Within minutes of walking out of the Cataratas del Iguazú International Airport, I could feel an intense dampness and heat hanging in the air. Over the three days I spent in this part of Argentina’s Misiones province, it didn’t matter whether it was the sun’s harsh rays or the rain’s heavy droplets beating down on me; the humidity was always there. It was at its worst whenever I was in a crowd - not only could I feel this dampness, I could smell the sweat poring out of other people’s skin. Any time I entered into an air-conditioned room was a sharp and welcome relief; it was tempting to never leave, but that would mean missing out on everything this area had to offer.

Iguazú Falls

Puerto Iguazú, located in the country’s northeast, typically welcomes over a million visitors each year, and virtually all of them are there to witness Iguazú Falls, one of the most renown waterfalls in the world.

My friend Pablo Kim was born and raised in Argentina, and months before I embarked on my trip, he connected me with his cousin Eugenia, a Buenos Aires-based travel agent. She recommended that I visit Sol Iguazú Turismo, a local tour agency, to inquire about tour guide services.

At Sol Iguazú, I chose tour packages to see the Falls in Brazil and Argentina, the latter of which included a boat ride (dubbed the Gran Aventura) to the bottom of the Falls. The Brazil package cost 15,000 pesos, and the Argentina package cost 85,000 pesos. These prices did not include admission tickets to Iguazú National Park (in both countries) nor meals. I found out that I could visit the Falls in Brazil that very afternoon, just hours after landing. While I didn’t plan for it, I hastily accepted.

The Brazilian Side

After I checked into my hotel early, I purchased my admission ticket to Iguaçu National Park (which costs 97 reais for foreign visitors), and a tour van soon arrived to pick me up. My group consisted of a four-person family from Spain as well as Ricardo, our guide. Before crossing the Tancredo Neves Bridge, we had to stop at the Argentina border checkpoint, where Ricardo filled out and filed the immigration paperwork on our behalf.

After we entered Brazil, Ricardo informed me that the Spanish family had paid for a helicopter tour to view the Falls, and that for an additional fee, I too could join them. After hearing that the price would come out to a fairly affordable $130, I decided to tag along. Helisul, located just outside of the park entrance, offers a tour that lasts approximately 10 minutes. In that timeframe, our pilot circled around the Falls three times, giving us a good panoramic view of the Falls below and numerous opportunities to take photos and video footage. While the flight itself is short, it was spectacular seeing the Falls from high above, and I didn’t regret spending the money to do so.

After entering the park, we got on a bus that took us to the pink-colored Hotel das Cataratas, one of two hotels based in the park itself (the other is Gran Meliá Iguazú, on the Argentina side). The neat thing about Hotel das Cataratas is its close proximity to the path along the Falls - in fact, all you have to do is cross one road, and you’ll find entryways to said path.

Almost everyone interested in visiting the Falls will ask, “Which side is better? Argentina or Brazil?” The answer will hinge on what you value more. From the Brazilian side, you get a more panoramic view of the Falls, 80% of which are located on the Argentinean side (a fact that Ricardo brought up multiple times).

The path itself is not that long and is easy for all ages, and because of that, I think anyone can easily complete it within an hour (which partly explains why the tour from the Brazil side lasts no more than a couple hours). From the trail, I got good views of the Falls that are on the Argentinian side, and there are a handful of viewpoints with optimal backgrounds for photos. While walking on the path, I saw tons of magnificent, multicolored butterflies fluttering about and even resting on people unnoticed.

The pièce de résistance is clearly the Devil’s Throat, located at the end of the path. This particular cataract receives a significant chunk of the Iguazú River’s flow and is incredible to witness up close - which is why there are walkways leading to a viewpoint built just over a portion of the Falls. Because of their close proximity to the Devil’s Throat, anyone walking on these paths is likely to get a little wet. Even though the mist from the Falls does mask the Devil’s Throat a bit, it’s no less magnificent.

After completing the walkways, I took an elevator to one final viewpoint, placing me just above the Devil’s Throat so I could see the upper Iguazú River as it goes over the Falls. From here, I could see quite a ways down the lower Iguazú River, including some of the other cataracts that I had seen while walking down the trail.

