The Magnificent Iguazu Falls - Argentina Side
Away from Buenos Aires to north of Argentina we went. We would be traveling quite a distance to visit the well talked about Iguazu Falls. The water from the Iguazu River forms these waterfalls and breaks the river into the upper and lower Iguazu River. The Iguazu Falls are located between Argentina and Brazil and are famous because they are the largest waterfall system in the world. Some are as high as 80 meters tall and are over 2.7 km wide. It is such an impressive view!!
The top of the falls is named the Devil's Throat
Throughout Argentina the transportation has been very reliable and we booked our bus tickets through "Via Bariloche" due to their wide variety of arrivals and departures. From Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls it was $110 per person for a cama seat, which meant that the seats reclined further making it more comfortable to sleep. The overnight bus ride included three meals, blanket and pillow, and movies in English. We arrived the morning of December 12th to Puerto Iguazu which is a town in Argentina that is about 30 minutes from the Iguazu Falls. Upon getting off the bus, we were greeted by a muggy heat and a temperature in the 80's at 9am. We arrived to Residencial Noelia Hostel by foot and were able to take a load off while we waited for our room to be ready to check in. After arriving to our room and realizing that it was hotter inside the room than outside, we made the immediate decision to relax by the pool which was quite refreshing! Later in the afternoon we headed to the main drag to explore the area and then to the bus station to obtain tickets for Iguazu Falls. At the bus station there was an array of companies available to take you to the falls, some of which offered departures every 15 minutes. We chose "Rio Uruguay" and bought our round trip ticket for $8.27. Upon waking the next morning, we headed out to catch the bus to Iguazu Falls. The fee to enter the park was $21 and there was a large map displayed of the walking trails and the train. We boarded the train to the devil's throat to see the first glimpse of the falls. To say the falls were amazing would be an understatement... they were incredible! The mist that came off the falls was very refreshing, however, it was hard to tell the difference between the water from the falls and our own sweat. We then walked the upper and lower falls loops, but unfortunately, the boats to the island were not running due to high water. We saw a lot of wildlife including monkeys, coaties, a toucan, colorful birds, lizards, beautiful blue butterflies, and some large fish. It was a very rewarding day!
Rainbows were EVERYWHERE
A Toucan !!
Warnings to not feed the Coaties were also everywhere!!
Ironically, we met other travelers who previously lived in Northwest Ohio who were doing their own around the world trip... it's such a small world! After making it back to Puerto Iguazu, we tried a restaurant that is buffet style where you pay by the kilo. This is a great concept because you only pay for what you eat instead of what you might eat. It was a fun day and I soaked up as much sun as possible because the following day I head to New York City with frigid temperatures to meet up with my husband Matt while Andrea and Jackie head into Brazil.
0 comments: