For visiting the Argentinian side of the falls (where most of the falls are located) we took the local bus to Puerto Iguazu (unlike most tourists) thereby getting a small glimpse into rural Argentina:
... that one would not imagine the hell getting loose at the Devil's Throat:
What makes the Iguacu Falls special is that besides the great and wide falls, there are hundreds of smaller (everything is relative) falls - 275 discrete falls in total - with lots of greenery inbetween:
A second trail lead us to a different parts of the falls, away from the Devil's Throat, on the upper edge of a series of falls
The lower circuit offered a different perspective of the Argentinian side, with palm trees making their contribution to a perfect picture:
A full panorama of the entire width of the Iguacu Falls makes you appreciate the magnitude of the falls (the Devil's throat can be seen far at the left side):
The lower trail also offers some close-up viewpoints of the falls, a great and very wet experience:
Once at the end of the lower trail, we took the "Nautical experience", a speedboat which took us literally below the falls:
Now some practical travel advice: Unlike a lot of tourist agents might try to convince you otherwise, both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides can be easily visited without taking any kind of organized tour. Most agents will try to convince you that crossing the border to Argentina is so complicated and you will loose so much time by taking public transport... However we learned that taking public transport from Foz do Iguacu is not only much cheaper than organized tours and gives you the opportunity to meet locals but is also very effective - though maybe not the most comfortable - as well.
All in all we were very pleasantly surprised at how well the visiting of the falls is made accessible without being over-organized and while keeping the nature as much as possible intact (Unlike the casinos built just besides the Niagara Falls, shame shame, shame).
All pictures from the Iguacu Falls (both sides)
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| From S AMERICA - Foz do Iguaçu |
Once at the falls, one can choose between several trails to take. We started with the trail of Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo) which we've seen previous day from a different perspective from the Brazilian side. It was amazing to see that just a few meters from the falls the water is so calm
... that one would not imagine the hell getting loose at the Devil's Throat:
What makes the Iguacu Falls special is that besides the great and wide falls, there are hundreds of smaller (everything is relative) falls - 275 discrete falls in total - with lots of greenery inbetween:
A second trail lead us to a different parts of the falls, away from the Devil's Throat, on the upper edge of a series of falls
The lower circuit offered a different perspective of the Argentinian side, with palm trees making their contribution to a perfect picture:
A full panorama of the entire width of the Iguacu Falls makes you appreciate the magnitude of the falls (the Devil's throat can be seen far at the left side):
The lower trail also offers some close-up viewpoints of the falls, a great and very wet experience:
Once at the end of the lower trail, we took the "Nautical experience", a speedboat which took us literally below the falls:
Now some practical travel advice: Unlike a lot of tourist agents might try to convince you otherwise, both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides can be easily visited without taking any kind of organized tour. Most agents will try to convince you that crossing the border to Argentina is so complicated and you will loose so much time by taking public transport... However we learned that taking public transport from Foz do Iguacu is not only much cheaper than organized tours and gives you the opportunity to meet locals but is also very effective - though maybe not the most comfortable - as well.
All in all we were very pleasantly surprised at how well the visiting of the falls is made accessible without being over-organized and while keeping the nature as much as possible intact (Unlike the casinos built just besides the Niagara Falls, shame shame, shame).
All pictures from the Iguacu Falls (both sides)