We returned to Argentina shortly after, though we did have to wait at the border checkpoint due to the sheer number of people trying to cross.

The Argentinean Side

My experience with the Argentinian side of the Falls started after 7:30am the following morning, as I was first picked up by a van before transferring to a much larger bus. Ricardo was again my guide, and this time he was leading a much larger group of over 20 people. Getting to the Parque Nacional Iguazú was a smoother process compared to its Brazilian counterpart since we didn’t have to deal with border checkpoints. I had forgotten to purchase my ticket, so I did so at the park entrance, costing me 35,000 pesos.

I was quite lucky to see some wildlife shortly after entering the park. There were several coati, a raccoon-like animal except with a longer snout similar to that of a possum, trotting about the park facilities in search of food. For the most part, they don’t fear humans since the park has had issues with tourists feeding them. My tour group was also lucky to see a toucan relaxing in a tree, perhaps enjoying the attention it was receiving from dozens of people.

While you could walk to and from the various areas of interest within the park, there is a small train available to transport people around. We boarded at our designated time, and soon we were off. We made a brief stop at the Estación Cataratas, though no one got off, before heading further up the tracks to reach the Estación Garganta so we could visit the Devil’s Throat.

To revisit the question of which side is better for the Falls, what the Argentinian side has going for it is that you truly get to experience the Falls. From the Estación Garganta, there’s nearly one kilometer of walkways over the upper Iguazú River leading to two viewpoints from which I could not only see Brazil’s side of the Devil’s Throat, but also feel the power of the upper Iguazú River as it roared down into the lower Iguazú River hundreds of feet below. While on the walkways, I also saw remnants of former walkways, which gave me a sense and appreciation of this park’s history. We had only an hour to see the Devil’s Throat (that’s the thing about tour groups - everything is on a time limit), and I returned to Estación Garganta with about 15 minutes to spare.

Our train returned to Estación Cataratas, and we disembarked to begin our trek on the Paseo Superior, a loop trail of nearly two kilometers in length that winds around seven sets of the Falls’ cataracts: Salto Dos Hermanas, Salto Chico, Salto Bossetti, Salto Adán y Eva, Salto Guardaparque Bernabé Méndez, Salto Mbiguá, and Salto San Martin, the latter of which has walkways leading to its viewpoint. The view of the Falls got better and better with each passing cataract, and by the time I got to the last two, I could look back and see some of the previous ones in a slightly panoramic view.

After a brief lunch, it was time for the Gran Aventura, which most of the tour group had signed up for. To get there, we got in the bed of a large truck that took us through the rainforest to get to our drop-off point. During the truck ride, a park guide took the time to explain the park’s history and give us some facts about the park’s flora and fauna (such as the fact that we haven’t seen any monkeys that day is likely due to the fact that they recently had offspring to take care of). At the drop-off point, we descended several flights of stairs to a dock, whereupon we were given life jackets and waterproof bags to place our personal belongings.

After we got on the boat, we headed up the lower Iguazú River, passing by some smaller cataracts, in the direction of the cataracts we had seen earlier during our Paseo Superior hike. The boat ride started off innocuously at first, as the boat crew took us a little further up the river to see the Salto Tres Mosqueteros, a set of cataracts that we couldn’t see on either hike. Then they took us around Isla San Martín toward a couple of the later cataracts that are part of the Paseo Superior trail - and proceeded into the cataracts, stopping just short of where the upper Iguazú River poured into the lower Iguazú River. Still, we were all soaked to the bone as the extremely cold waters splashed all around and onto us. I could feel the air almost being sucked away, and I quickly learned to not face the cataracts if I wanted to breathe properly, all the while being sprayed with water. The crew took us close to these cataracts three times, much to our delight. Then, we were transported back to the Salto Tres Mosqueteros, and our boat proceeded to then do the same exact thing there! By then, our group was cackling, whistling, and whooping - this truly was a way to experience the Falls.

Thankfully, tour buses are allowed only up to a certain point inside the park, meaning that we didn’t have to get back on the train and head back to the main entrance. Since I brought only a spare shirt and didn’t want to soak the bus seat with my now-very wet hiking pants, I purchased a pair of shorts at one of the park’s stores. The ride back to my hotel was uneventful, though everyone was buzzing about all that they had seen and experienced at the Falls.

