Iguazu Falls pt1: Argentina

It has become a bit of a tradition lately, that February is a month of exploration for me.
Although, as a perpetual traveller, I spend most of my time on the road, some months are more intense than others and February is certainly that month for me. Last year I did a complete marathon in February, rummaging from Argentina through Uruguay and Lima, making my way to Cusco with the very memorable Machu Picchu, Rainbow Mountain, going down to Puno and Lake Titicaca, where I visited floating islands and some really remote places with less than 2000 habitants. I then crossed into Bolivia and did a very quick visit of Copacabana, La Paz and a very cute little Alto on my way back to Argentina, and all of this happened in the space of a month. The month of February. I don’t know why I picked the shortest month of the year to explore the most amount of countries when I have all the time in the world for this, but it is the month that falls right in the middle of my winter escapades, so it just makes sense. That’s not quite the case when I’m in Asia though. I seem to be more evenly paced there. Anyhow, I digress.
Let me tell you about this February and the amazing places I trekked this time around.
My journey starts again in Argentina where I’ve been since November.
As January closes, an old friend of mine Nik, arrives in Buenos Aires for a few days and together we set out for an adventure. Our first stop: Iguazu Falls.

If you haven’t heard much about Iguazu, it’s probably because its tiny, attention-seeking cousin, Niagara, has been hogging the spotlight, thanks to an unrelenting PR campaigns. Honestly, Niagara Falls is like a kid’s lemonade stand compared to Iguazu’s grand water park—it’s three times smaller and it pales in comparison.
So, Iguazu is undoubtedly a natural wonder, and it’s part of the elite club of the 7 natural wonders of the world today, very justifiably. It stretches across several kilometres, teasingly hopping over to Brazil, featuring a whopping 275 individual waterfalls and cascades that range in height from 60 to 82 meters (196 to 270 feet), gushing out 13,000 cubic meters of water per second—enough to fill five Olympic swimming pools every second! Talk about a water monstrosity!

We kick off our adventure on the Argentinian side, where we’re greeted by a troupe of capybaras that seem more interested in begging for snacks than in their own wildlife duties. It’s my first encounter with these critters, and I must say, they’re quite the entertainers—with their cute “give me food” faces. Next, we hop on free trains that whisk us away to the main event, joining a line that looks like the opening of a new amusement park ride. Thankfully, it moves faster than my patience does under hunger pangs, and within minutes, we snag our tickets. Sure, the trains are free, but they make you get tickets for the sake of order; can’t have chaos with all these thrill-seekers! It’s a packed house today, but something tells me this is par for the course every day!

Our train is due in 45 minutes, so we take the time to walk around and explore the scenery here. We find ourselves walking around the “Upper Circuit” – a series of metal pathways and bridges that go around in circles, giving you an occasional view of the waterfalls from afar. It’s not anything too amazing, making it an ideal opening of the day. Start easy and build-up as we go along. Time seems to fly and very soon we realise that we have 15 minutes left until our train. We’re in the middle of this circle of metal platforms and with no ending in sight. A slight panic descends as I ask someone how long we need to get to the train station. The answer is 25 min. Nik immediately shows defeat and is certain we’ve missed the train, but I am not giving up so easy. I get a hit with euphoria and start rushing through the crowds, trying to squeeze between people, wheelchairs and toddlers.
Disculpe… Perdona… Permisso… Sorry… I use every word in my vocabulary that applies. Like a movie scene we watch as crowds are split in the middle and we rush through like cheetahs on the run. The paths are designed for 2 people and with such big crowds, they are utterly packed to the brim, making it quite a challenge to rush though, but we are doing it. It’s happening. I look at my phone: 7 minutes to our train slot. I don’t want to miss it because we will have to queue again and it’s going to be a nightmare. We keep running like some weirdos, but who cares. We’re on a mission. People are polite, but also quite slow in their response as nobody expects to be rushed here. Just us.

Luckily, our persistence pays off and we find ourselves at the train platform exactly 2 minutes before our slot. The train is late. Gives us time to catch our breath and wipe a sweat. I realize that I’ve left my fan in the hotel. Just when I need it most. At last, the train arrives 5 minutes late and we are relieved. The journey is about 25 minutes and we arrive at what is supposed to be the main attraction: the Devil’s Throat. I’m full of expectations.

