase and walked the two blocks to Restaurante La Rueda just in time to escape a seriously heavy rain. Throughout a delicious dinner in a locally-themed atmosphere, we could hear the rain pounding on the roof, a deluge that kept up throughout the night.
Thankfully, the rain stopped by the time our driver Patricia picked us up the next morning for our trip to Foz do Iguaçu, the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. Despite the fact we were only going to be in Brazil for the day, we needed to get visas under a new law passed this year. We’d bought those online prior to leaving home and, with visas and passports in hand, crossing the border was a quick affair.
It was still cloudy when we entered the national park on the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. I’d bought tickets in advance on the park’s website for 9:30am, but we arrived earlier. Happily, there wasn’t much of a line at that time and they let us in early to board a free bus that shuttles visitors to various points in the park. We opted to hop off at a mid-point by the elegant pink colonial Das Cataratas Hotel and begin our hike along the falls there towards the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat) and the end point of the bus route.
Our first glimpse of the falls streaming off the cliffs on the opposite side of the Iguazu River in Argentina was breathtaking and the views just didn’t stop. The heavy overnight rain looked to have contributed to the volume of water in the cascades. Following the path along our side of the riverbank took us up steps and down slopes, constantly looking for the next vista beyond the green jungle sprinkled with flowers. As we approached the end, a wide column of mist rising high in the sky signaled the Devil’s Throat in the distance. A boardwalk extends out to a viewing platform near the roaring waterfall. Amazingly, birds darted through the rushing water to light and nest on the cliffs behind the waterfalls. Without rain gear (which we brought), there’s no way not to get soaked to the skin on the platform, but what an experience!
Onto the viewing platform on the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls at Devil’s Throat basin
Swifts behind and flying through the Falls were easier to see from the side.
After viewing Devil’s Throat, we took an elevator up the cliff and past several scavenging coatis, the local ring-tailed cousin to the American raccoon. These little thieves populate both sides of the falls along with monkeys, stealing food and showing little fear of humans. But they are fun to watch!
Coatis
The terminus of the free park bus route is at this point along with a gift shop, medical post/ambulance, food court and restaurant. We rode the bus back to the Macuco Safari stop. We considered taking a boat there, but the boats pride themselves on going under waterfalls and neither of us felt like getting that wet on a relatively cool day. Instead, we took the nearby Caminho da Bananeiros, a path that led through the jungle, under trees full of monkeys, to a tranquil spot on the Iguazu River. By the time we reached the river, the skies had turned blue. It was so beautiful that we decided to ride the bus back to the Das Cataratas Hotel and retrace our earlier steps to Devil’s Throat in the sunshine. I checked my watch to confirm we had enough time before we really ought to let Patricia know we were ready to be picked up again. Why not?
We made the hike along the path back to Devil’s Throat quicker than the first time, but really glad for the chance to see those spectacular waterfalls again in the sunshine. What a difference a few hours can make!
The crowds had really descended on Devil’s Throat on our second visit.
The drive back across the border to Argentina was uneventful with only a quick stop to stamp our passports. We were back in plenty of time to relax before Patricia was back to take us to The Argentine Experience.
Of course, The Argentine Experience is a total tourist experience. We knew that going in, but it was big fun nonetheless and we learned something about local food and drink. Things kicked off with sampling local appetizers and wine-tasting that focused on identifying aromas and flavors in the nose and taste of wines from the Bodega Catena Zapata family winery. Our companions were an Australian couple, a family from the Netherlands, and a chef from Buenos Aires, everyone quickly in the spirit of things and all of us chatting and enjoying ourselves. Moving from the tasting table to long dinner tables, we were given black aprons and “chef’s toques” before making cocktails from wine and pisco, the grape-based liquor claimed by both Peru and Chile. Next up was empanada-making, an abbreviated but fun exercise that basically had us stuffing pre-made dough with pre-made filling, then working on our crimping styles before handing over our creations to be baked by someone else. The steak dinner that followed (with more wine, of course) was delicious. Then, it was time to learn about brewing yerba mate (mah-tay). I was actually really looking forward to this. I knew this was the national drink of Argentina and had seen it everywhere in Buenos Aires and Puerto Iguazu. The varied and distinctive drinking gourds looked to be filled with dried grass clippings and I’d read that the taste was bitter and unpleasant for the uninitiated. Hmm. I had to try it!
The Argentine Experience in Puerto Iguazú
We were all given mate cups and instructed us to fill the cups 2/3 full, cover the cup with our palm and shake vigorously at an angle to settle the dust in the yerba mate, leaving the yerba mate piled on one side of the cup. Then, we added hot water to the open side opposite the pile of yerba mate and let it sit a few minutes. Next, we levered the silver, pinched-bottom bombilla (straw) under the pile of yerba mate before pouring more hot water in the cup to just below the level of the yerba mate. Finally, we could drink, adding more hot water and sipping just afterwards, continuing the process as we drank. It is a bitter brew, much like unsweetened tea which I like so I was surprised to find I liked the mate more than I’d expected. Or at least I disliked it less than I expected. We accompanied our yerba mate with alfajores, cookies which we filled with dulce de leche and rolled in crushed nuts. Before we left, I was told to choose a complementary mate cup and bombilla from a wall of colorful cups for sale. I happily did so, impressed that they’d remembered the offer. All in all, we had a great time at The Argentine Experience (and felt just fine the next morning for our day on the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls).
In the next post: A day on the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls.
