J&J Go South 2023 - Day 8 - Chasing Waterfalls
When we had originally planned our South America trip in 2020, Jenn made a massive point that she wanted to visit the Iguazu Falls. The falls border Brazil and Argentina and are considered one of the natural wonders of the world. When we decided to do South America in 2023 we weren’t sure where to put it in our itinerary. After a lot of research, we decided to do a day trip to the falls from Buenos Aires. Luxor and Kuala Lumpur were the only two other up-and-back day trips we’ve done in the past. To get it all in we woke up a little after 4 AM and were off to Ezeiza International Airport to catch our two-hour flight to the falls.
The morning was uneventful we had an Uber take us to the airport, got our boarding passes, and grabbed a coffee and hot chocolate at Starbucks. Wouldn’t you know it, this Starbucks had all the mugs we could have ever asked for. By the time we made it through security, our flight was boarding, and two hours later we touched down at Cataratas of Iguazu International Airport and met up with our tour guide Fabiano who was going to take us to both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of this wonder of the world.
We left the airport in a van and at the border of Argentina to Brazil, we left our driver and van behind went through customs, and jumped in the back of Fabiano’s Kia. From there we went through the Brazil border control and were off to the falls. It was about a 20-minute drive to the first entrance where we scanned our tickets and another ten to the main falls. At that point, Fabiano dropped us off and went to park the car at the exit of the falls. When we first arrived at the falls its a bit overwhelming. Because of some recent rain, there are ten or twenty different falls to look at including a few main arteries. We walked from the entrance down towards the main fall (Devils Throat) where there were platforms that let you walk up to the falls. It was unreal. Simply breathtaking. The closer you got to the falls the more you were able to feel and hear their power. We probably spent more time than we should have on the platforms because, by the time we wrapped it up, we were pretty wet.
The walk back to Fabiano’s car was brief and we drove ten minutes back towards the border and stopped at the best part of the day, the boat ride. We bought our tickets and took a tram and a jeep to the dock where we boarded a twenty-person speedboat that took us on a 30-minute tour of the falls. As close as we were on the platforms in front of Devil’s Throat, the boat took us right up to and I’d argue into one of the bigger falls. We were warned ahead of time that we’d get wet on this tour, but even with our preemptive ponchos, we were drenched. The boat ride did a great job of giving us an up-and-close look at the falls, going through a few rapids and drenching us under one. I took a video of the first go under the falls and it's something that I will look back for many years to come and laugh. By the time and by the time we got back to the dock and took off the ponchos some of it had dried. We met back up with Fabiano who had my backpack with our change of clothes, we both made a quick change and were off.
This concluded the Brazilian side of the tour. We made our way back through customs and crossed back into Argentina and made the twenty-minute drive to the entrance of the Argentinian Falls. The way I’d describe the two experiences is the Brazilian allows you to see the falls and the Argentinian allows you to be on top of them. We jumped on the 3:00 PM train that dropped us off on another set of platforms. The walk from there was about twenty minutes and then you were on top of the falls looking over at the Brazilian side where we were earlier in the day. To say our legs were feeling shaky by this point would be an understatement. The sure power coming from under our feet and down into the river was indescribable. We took a ton of videos and photos but then put all of it away and spent fifteen minutes just taking the moment in. We were in Argentina, on vacation, and at one of the natural wonders of the world. What could be better than that?
By this point, we were exhausted and took the train back to the park entrance where Fabiano drove us back to the airport. We parted ways a little after 5 PM, went through security, and had an hour to kill before our plane back to Buenos Aires boarded. In the corner of the very small airport was a Hard Rock Cafe, we took a seat and ordered dinner. I had a burger and a Stella, while Jenn had eggs, bacon, and toast. It was fine, what you’d expect from a random Hard Rock Cafe, sadly the second one we’ve been to in six months (the last was Universal Studios Orlando). Before we left Jenn said she was freezing (still a bit wet from the falls) so we bought her a Hard Rock Cafe Iguazu Falls sweatshirt in grey, which I’m sure will be a fashion staple for years to come.
Our flight back to Buenos Aires was uneventful. Jenn made small talk with an American sitting next to us who had quit her job as a kid's event coordinator on Disney cruises to travel the world. We arrived back in Buenos Aires a little after 9 PM, grabbed an Uber, and were back at the hotel thirty minutes later. We both showered up and not long after were fast asleep with the sound of the falls still ringing in our ears. What a day.
