Iguazu Falls - Brazil side - Sunshine Bubbles and Freckles

OMG Iguazu Falls. You fall in love with it that’s what you do.

We saw the falls from the Brazilian side on day 1 (who have 20% of the falls and the Argentinian side on day 2 (who have 80% of the falls).

We stayed on the Argentine side in a great town Puerto Iguazu. It’s a lot bigger than it first seems when you drive in. It is here that we are bemused with the fact that we can pay for anything in no less than 4 currencies. The Argentinian Peso, The Brazilian Real, Euro’s and the all conquering USD. (Tip to anyone travelling, bring lots of cold hard USD with you! more later on this). The cheapest prices are of course in Peso’s. The conversions you get for the currencies are highway robbery but if you come into Argentina the direction I did you may not have any peso’s on you by the time you need them here, so it’s a great way to get rid of the excess currencies of previous destinations. The change is always given in Peso’s. Even at the Falls you can pay in all these currencies.

Don’t forget to charge your camera

I think I took about 7,000 photos at Iguazu Falls over the two days! It was simply jaw dropping and gob-smacking. WE stopped literally every few steps to take photos as you discover a new set of falls around most corners of the pathway. There are two ways to discover the falls, from above and from below and to fully appreciate the awsome-ness of this natural wonder of the world, you simply have to do both.

A few quick facts:

The falls were discovered in 1542
The name means Big Waters in local Indigenous language
Total length is approx 3 km’s with all the different falls included
1.5 million visitors annually come to see the falls (I thought it would be much more)
There are a number of waterfalls that appear at different times of the year.
… 150 falls in dry season
… 270 falls in wet season!!
Falling area is 2,700 sqm
Water volume flow reaches 6,500 cubic m during wet season

First day – Brazilian side

On the Brazilian side, there’s a path that takes about 1.5 hours to walk from where the buses stop, all the way to the centre path in the middle of the falls. You don’t walk for that long but given how many times you stop and take a photo or 40, then continue out to the great boardwalks that get out close to the falls (called the Devils Throat Pathway) and just gawk at the sheer might, power and noise of these amazing falls – it is awe inspiring.

You can get a tad wet when the wind changes direction and all the mist comes hurling toward you but it all becomes part of the amazing experience of being where you are. Taking in this surround of powerful water was somehow calming and peaceful despite the crowds and ooohs and aaaahs.

Iguazu Falls Brazil side deafining sounds — The sound of the falls was deafening

I stood in awe for quite some time along with a number of other people. This is, this is, this is just… God I don’t know how to describe it without repeating myself a billion times. This is just WOW – WOW and WOW again.

Be ready for a fight because people completely push into your spot where you stand and stick their cameras in front of your viewing space. You have to be careful not to loose it over the side, especially phones that don’t have any straps. I can only imagine how many phones or cameras have travelled the length of the falls, taking many memories with them.

One of my last photos of the day was taking in the view that this little fella had. Not a bad spot for your office.