When organising this trip to Argentina with our friends, we had always planned to go to Iguazú Falls. It made sense to go as a group and was one of the reasons Meadhbh had chosen these dates to join us.
After several flight times and airport changes, some at the last minute, we were off. We stayed at Rincon Escondido B&B in Puerto Iguazú for a couple of nights. Slightly on the edge of town but an easy walk into the main strip. The hotel was gorgeous, rooms were stunning, and breakfasts were enormous and delicious. The only downside was that the pool had obviously had chemicals added to make it safe and Jill and I both emerged with very itchy and stinging legs. Worth it though.
We were visiting both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides. We started with Argentina since we had been told that there was more to do there. Our taxi driver arranged to drop us off and collect us after 9 hours. Gerry and I usually turn up to see somewhere, have a look, say “that’s grand,” then leave. There was no way we thought that we were going to spend a full 9 hours at the Falls. How wrong we were. We were running for the taxi on the way back!
To start the day, Keith and Jill joined the Murphys on the Gran Aventura speedboat experience.This took a couple of hours in itself. We took a 4×4 through the jungle, followed by a 492 foot climb down a staircase, which we weren’t expecting. At this point we were all handed fairly large dry bags and were told to put anything that we didn’t want to get wet in these. Some people went to extremes with a few stripping off to only swimwear. We thought they were mad. Again, how wrong we were, having not glimpsed the Falls yet.
The view of the waterfalls involved in this part of the park from the speedboat was spectacular. You really got a sense of the power of the water. Then they took us under the spray of the San Martin and Three Musketeers falls. Now we understood the swimsuits. I have never been so wet in my entire life. It was loud, it was wet, it was scary, and it was just so much fun! I tried to take a video as I had my phone in a protected carrier, but in the ensuing chaos I got a lot of shots of the floor and the backs of people’s chairs and absolutely nothing of the Falls themselves.
By the time we got back through the jungle and met Mike and Rach for a bite of lunch we were surprisingly dry. Argentina in summertime is hot! Mike and Rach had used this time to visit the Devil’s Throat. This was something that we were all planning to see later in the day and they wouldn’t tell us a thing about it. They didn’t want to spoil the surprise, although they did seem very relieved to see us safe and well after our boat ride.
There are various trails in the park, each giving different vantage points and perspectives. We had been recommended to take the Lower Circuit, Upper Circuit and Devil’s Throat trails. All were very clearly signposted with well maintained paths. The Lower circuit, as its name suggests, gives you a side on view of a lot of the falls. It’s quite exhilarating seeing the water rush past at eye level but personally, I think you only appreciate the absolute wonder of the Falls from the Upper Circuit.
Once you are up here it is truly astonishing to see how calm the water is on the approach to the Falls.
I had expected a turbulent river on the approach to the Falls to at least give some warning of what lies ahead, but no, it was just a huge, calm expanse of water. We saw several catfish calmly floating just before the Falls, waiting for their prey as though they were in a perfectly still lagoon. Once the water dropped over the top though, it was a different story. The force and speed of the water was terrifying.
Each of these circuits took us about 2 hours. Most of this is down to the fact that we kept stopping every few feet to take yet another photo. It just gets more breathtaking all the time. There are rainbows right in front of you that you can almost touch, rocks that seem to defy both gravity and the extreme force of water rushing around them and even animals crossing your path. The monkeys were positively posing for Meadhbh, the coaties were cute and numerous and the butterflies appeared to be Celtic supporters as they proudly displayed their affection to ‘88.
The only thing left to squeeze in was the Devil’s Throat. Although Mike and Rach had already experienced this, they were keen to go back. We had to take a train to the start of the trail for this part which was a pleasant rest for our weary wee legs. We walked 9 and a half miles in total this day, much of that was going uphill and downhill. The walk to the Devil’s Throat was mainly along boardwalks constructed above the Falls. It was often really exposed to the scorching sun but we were assured that the end result was worth it.
The walkways aren’t just exposed to the sun, they are also exposed to water, especially during floods.
For example, in October 2022 a flood poured 16,500 cubic meters of water per second over them and caused 51 of the 99 sections of the walkway leading to the Devil’s Throat to be washed away by the river. The walkway wasn’t officially opened again until 1 March 2023. Thankfully it was calm when we were there.
The Devil’s Throat is 80 meters high and the view from above is incredible. It genuinely does look like a throat and Hell is possibly the best description of how it would feel if you inadvertently ended up in the water. Now we understood Mike and Rach’s relief at seeing us safe and sound this morning. We had a quick dash back to the train to get our taxi back to town. As I said earlier, it really does fill 9 hours, and that was us just picking off a few highlights.
The following day we were heading to the Brazilian side. We had been told to expect our visit there to take no longer than 1 and a half to 2 hours and our flight from Iguazú back to Buenos Aires wasn’t until quarter to 4 so we were a bit perturbed that our taxi driver wanted to collect us at 7:30 am. He kept saying that the border crossing would take a while. We weren’t convinced but agreed reluctantly to get up at the crack of dawn yet again. Do you know what? It turns out he was right! Who would have thought that a local would know better than us how long the journey would take? The border crossing both ways was very slow. Although there is only one road in on the Argentinian side, there are several roads converging on the Brazilian side to make for a very busy border point.
We got to the Brazilian side and there is only one circuit. It seemed at first that this side would just be giving us a different angle on the Falls. To be fair though, it was still spectacular and really showed their sheer breadth.
The weather wasn’t great and eventually it started to rain. Then it rained some more, then even more. This coincided with us reaching the endpoint of the trail. By now you’re no longer looking out at the Falls, you are walking directly towards the base of them. I’m really running out of superlatives now but let’s just say it was magic. The fact that we were already drenched by the rain no longer mattered. Even on a dry day here you are getting soaked. It was brilliant being at the bottom of the falls, if a bit scary, but at least Gerry got to win the wet T-shirt competition. (Note to self – white linen is maybe not the best choice when getting wet.)
We bundled back to our taxi and the nervous trip back through the sluggishly slow border but got to the airport in time. In time, yes, but also still soaked. We all had to quickly change into dry clothes before boarding the plane. The airport staff looked like they saw this every day, and probably do.
So, was the cost of flights, hotels, park tickets, and time taken out of our Buenos Aires trip worth it to see some waterfalls? Gerry and I had visited Niagara Falls a few years ago and were blown away with it. How did Iguazú compare? I think it was best summed up by the late Eleanor Roosevelt when she first saw Iguazú Falls and exclaimed
“My poor Niagara…..”
It's a wanderful life, so it is 
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