Seeing Iguazu Falls – One Of Natural Wonders Of The World
It was always my intention for my first trip to Brazil to include seeing Iguazu Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world. So after my stay in Rio de Janeiro, I took a short domestic flight to Foz do Iguazu which is the town within Brazil that is used as the base to see the falls. This town actually borders Argentina and Paraguay.
After the hustle and bustle of Rio, it was a nice change to have a short break from the craziness of Rio’s big city traffic and busy crowds. Foz do Iguazu definitely had that small town atmosphere that was very walkable and my Airbnb was located in a perfect spot just minutes from cafes, restaurants and the local bus terminal where I took local bus #120 from the airport to town as well as to see Iguazu Falls on the Brazil side.
Iguazu Falls On The Brazil Side
Iguazu Falls can be visited on two sides, in Brazil and in Argentina. Since the Brazil side is suppose to be the shorter visit requiring only half day, I chose to do this one first but was still recommended to go early in the morning to beat the crowds as well as to get an advance entry ticket online. After all, Iguazu Falls is the main tourist attraction in the area. So I got to the Terminal de Transporte (TTU) to catch the #120 bus at about 8 am so I could get to Iguazu Falls in time for my 9 am advance ticket entry. The bus fare was only 5 R Brazilian which is a lot cheaper than if I took an Uber, taxi or went with an organized group tour. Taking this local bus which stops at the sign for Cataratas do Iguazu (Portuguese name for the falls) is definitely the budget way to go!
When I arrived 30 minutes later, I was able to skip the lineup for tickets and go straight to the lineup for the shuttle buses that take visitors to the start of the main trail to see Iguazu Falls. Crowds were already building up but since I was going solo and tend to walk fairly fast, I was able to walk past many of the big groups of people along the trail. Like most people, I was in awe upon my first glimpse of the falls and the views got better and better along the trail. I also saw several South American coatis on the trail which are like racoons but with longer narrow snouts and got some close video footage of them as they were not scared to be near humans at all.
The highlight of Iguazu Falls was the iconic scene shown in the opening photo above where I’m practically beside the falls near the end of the main trail. The rainbow was a bonus. The video footage of the falls is even more dramatic than the still photos but of course this doesn’t compare to actually being there in real life. Iguazu Falls is so much better than Niagara Falls back in Canada!
The videos on this webpage are all my full travel commentary ones but much like with my Rio videos, I also made Iguazu Falls videos without any travel commentary whatsoever and compiled them on a Brazil music videos webpage.
There are boat rides that take tourists really close to some of the falls as shown on the video as well as helicopter rides too. I should have done the boat ride even though I would get completely soaked. However I did take advantage of seeing an additional attraction after I finished seeing the falls since there is an exotic bird park called Parque das Aves right across the road from the Iguazu Falls visitor center.
Iguazu Falls On The Argentina Side – The Complicated But Cheap Way To Get There
After seeing Iguazu Falls on the Brazil side, I wasn’t done with the falls yet as I planned my stay in Foz do Iguazu to include another day to go see the falls on the Argentina side. Only problem was to figure out how to get to Argentina since it’s another country after all. If you are not interested in the different ways to do this day trip and just want to see what Iguazu Falls on the Argentina side is like, just skip the rest of this section altogether.
There are organized tour groups that run day trips to Argentina but I wanted to do it on a more budget way. I learned that I could hire a private taxi driver who is willing to cross the border and back for about 300 to 400 R Brazilian. These drivers would wait for me while I’m seeing the falls so payment would have to make it worthwhile for them to wait around for several hours but I also heard some will leave Argentina but return later to pick you up. But much like with visiting the falls on the Brazil side, I decided to take an even cheaper route.
At the same TTU terminal in Foz do Iguazu where I took bus #120, there is a bus company called Easy Bus and they run a route to and from the equivalent bus terminal in Puerto Iguazu which is the town over on the Argentina side. I bought a return ticket on the spot at the Easy Bus office at the TTU really early in the morning. Since there is a border to cross with stops at immigration with both countries, I learned that I would have to take multiple buses to get to my destination so yes this will be complicated!
The Easy Bus I boarded at TTU dropped me off at the Brazil immigration to get an exit stamp for my passport. However this bus did not wait for me – I was told this in advance so I wouldn’t be in shock once I came out of the immigration office. Instead, I was to wait for the next bus from the same company (Easy Bus) to come by and show the driver my bus ticket. This second Easy Bus will then cross the border and stop at Argentina immigration for entry. This time, the bus does wait for all passengers to finish up at Argentina immigration and then proceeds into Puerto Iguazu stopping at the bus terminal there.
