Iguazu Falls – Argentina side

OMG! I LOVE this place. It is spectacular and adventurous, and fun experiencing the might and power of mother nature.

We were at the falls for about 7 hours today and arrived nice and early to avoid too much heat and get there before the hoards of tour buses. We left the hotel 7.30am but it seems everyone else did too. I think independent travellers are like minded people. Given that most of us on the tour like to have a bit of personal time with the city/artefact/statue/natural element that we are visiting, we were all ok with getting up and leaving early. When we needed to, we walked pretty fast to get to a place as quickly as possible and before others arrived. Sound familiar?

And we’re off

Once we were through the gates and we had to board the train that takes you up to one of the best places of all. The upper Devil’s Throat. It is from here that you really see the sheer volume and power of these falls. This is the top of the falls where the water that was so calmly meandering along in the river 2 seconds ago just plummets down, down down to the bottom and gushes out to the second river below (where we were yesterday).

It’s a 1,1km walk from the train to the look out – with a number of smaller lookouts taking in the calmer waters along the way. They have built the walkway across the actual river so you are observing nature the whole time you are heading across from land to the falls. The river below looks deceptively shallow, and it has a peaceful flowing feel. It may look that way now, but you could tell the water was still moving pretty quickly.

Given the noise of the falls from yesterday’s encounter we can’t hear anything at this point and with the water flowing so peacefully at this point you could be deceived in thinking you were in the wrong place, nothing here suggests there are some of the biggest waterfalls in the world just a short stroll away.

Hold onto your hats

The wind changed direction and all of a sudden everyone turns their backs for cover, especially to protect the camera’s. Mist from the falls is pelting our way, it’s strong and thick and wets peoples clothes pretty well.  They did advise us that this happens but it was so quick that none of us were ready for it.

When we did get to our end point, we stopped in amazement. Holy cow this is amazing. I don’t have enough adjectives to describe this but I was completely mesmerised. After taking another million photos, (then watching the hundreds of other people up on the deck do the same thing), just standing and watching the water was the best way to soak it all in.

Watching the water move….oh my goodness, so much water, so dense, so much speed and such a natural force all just dropping away before your eyes into a misty abyss. Quite simply – this was incredible. Karen, Allen and Nicole all felt the same. This is just not something you see or experience in everyday life. This is mother nature at her best. We all could have spent more time there but we had to get back to our guide and get the train back down to our next spot. 

There are two other walks you can do, the upper and lower walk and this again gives you more viewpoints of the various falls scattered along the ravines. How many photos do I need of this place? Clearly I don’t have enough already as I managed to take a few hundred more!

Then it was time for the boat ride. 

Boat ride

This is an absolute must for anyone visiting the falls. There are a couple of different types of boat rides you can do, but I thoroughly recommend the one we did. 

But spiders first

Out tour started with a 4×4 truck ride through the rainforrest with a guide pointing out the (unfortunate lack of) wildlife that abounds the area. No pumas or jaguars, however there are plethora of huge spider webs arching across the track , shimmering in the sunlight so you can see the Intricate weaving’s of these amazing webs they call home, and there are lots of them. I was pretty happy that I wasn’t the tallest person on the 4×4 because some of the webs weren’t very far above our heads … I didn’t really look out into the rainforrest much as I was far too concerned about what was lurking above me at any given point along the track. We did stop under a rather large web, literally just above my head…. ( cue the screwed up face and shivers down the spine) but the little critter moved along the web thankfully away for where I was over toward Karen and Alan. Karen had her camera out taking piccies, I had mine out but couldn’t manage to get it in focus … And I  didn’t want to particularly see it too close up. We stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, under a listening sun of around 42 degrees, then kept going. We drove under some pretty spectacular coloured ones after that but again I was happy to keep going.  So doing all this doesn’t really sound like you are going on a boat ride does it? To be honest it wasn’t something I would want to do by choice, but it was the only way to the boarding point, and was of some interest as we learned about more bird life that is found in the national park with help from photos from the guide.

Back on track for the boat ride

We were told in advance that we would get absolutely soaked on this boat ride and dressed appropriately (we changed before getting onto the 4×4’s). They give you waterproof sacs to put your belongings in to keep them safe and dry which is very much needed. On the boat ride, there is a point where you can have your cameras out (beware of spray from the falls though) then they tell you to put your cameras away and get ready for part II – going under the falls.

As we board we are given a life jacket and take a seat. On the boat was a large French tour group. A little older (mostly 50+) and were all there with video cameras, cameras, and i-pads at the ready. I only took my iPhone for this particular ride as my camera is not waterproof and not wanting to risk it, left my handbag with our tour guide.

After phase one, we were already saying how amazing it was being out there on the riverbed, we felt so small and insignificant compared to the chutes of water now pouring down all around us. Then we were told to put everything away and prepare to get wet! We moved around to a different section of the falls for this, like a cul-de-sac environment. Then we saw it. One of the sections we were hurtling toward had a phenomenal volume of water shooting down, and it was loud! Looking at it I think….. Holy cow – Am I going under THAT? Cool! 

Did I say we would get wet?

So in we went, no less than three times, getting as close as possible to the base of the falls and whizzing the boat around so that each side got it’s fill.

By golly the Frogs had an absolute ball and were the leaders in shouting out for another go and everyone else on the boat joined in. I was not aware I did this but Karen said I laughed all the way through the whole ‘dive under the falls’ moments. Waving at the official cameraman, giving the double thumbs up each time and joining in with the Frogs and everyone else on the tour clapping each time we came out of a fall, and shouting ‘yes’ when they asked if we wanted to back and do it again.  All so rehearsed from the crew, but too good not to play along with. When you are under the falls you can barely see anything due to the mist and water pummeling your body and face, your eyes are mostly closed but you could absolutely feel and hear the might of exactly where you were, and that was an exhilarating feeling. 

You could not wipe the smile off everyone’s face for the next few minutes as we motored back to the pier and disembarked, dried off and looked back at the falls taking in what we had just done. I had taken a boat ride underneath some of the most amazing waterfalls in the world. I got saturated by one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, and I couldn’t be happier.

It was phenomenal, an absolute must if ever you come here. What a great day!!!!

This has been such a thrilling and awe inspiring highlight of my trip! Love, love, love. 

Travel is the ABSOLUTE best.