Guarani Communities and Culture

The Guarani are an indigenous people who still reside in the Misiones Province as well as neighboring countries that include Paraguay and Brazil. If you ever watched the 1986 film The Mission starring Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons (or perhaps you know Ennio Morricone’s beautiful leitmotif), the Guarani are the tribe whom the Jesuits are converting to Christianity in the 1700s.

The lodge I was staying at, La Reserva Virgin Lodge, is located within the jungle in eastern Puerto Iguazú and is also one of the several hotels located near several Guarani communities. When walking along the main road (El dorado), I saw members of these communities set up stalls where they sell handcrafted goods to locals and tourists at fairly affordable prices.

I took the chance to visit La Aripuca, a small theme park that highlights Guarani cultures and traditions and also promotes ecological conservation. The price of admission is 5,000 pesos. The park’s impressive centerpiece is a giant structural replica of an aripuca, a live trap used by the Guarani to capture animals. Members of the Guarani communities sell their goods here as well, and after perusing through them and reading about the history of how the namesake structure was constructed, I purchased a yerba mate ice cream from the cafe.

Animal Sanctuary

I saw a fair number of animals during my time in Iguazú, and most of them were actually based out of Güira Oga, a wildlife refuge that houses a variety of animals that are injured or are victims of trafficking or poachers. The staff here provide care and help them recover with the intention of releasing them back into the wild once they’re ready. If they cannot be released due to survival concerns, then they remain at the center, where they are studied and continued to be cared for. I went here expecting them to have just a handful of animals, but they actually had a ton, and our tour lasted about an hour as we went from shelter to shelter to see various tropical birds, monkeys, a puma (that was asleep), a tapir, and many more. As sad as I felt for the animals there, I appreciated the refuge’s mission and all they do to take care of them. The experience was well worth the 20,000 pesos I paid despite the fact that I could barely understand what our tour guide was saying (it was completely in Spanish).

The Eats

LIKED: Bife de chorizo al aroma malbec from Restaurant la Rueda 1975.

LIKED: Surubí con langostinos from Aqva Restaurant.

LIKED: Provoleta Aqva from Aqva Restaurante.

LIKED: Mollejas (sweetbreads) from La Reserva Virgin Lodge’s restaurant.

LIKED: Empanadas from La Reserva Virgin Lodge’s restaurant.

DISLIKED: Boga from La Reserva Virgin Lodge’s restaurant.

Even though Puerto Iguazú isn’t huge, there’s a solid selection of restaurants, most of which are located toward the northern part of the city. I quite enjoyed my bife de chorizo al aroma malbec (sirloin steak accompanied by rustic potatoes with Jujuy paprika, demiglace sauce, Malbec wine reduction, and pine mushrooms) at Restaurant la Rueda 1975. That said, the river fish is a regional specialty here, and I recommend the surubí con langostinos (surubi with shrimp in a white wine sauce, spinach flan, and sauteed carrots) at Aqva Restaurante. Not every river fish was a hit, though - I ordered a boga dish at my lodge’s restaurant (which consistently put out good food), and I found this fish to be so musty in its taste that I didn’t finish my meal.

Travel Tips:

Transportation may at first seem like a potential issue when you first arrive in Puerto Iguazú, but honestly, it’s probably the least of your concerns. Taxis are everywhere, and they’re fairly affordable. When I was in the city, I would come across a taxi hub at least every two blocks, and because they correctly assumed that I was a tourist, taxi drivers would try to solicit me. A trip to or from my hotel, the city, and an area of interest (minus the Falls and the airport) cost me anywhere between 7,000 to 9,000 pesos. Even though a lot of them don’t speak English, taxi drivers are pretty quick to give you their WhatsApp (used by virtually everyone in Argentina - it’s comparable to KakaoTalk in Korea) contact details in case you need a driver either for the day or later on. Even when I was a little ways outside of the city like at La Aripuca or Güira Oga, I would come across a taxi driver just waiting for a potential customer within a minute of needing one.

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