The Easy Bus does not take me to Iguazu Falls though. Instead I had to get off at this terminal where I take another bus from a company called Rio Uruguay to the falls. There were also taxi drivers there willing to drive us to the falls for the same rate the bus was charging as posted on a sign. Both Rio Uruguay and the taxi drivers there accepted Brazilian cash so I didn’t have to get Argentina currency for this day trip.
At the end of my visit to Iguazu Falls, Rio Uruguay has a ticket office right at the falls visitor center to buy my ticket for their bus back to the Puerto Iguazu bus terminal. Once back at this bus terminal, I looked for the Easy Bus which I already had a return ticket back to Brazil for. Now I had to do things in reverse.
So the Easy Bus in Argentina took me to the Argentina immigration to exit the country and again, the bus waited for me. But after it crossed back into Brazil and dropped me off at the Brazil immigration for my entry, it once again left (this I already expected). So once more I waited about 30 minutes for the next Easy Bus to come from the Argentina side to pick me up for my ride back to Foz do Iguazu. I had to show my paper ticket to the Easy Bus drivers each time.
This all sounds quite complicated and it is but my total bus fares for Easy Bus plus Rio Uruguay was 150 R Brazilian so I saved more than half the cost of a private driver. Of course all these transfers and waiting for multiple buses took extra time. I just had to remember that at the Brazil immigration, I would have to wait for the next Easy Bus for both the outbound and return trips. A private driver or going with a tour group would have removed a lot of the hassles since they would have hand held me through all the customs procedures as well as wait for me at all immigration offices on both sides but of course I would have had to pay more for this. So it’s really up to each tourist on how they want to do this day trip to Argentina. I figured that I had all day so was in no big rush.
Best Strategy To See Iguazu Falls On Argentina Side
Now that we got the complicated details of how to get to Iguazu Falls on the Argentina side and back to Brazil out of the way, I’ll outline the best way to see the falls. Much like with the Brazil side of the falls, buying an advance ticket online is strongly recommended to skip the huge lineup for admission tickets. So with my advance entry ticket and getting there as early as I could, I still had to wait a bit in the lineup to get an onsite free paper ticket for a little train that runs between stations at Iguazu Falls Park.
To avoid as much crowds as possible, it was suggested that I take this train to the furthest station to get on the trail to see Devil’s Throat first. Once on this trail, it was quite a long walk to Devil’s Throat and I thought the scenery although pleasant, was a bit boring with not much to see. But once I got to Devil’s Throat, I was surprised just how close the observation deck was to it. Not only do people get wet here, we could all feel and hear the immense power of nature from the roar of all the water. It was actually a bit frightening to be honest.
I did bring a rain poncho but since I noticed nobody else was wearing one and it was a hot sunny day, I left it in my backpack. Even though I did get wet, my clothes dried off in the sun fairly quickly. If the day is not sunny, I could see wearing a rain poncho would be helpful.
After getting some video and photos at Devil’s Throat, I took the long walk back to the station to board the little train to the Upper or Inferior trail. This trail runs along the tops of some of the falls where I saw the water going over the cliffs. After taking a short break after I finished this trail where the food vendors are, I hit the Lower or Inferior trail which runs along the bottom of the falls for different views. This Lower trail was quite challenging with more ups and downs with stairways to climb so I would suggest leaving this one for last and doing it only if energy is still there after the Upper trail as both are long trails to walk through.
Most people take 5-6 hours to complete all three trails but since I’m a fast walker on my own, I did them in 3 hours. Iguazu Falls on the Argentina side does require a full day since not only are the trails long but travel time from Brazil and back must be factored in. In contrast, the falls on the Brazil side only takes half day since it’s only one trail to see the falls there.
Which Side Of Iguazu Falls To Visit – Brazil Or Argentina?
Many tourists ask which side of Iguazu Falls is better to visit – Brazil or Argentina? After visiting both sides, I can say that they both give different views and perspectives on the falls resulting in perhaps greater appreciation of this amazing natural wonder of the world. Although many past visitors seem to vote for the Argentina side since you can get closer to the falls, I personally like the Brazil side more for its wide panoramic views, especially near the end of the trail for that iconic view I’ve seen in photos in the past. I thought there was a lot of walking on the Argentina side for the amount of views I got.
My overall recommendation on Iguazu Falls though is to see both sides like I did so plan out a day for each side. If one is going to fly all the way to Foz do Iguazu from either Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo, might as well stay a few days to take in both sides. The town of Foz do Iguazu is a pleasant one to stay at. Although I didn’t extend my time in Puerto Iguazu on the Argentina side, it looked like a pretty nice little town too but smaller than Foz do Iguazu.
The next article is on my visit to the Parque das Aves exotic bird park which was right after seeing the falls on the Brazil side.