Practical Info:
The regional AEP airport in Buenos Aires is much closer to the city than the larger international EZE airport. This made it a lot cheaper and faster to get to from our Buenos Aires lodging. We used Aerolíneas Argentinas out of AEP both for our round-trip flights to Puerto Iguazu and for our later one-way flight to Santiago, Chile. Aerolíneas Argentinas flew on time and we had positive experiences with them. The only downside of flying international out of AEP is the complete lack of a lounge. This seems odd since there is a Priority Pass lounge on the domestic side of AEP (AMAE Lounge), but that is the current state of things. The flight time from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu is under two hours.
The Argentine Experience offers options of just dinner, just wine tasting or a combination called “the full experience” which we did. The full experience costs $90 per person and lasted over three hours.
The Brazilian eVisa is available online here. It’s good for 90 days and costs $80.90 per person, an annoyingly high fee for a daytrip like ours, but nonetheless a visa is necessary for Americans. The process online was quick and Patricia said that people failing to get their visas in advance faced delays at the border.
I originally booked Javier, Patricia’s husband, as our driver. Javier was sick when we arrived and Patricia filled in and had the necessary credentials to drive professionally and cross the border. The SUV was clean and comfortable and she was a very good driver. She spoke very little English (I think Javier would have been the same), but we managed fine with my Spanish and she was very nice. The cost was 90k Argentine pesos for the Brazilian day, 60k for the Argentine day at the falls, and 15k RT for the drive to The Argentine Experience, cash. Our hotel also could book rides.
Calle de los Suspiros (Street of Sighs) in Colornia
Founded by the Portuguese in 1680, Colonia, Uruguay, with its UNESCO World Heritage historic quarter is an easy ferry ride from Buenos Aires and a picture-perfect way to spend a day away from the bustle of the city. Doing a little research, I chose the Buquebus ferry service over ferries operated by Colonia Express. Buquebus operates out of a large modern terminal in Puerto Madero.
I bought Buquebus tickets online, opting for Business Class as it was only about $10 more per person and allowed first on and first off privileges. I’d read there could be a line at immigration at times and, since I only wanted to do a daytrip and didn’t have time to waste, that was a deciding factor.
Business Class on Buquebus turned out to be a surprisingly posh experience. We breezed through security and customs (exiting Argentina and passing Uruguay passport control a few feet apart in the Buenos Aires terminal) and initially missed the special Business Class lounge behind a door just in front of us before turning left around the open atrium of the terminal, then to the right towards the large Turistica Class waiting area. Realizing our mistake, we returned to the Business Class lounge just in time to board. True to the billing, all Business Class passengers were ushered onboard first and to the second deck Business Class seating overlooking the small ship atrium with its duty-free shop. Crew handed out flutes of sparkling wine at the top of the steps indicating the open seating beyond consisting of large leather chairs clustered around tables, all surrounded by large windows. Very nice!
Aboard the Buquebus ferry: Business Class seats upstairs and duty-free shopping and money exchange below
The trip to Colonia from Buenos Aires takes about 1h15m and we were soon docking. David and I were first off the boat. We stopped by the nearby tourist center (just across the parking lot and to your left as you leave the terminal), grabbed a map of the historic walled city and were off. We walked past the old wooden Colonia train station down a road towards the main gate to the old city a short distance beyond. Crossing over a footbridge and through the gate, we were soon in the large main cobblestoned plaza flanked by colonial buildings. Palm trees, flowering plants and orange trees heavy with fruit adorned the area. Vendors had set up tables offering trinkets and souvenirs. Guitar music played and a scattering of people enjoyed the sunshine in cafes that dotted the left side of the plaza that leads to the iconic lighthouse.
Historic Colonia is small and easy to walk. The “must-sees” really aren’t and you could enjoy the town without climbing the lighthouse, going inside the colonial church or walking down cobbled Calle de los Suspiros (the Street of Sighs). We did visit the church (Iglesia Matriz) and check out Calle de los Suspiros, but we opted to skip the lighthouse other than to view it from outside.
Iglesia Matriz : The current church was built in 1810 on the site of Portuguese churches dating back to 1680. It is one of the oldest churches in Uruguay.
We enjoyed just roaming the streets, enjoying empanadas and cold local craft beers (gluten free by default) in a café, browsing the shops, and admiring the wide tree-line avenues just outside the historic center (Someone planted a lot of trees a long time ago and would be pleased to see how they’ve grown!)
In warmer weather and if the spirit moves you, I understand there are nice beaches nearby. There are also wineries to visit with tours on offer for those who want to spend more time in the area. I’m sure an enjoyable overnight in Colonia can be had, but we preferred to get back to Buenos Aires before dark and were very happy with our afternoon in Uruguay.
Practical info: Obviously passports are necessary to cross the border between Argentina and Uruguay, so don’t forget to bring those.
I bought tickets online just a day or so prior to our daytrip. I’d been checking and saw that the ferries were not full. This could change in the summer. Buquebus offers other destinations from Buenos Aires, including Montevideo.
Buquebus asks that travelers arrive 90 minutes prior to departure of their ferries. We did so, but had plenty of time to spare. We were there in September (roughly equivalent to March in the northern hemisphere), though, and I could imagine crowds being larger in the summer.
Since we were traveling Business Class, we avoided a long line of people waiting to board in Colonia, and were allowed on the ferry as soon as we arrived (about an hour prior to departure). Passport control was quick and efficient (but again, we were traveling in September, not the height of summer).
Most places we visited took credit cards, but otherwise prefer Uruguayan pesos. Most would also take Argentine pesos and US dollars, but exchange rates might not be good. We didn’t change money given our short visit, but there was a currency exchange service on the Buquebus ferry.
We used Uber to get to Puerto Madero from our apartment in Recoleta. It was rush hour when we returned and no Ubers were available. There were taxis around the port, but we opted for a longish (40 min.) ramble back as it was a beautiful evening. Still, just a heads-up for anyone wanting to return during rush hour.