We first come across a group of tourists feeding some birds. It’s a very tempting affair, even though there are numerous sings saying “Don’t feed the birds”. But a guy just had this exotic creature land on his arm and bite from his palm, so I am definitely going to break the rules here. With a bit of charisma I manage to scoop a little bit of the grains he had in his pocket and here I am, hand stretched and ready for my close up. Nik is filming as I’m waiting for the birds to jump on my hand and start eating some tasty crumbles. They don’t. Not sure if they’re not seeing the little grains in my palm or if they’re just not hungry at this point. It seems like a failed attempt but finally one little birdie touches my hand, looks around, then flies away in a brief second. He didn’t even take any of the crumbles I was holding for him. Phew. Nonetheless, it was an exciting adventure.
Now we are ready for the next thrill, so we make our way forward and we get a sense that we will be soaking wet very soon as we see everyone who’s coming toward us being completely drenched. As we walk we hear the roaring and thumbling sounds of water and we are mentally prepared for something magnificent.
And it is.

Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat) is a melting pot of several cascades coming from every side, forming a circle of thunderous, mercilessly brutal and insanely mesmerising pit of water, foam and mist so saturated, you lose all sense of reality. The water falls so ferociously, it creates an upside down effect which looks as if steam is rising from the middle, it’s wild. I’m getting sprayed so heavily, while taking pictures of this mighty sight, but that wouldn’t stop me. At this point I can’t even keep my eyes open anymore, so I have to just assume that my videos and photos are happening as I’d imagine them to be. In reality, there’s a little bit of a mis-match to my expectations, but it’s all good.
Everyone is getting soaked. It’s part of the thrill. As long as I get some footage out of this, I’m happy.

I go to every corner, every angle, I go back to the middle, try to find Nik, whom I lost for a moment. We take some selfies right in front the biggest pit of water and then we move away to a less intense spot where we can take a breather and dry out a little.
As I’m trying to record yet another video, a little butterfly takes refuge on my hand for a moment. Nik tries to capture the moment. He’s very bad with these things, but he managed this time. It’s a very brief moment of magic and off it goes.

The whole experience seemed to last just a few minutes but as we check the time, we realise it’s been 45 minutes already. Our train back is due soon. We’re not sure what would happen if we miss that train, but decide not to risk it, so we make our way back to the station. Another train delay as we should expect by now, and we are on our way back to the main part of the natural park. The train is slow. Dreadfully slow in fact. At times I feel I can walk faster, but I don’t dare to. Another 25 minutes later we arrive and start walking around the “Lower Circuit” this time. It’s a perfectly designed path opposite the main waterfalls site with stunning views of the whole place. Very scenic and very enjoyable. Here everything seems calm, peaceful and just beautifully serene. We take some selfies with the vistas behind us and day one is complete. Around 4pm we make our way back to the hotel and we are on a mission.

We pick up our luggage and hop on a bus to Foz Do Iguazu – the Brazilian town where we will stay tonight, so tomorrow we can visit the Brazillian side of the national park.
The trip is short, about 20 minutes, and we’re being dropped at the Brazilian border. It takes us less than 5 minutes to get through passport control but the bus doesn’t wait for us, which is annoying. We’re stuck at the bus stop for another hour until the next bus, so we make small talk with the only people here. A group of 3 Koreans: 2 girls and a guy. The girls are teachers. The guy seems to like staying mysterious and doesn’t tell us what he does for a living. Not that we care. They’re doing a month-long tour of South America: Brazil, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, visiting even places I’ve not yet been to. Jealous.
We have some laughs with them and time passes quickly. The bus then takes us to the centre of Foz, but I realise that neither of us has roaming for Brazil and we’re left without any navigation whatsoever. Ugh. I haven’t experienced this in a long time. We both have eSims, but we didn’t activate them in Argentina and only now I realise this. Kinda late.
As we get out of the bus we are in the middle of a busy road, but nothing to suggest a town centre. No shops, no bars or restaurants… just some ugly tower blocks and a hotel.
We go in the hotel for help. We need Internet connection and money.
The hotel receptionists speak little English and they’re kind enough to give us the WiFi password, but no money exchange. That’s fine because I’m able to get an Uber to our hotel, which is all we need right now.
Success.
We jump in the cab. The driver is on speed. I mean, he’s talking loud, almost shouting, playing fast tempo music and occasionally screaming with excitement as he makes small talk, you know, the usual, boring, taxi chatter. In the end he insists I take his number to call him for anywhere we want to go, which I know will never happen, but I politely scan his QR code on WhatsApp to keep him happy.
The hotel we booked is 4 stars but we are instantly let down by a receptionist with no English and almost zero Spanish either. He couldn’t tell us where to exchange money, or anything much… he doesn’t even give us instructions about how to get to our rooms, which other guests of the hotel aid us with. Aside from all this, the hotel was pleasant with a decent pool, tiny gym but a very generous breakfast the next morning. All is well when it ends well, as the saying goes.

The next day will roll over my next post, so keep reading.