South America : Iguazu Falls Day 1
[south-america The flight from Buenos Aires to the Northern rainforests of the Misiones province look less than 2 hours and was uneventful.
Across the river was the Brazilian border, even the towns have a less European-influence compared to the big cities of the South.
Arriving in the Jungle
The first thing that struck me on arrival at the airport was the swarm of flying insects of all kinds, from Butterflies to Dragonflies, between the airport exits and the taxi stand. I was later told this was due to the airport being located inside the park.
The other thing that hit me other than the bugs was the heat.
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The Iguazu falls lie on the Tropic of Capricorn and was probably the only place that matched Singapore in climate. It was hot and very humid. This was in stark contrast to the 12C weather of the capital.
A guide picked me up and brought me to the guesthouse. Both he and the guesthouse manager spoke reasonable English and used Google Translate whenever they were lost for words. I had hired the guide to drive me around for my 2-day in Iguazu and I set about planning my visit.
It was after I checked-in & set down my bags that I got down to deciding how best to spend the rest of the day (it was noon by this time).
I’d recently watched The Mission (1986) and had originally planned to include a visit to the Jesuit ruins in the South Misiones.
By Juan - Flickr: San Ignacio Miní, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14615648
But the distance & time constraints compelled me to drop the idea.
Brazil’s side of the falls had a much smaller park which could be covered in an afternoon, according to the guesthouse, and involved a short 30 minute drive across which apparently no customs control on the Brazilian side. With plan decided I set about changing into my jungle attire, which included long sleeve trek shirt & trek pants which provided protection from the Sun and dried quickly after the showers expected in a rainforest.
Apart from the sun, which was scorching by the afternoon, I sprayed myself with a dense layer of DEET to keep off the dengue (and now Zika) mosquitos which were a risk in this tropical region.
Brazil for an afternoon
My passport was given an exit stamp by the Argentine guard post and I was surprised to find no Brazilian checkpoint on the other side. It was referred to as an ‘Open Border’ by the Argentines with the Brazilian police only doing spot checks on tourists to catch Yankee tourists trying to sneak over without paying their US$100+ reciprocity fee.
The driver dropped me off at the very grand entrance of the Cataratas do Iguaçu park and we agreed upon a pickup of 5:30pm.
I then boarded an open-air bus that took me directly to the Cataratas from which point, I could proceed on the main footpaths overlooking the falls.
It was a stunning view and the sheer scale of it is something to behold. I continued walking along the pathway spotting some wildlife along with the scenery.
The Falls up-close
By the time I reached the walkway that was right below the falls I was drenched in sweat from the humidity and sun. Though I was to receive another drenching from the Iguaçu falls as the close proximity of the falls gave the people on the metal walkway a heavy spray of water.
The constant spray of water from the falls combined with the hordes of tourists meant that you can only spend so much time before heading for dry land.
Hazards
There was one danger that you had to be constantly aware of other than falling into the fast-moving water: The Coati.
This may look like a cute furry animal but they’ve been known to bite tourists carrying food and tend to carry rabies and other infectious diseases.
Keeping a few feet away and not feeding them would be wisest policy to follow when you come in contact with them, which would be often as the Park is crawling with them.
Conclusion
After covered the walkway by the falls I exited the park and was picked up by my driver (My local SIM didn’t quite work and all the instructions it sent me were in Spanish) after a short wait. 40 minutes later and we were back in the guesthouse on the Argentine side.
All in all, I’d recommend a short visit to the Brazilian Park if you visit Iguazu as it allows you to view the falls from both aspects: the close-up (Argentine) & the grand overview (Brazilian). The visit would only cost you a few hours though those requiring visas may need to factor in the risk of bumping into the Brazilian cops.
I was considering a walk into town for some local Parrilla, but after showering quickly collapsed into a deep slumber having not had much sleep since landing in Argentina and did not wake till the following morning.