The Power of the Falls

As you probably know, the falls form a portion of the border between Argentina and Brazil. However, you may not know that Americans (and I think only 3 other countries in the world) need a visa to enter Brazil. From what everyone says, it is important to see both sides of the falls for the full experience, as they are vastly different. From the Brazilian side, you get a panoramic view of the falls, but from the Argentine side you are literally close enough to touch them.

So of course we were hoping to be able to scope out both sides. We read that people sneak into the Brazilian side via bus or taxi, as the border control often let the public buses and taxis across without stopping them but we found out that if they did stop us and discovered that we did not have a visa, they would slap us each with a fine of $1900 AR, which is approximately $500 US. We were very sad to admit it wasn't worth it for us to take the risk.

So we woke up early and headed to the Argentine side. Although we heard there would probably be a long line, we paid our $85 AR and cruised right in. There are many viewpoints/trails that offer different perspectives of the size and power of the falls. Garganta del Diablo (Throat of the Devil) is supposed to be one of the most powerful views, and we found recommendations online that this should be the first place you hit, because it gets so busy later in the day. We had to take the train out there, and then walk for almost ½ of a mile over water. Lots and lots of water, and a rising mist in the distance. As we got closer, we started to hear it, and then on the right hand side we started to see an opening, where the water was being swallowed up.

Before I go further, I want to just say that aside from a few pictures that I randomly ran across (and one I quickly found and posted the link for on here), I had no idea what to expect from the falls. I really had not researched it, or looked at pictures online, so when we rounded the last curve and got our real first view of the falls, I was floored! It literally seems impossible that that much water could exist, never mind be plummeting over the ledges every single second. It is mind boggling. We giggled and smiled until our cheeks ached and then headed back to the train to check out the rest of the falls.

It was all amazing. Every different trail brought you to more and more falls. You saw them from the top and from the bottom, little ones, big ones, and massive falls that were so bubbly and thick that they looked like lambswool after a harsh winter. We saw so many rainbows and butterflies of every color, shape and size. After we made our way around all of the trails, we headed down to the water. We strapped on goofy, clunky, weathered life jackets, stowed all of our belongings in not so secure “waterproof” bags (luckily our things stayed relatively dry) and boarded a boat for our exorbitantly priced 12-15 minute ride on the river at the bottom of the falls and UNDER 2 of the falls! We got SOAKED, and loved every second of it. Abby got some great video on her waterproof camera.

After that we tried to hike a smaller trail to a waterfall where you can swim but it was closed for the day. We cut our losses, scoped out some of the gift shops, relaxed for a bit, and then headed back into town. We were soaked, tan & happy.

The amazing thing is that visiting the falls is like walking around Disney. It is so crowded and tourist driven. All the paths were paved and a bottle of water is 3 times what you would pay for it in the city. But not one of these things could diminish the absolute awesomeness of Iguazu Falls. Obnoxious tourists and all, it was incredible!