Introduction: Iguaçu waterfalls Argentina
The Iguaçu waterfalls Argentina or Iguazu waterfalls are dividing the Iguaçu river into a lower and an upper section. The river sources near Curitiba and for most of its course goes through Brazil. However most the waterfalls are in Argentina.
To visit the falls in the Argentinian side, we had to get to the Iguazu National Park Nature Interpretation Center.
There are totally 6 treks to do there, we did:
- Devil’s Throat
- Upper trail
- Lower trail
- Green trail
We didn’t do the Macuo trail that brings you to a small waterfall nor the San martin island trek because it was closed.
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Getting to Iguaçu waterfalls Argentina
The easiest and cheapest way to get to the waterfall is by bus (you can of course also get there by cars, motorbike, bike…).
They are various options for the bus depending on where you are in town. In our experience, we used the city bus of the city called Rio Uruguay. Those buses are running from the bus terminal in Puerto Iguazu to the waterfalls (Cataratas).
Those buses are running every day from 7am until 10:15pm. And for special occasions they also have night services.
The easiest way is to ask where you are staying what is the nearest bus stop. For us it was in Avenida Victoria, on the opposite of EOS Supermarket.
The park opens at 8am, so we decided to be there as early as possible and left our guesthouse at 6:55am and caught a bus at 7:10am (7am bus from the terminal)
At this time, we weren’t many (tourists) on the bus. It was us; two Chinese lady and the rest was people working in the park.
The ticket cost 200 pesos per person and you buy it directly on the bus. The bus made a few stops along the way before arriving at 7:40am in the park.
National park ticket
There are two row of ticket offices. On the right and on the left of the entrance. Most of the people already there where on the right side, so we went on the left one where the bus dropped us and where nobody was waiting.
We purchased our ticket and went in front of the gates to wait the opening of the park at 8am.
The devil’s throat
Also called Garganta Del Diablo is the biggest waterfall of the complex with approximately 80M height.
To get there, you will first need to reach the central train station and before that you must grab a ticket for the train on your way. In the square before the station, there was on the right side a small counter where people were giving tickets. We didn’t know at first and went straight to the train but couldn’t take it and had to walk back to catch a ticket (free).
But with luck we caught the first train at 8:20am. Once we arrived there, a great thing was there it wasn’t too hot and wasn’t too crowded. We followed the trek (more a really long set of bridges) along gorgeous landscapes till we first saw the river dropping and then discovered the gigantic waterfall.
After staring at this huge mass of water for a while, we headed back and took the train back (9:30am) to the Cataratas station (first stop).
Upper circuit
From there, you can either reach in this order the upper circuit and the lower one. As most of the people were following the road to the lower one, we went first to the upper one.
Along this trail, we saw many other waterfalls, all being beautiful. Along this trail, that goes over the top of the waterfalls, we discovered the sisters, Chico, Bossetti, Adam & Eve, Gpque, Mbigua and San Martin.
There are signs along the trek that give information about the waterfalls.
Lower circuit
Once out of the upper circuit, we headed right till the lower circuit. Once at the lighthouse, we took the stairs on the right (if we keep straight, it works too but is longer as it is made for wheelchairs).
At first the lower circuit brought us back to the sisters and chico waterfalls before following the coast opposite of the San martin island and later another set of waterfalls (Lanusse and Alvar Nunez)
The main difference is that the lower circuit bring you on the lower side of the waterfalls and not on top of them.
While we passed the last waterfalls, we got lucky we caught a batch of birds flying in circle, it was magnificent.
It is also at this time that we first saw the Coati. A local animal with long nose.
Lunch break
It was now noon, so, we took a lunch break at the end of the lower circuit. At each trail or station, mainly there is a small store selling fast-food, sandwiches, salads, as well as snacks. There is also WC and sitting area.
We found ourselves a sweet spot and ate what we prepared in the morning. At this point, lots of Coati came from everywhere. Guess they knew it was human lunch time.
Green trail
After a good hour, we strolled around the area we were and started heading back to the Cataratas station to take the green trail back to the main station and out of the park.
On the way we saw even more Coati and some monkeys. At this time the park was much more crowded compared to our arrival at 8am.
We kept hanging around in the hope to see a Toucan, but we didn’t get this chance.
Conclusion
We didn’t really plan on any order for our visit, but we are glad we did it like this. As the devil’s throat is the most popular attraction of the park, it gets quickly overcrowded. By doing it right away we avoided the trail being full. Then later the upper circuit was also not crowded, and we only started seeing more people in the lower one.
We didn’t rush and took lots of time to admire the waterfalls, but a good 5 to 6h would be enough to see the park.
Optional attraction can be done such as:
- Boat tour to get under the waterfalls, 10min, 3000 pesos per person
- Boat instead of the train to the devil’s throat, 700 pesos.
- Helicopter tours, 10min, around 120 USD per person
“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau
Where to stay in Puerto Iguazu
- Budget: Casa 24 Puerto Iguazu
- Mid-Range: Ocio Apart
- Luxurious: Gran Melia Iguazu
