There’s a bus option that takes 18-hours from Mendoza to Puerto Iguazú, but we decided to take a flight leaving at 5.55 AM and arriving at 7.45 AM. The Puerto Iguazú airport is very small and being an internal flight, getting through customs was quick and easy. The airport is quite far from the town so you have to get a taxi or bus transfer. There’s no ATM at the airport and only some agencies take credit cards. Also, there’s bad network service at the airport so the sales rep had to try to take our credit card payment 3 times for it to go through. With that in mind, it would be best to take some cash just in case. Our bus transfer cost 200 ARS1 each and it took about 30 minutes to get to the bus terminal in Puerto Iguazu. If you’re staying at one of the large hotel chains on the highway to Puerto Iguazu (e.g. Marriott), the driver will ask beforehand to drop passengers off there.
The Town
Since we arrived in the early morning, our room wasn’t ready at our hotel so we went for a walk around town. Puerto Iguazu is quite small with most of the shops and restaurants concentrated around the town center. There’s a boundary post mirador about a 30-minute walk from the town center which we visited. This is a tri-border point where you can see Paraguay and Brazil from the Argentinian side of the river. What’s most interesting here, is how the muddy brown waters of the River Iguazu and the grey/blue waters of the River Paraná merge. Other than the viewpoint, there are a couple of stalls at this site to buy drinks, snacks, and souvenirs.
On the way back, we walked by the riverside road and came across a small boat port. Here, there were boat tours available of the river and also boats to Paraguay. As we continued along the road, we went by a customs office. So if you came to Argentina by boat, that’s probably where you have to get your entry stamp. We continued further to the town center to find a restaurant for some lunch. There are several options around an area called 7 Esquinas (7 Corners). However, we found a lot of places didn’t accept credit cards, so we headed to an ATM first to take some cash out. By the time we were done with lunch, it was around 3 PM so we headed back to the hotel to get some rest. Later that evening we went for dinner in the 7 Esquinas area but this time walked further down the Avenida Brasil. There were several pop-up restaurants here serving mainly grilled skewers and steaks. It was very lively with musicians performing in the outdoor seating areas.
Iguazu Falls
At the terminal, we booked return tickets the day before for a bus to Iguazu Falls National Park for 260 ARS each (cash only). You can take any bus and we took one for the second departure leaving at 8.30 AM. It took about 30 minutes to reach the park entrance and at this time, there were already some short queues. We waited for about 15 minutes and bought our ticket for 600 ARS each which you can pay by cash or credit card. Once inside the park, there’s an information area, some shops, and restaurants. Going past all of these, there’s the platform entrance to take the train to different parts of the park. There are 3 main trails in the park; Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat), Upper Circuit, and Lower Circuit. The main site is the Devil’s Throat which is the biggest part of the falls. You have to get a (free) ticket first to get a time slot to board the train. We got our ticket for the train leaving at 10 AM, so we had about 30 minutes to check out the information center. There is also a trail to walk between different parts of the park but it’s really hot and humid outside.
Once on the train, it takes about 30 minutes to reach the station for the start of the trail to the Devil’s Throat. The trail goes to some wooden bridges that go over the River Iguazu to reach the Devil’s Throat. As you get closer, the roaring sound of the falls gradually grows louder. It takes about 10 minutes to reach the viewpoint and here, the sound is completely deafening from the power of the falls. You will also get wet since the water falls with such force that it creates a permanent cloud of mist above it which reaches the viewpoint. A section of the viewpoint is cordoned off by a professional photographer who takes an elevated picture from a step ladder. There is plenty of space elsewhere, although you may have to wait a couple of minutes to shift into an empty spot. We spent about 40 minutes at this viewpoint before heading back to the train station.
For the way back, there’s no need to get a ticket and it’s on a first come first serve basis. We got off at the next stop after a 20-minute ride which was in the center of the park. This is where the Upper and Lower Circuit trails start and we chose to first go on the Upper Circuit. This trail takes us through several falls with views from above. You can hear the thundering noise of the falls fade in and out as you go past them. There are several viewpoints along this route which took us about 45 minutes to complete.
Once back at the station at the center of the park, we were about to start the Lower Circuit trail but it started to pour down with rain. We took refuge in the food court for about 15 minutes to wait for the rain to die down before setting out again. The rain didn’t completely stop, but we set out anyway since the grey skies indicated it wasn’t going to stop raining anytime soon. This Lower Circuit trail overlaps with some of the falls from the Upper Circuit trail, but you get a view from a lower elevation. There are also several viewpoints and panoramic photo opportunities. The highlight of this trail is when you reach Salto Bossetti (Bossetti Falls). This is one of the bigger falls and the viewpoint gets pretty close. As you walk up to the end of the viewpoint, you’ll feel a gust of mist from the force of the waterfall literally take your breath away. Needless to say, you’ll get soaked from approaching the waterfall but it’s a great experience and my favorite part of the visit. From here, the circuit then leads you back to the station at the center of the park. It took us about an hour to complete this circuit so we were done at around 3.20 PM. There was still one more trail that goes through the rainforest, but because it was still raining, we decided to head back to the hotel.
