The beauty about touring in South America is that I constantly found new places to explore. To my surprise, I had never heard of the largest water system in the world until I arrived in Brazil.

Iguazu Falls can also be spelled Iguaçu Falls (Portugese), but with my North American keyboard, it will be much easier to talk about this magical place without having to find out how to type the ç character every time 😛

My trip to Iguazu Falls was limited to 1.5 days for a Double Dark, but even though it was short, it was still well worth being able to see this magnificent beast!

Here are the quickies:

• Time of Year: October 9-10, 2017
• City: Puerto Iguazu (Argentina), Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil), Ciudad del Este (Paraguay)
• Airport: Foz do Iguaçu/Cataratas International Airport (IGU)
• Accommodation: Loi Suites Iguazu Hotel

On our first day, we didn’t land at IGU until about 1:30pm and by the time we got our rental car (which was easy to do at the airport upon arrival), it was already just after 2pm. The plan was to do the Parque das Aves Bird Park and then the Brazilian side, but we found out that we needed a specific “Green Card” that you can buy at a gas station or market in town, which provides you with insurance when you cross into Argentina. The rental car companies will tell you that you cannot drive into Argentina on their insurance. This Green Card was easy to get and only cost R$60 or about $18USD, but you must get it before 6pm (when stores close). 

So, we decided to scratch the bird park and just head into the Brazilian side of the park to see falls first and have lunch at the buffet, which is situated at the top of the Garganta del diablo (Devil’s Mouth). After lunch, we walked the trail down to the falls and took our pictures. The Brazil side was very straight forward with only a few areas to check the falls out. Yes, you can hike to the falls from the entrance, but there is also a free bus that takes you to them and since we were on a time crunch and hungry, we did the bus.

We probably only spent about 2 hours in the park. Driving distance between parks and airport are super close to each other (not even 20 minutes) and border entry is quite easy.

We then drove to get our Green Card from a market on headed towards Argentina to stay the night. Be sure you don’t need to pay a reciprocity fee… as a Canadian, I didn’t know about this and found out at the border (which is less than a 10 minute drive from the falls). We ended up turning back to a hotel to use their internet to register and pay and print proof as you must do it in advance. It was $78USD.

For the Argentinian side, I would have really loved to have 2 full days there. As it was thunder storming in the morning (expect this – you are in a rain forest!), we didn’t get to the park until about 11:30am. YOU MUST HAVE CASH to pay for entrance (and often food in the park, though some places did take credit cards). There is an ATM at the entrance. Once you get in, there are 3 main trails to take and also 2 train options (or you can walk) to the top of the Garganta del Diablo. We decided to take the train…. if you take the one close to the entrance, it leaves once every 30 minutes and be sure to take a group ticket from the small kiosk that just looks like an information booth. We did not know this so after waiting 20 minutes for the train to arrive, found out we needed this group ticket to board the train and were told to wait for the next one…. so we ended up walking up the small trail (about 10 minutes walk) to the next station, which was a separate train that left every 20 minutes and brought you to the top. This station was also a lot less crowded. Worth going to instead.

Right after hoping off the train, we booked our boat ride (from Iguazu Jungle) that took you right up to the falls. Making the reservation upon arrival made sure there was enough room in the boat to accommodate our group of 5 for the time slot we wanted. We did the “simple” ride which showed you each side of the falls so you could take your pictures before telling you to put all cameras in a waterproof bag, which they provide, and then you return to the falls, only this time MUCH closer and you get absolutely soaked. It was awesome! Definitely do this but beware you will get very wet, so maybe bring a change of clothes and flip flops which you can put in the waterproof bag or do it at an opportune moment. We decided to do it at the end of our day.

San Martin Island is behind the Rainbow

Once we returned from the Diablo, we took the train to the Cirquito Inferior Trail, as we were told this was the main trail to see the falls. We only had enough time to do half of the trail. You can also go to the Island of San Martin, which is right between the falls.

I really wish I had more time to walk the trails as there was a bunch of wildlife we missed out on. Beware of monkeys, lizards, wasps, toucans, and these raccoon-like animals called coatis, which can be violent for food (signs are everywhere not to feed or pet them). When walking on trails, do NOT have food in your hand. We actually saw monkey’s jump onto this woman’s take-out box as she was walking along the trail and boy, did it take her by surprise!

Bring sunscreen and bug spray. Be prepared to get wet (even if you don’t do the boat tour, the spray from the falls will get you!) And lots of camera battery!!!

Check out my travels on Instagram #EarthDragonTravels.