Buenos Aires, Argentina and Iguazu Falls

 March 7, 2024 

After debarkation from the Oosterdam on Tuesday, we met our tour guide outside the terminal for a city tour of Buenos Aires. We had a total of eight people for this next leg of the adventure.  We saw the Obelisco, perhaps the most famous landmark/meeting spot in Buenos Aires as well as the church where the current Pope was Arch Bishop and the cemetery where Evita Peron was finally buried.   It's quite a story about how her body was returned to Argentina.  Too many details to put here. Check it out if you're an Evita fan. 

We visited the Cathedral that was home to the current Pope. 

After lunch at the famed Cafe Tortoni with some delicious Malbec from Mendoza, we were dropped off at the airport for our flight to IGR for the next part of this adventure.  Our flight landed on time at 6:30 PM local time. We met our tour guide and got to the hotel Gran Melia about 45 minutes later. This hotel is the only one located inside the Iguazu National Park on the Argentina side.  More on that later.   It was only a snack dinner of charcuterie and Caesar salad along with a local beer.  Headed to the room to rest up.    It was Wednesday where we'd start the real adventure. 

I hadn't done any research on what to expect at Iguazu Falls.  I've visited several waterfalls around the world including Iceland, Norway and of course Niagara Falls with the Maid O The Mist.  I wasn't prepared for Iguazu.  It is so massive.  We started our day with a nice included  breakfast buffet in the hotel. A lot of American favorites as well as delicious cheeses, Iberico ham and prosciutto. 

We met our tour guide at 8:15 and started our hike around the upper trail. It didn't take long to see how large these falls truly are and their immense power!!  The upper trail is about 1750 meters long.    Mostly flat which made for easy walking. And they have built these walkways and bridges that make it easier for all mobility levels.  We found some friends along the way including coati.  We'd seen these in Mexico several times and they typically stay away from humans. Here they were overly social. 

Next was the lower trail. Angie had some emails to catch up on so she didn't join me for this walk.  This was slightly smaller at 1700 meters long and you'd be further under the canopy of the forest.  

Before we started we spotted some tiny owls who like to build nests in the ground. Today they were hanging out in trees. They also have a speed boat option where you can have your Maid of the Mist experience. The speed boat goes directly into the waterfall.

Eighty percent of the falls are in Argentina and the remaining percent are in Brazil.  Our guide was explaining that we had the chance for an optional tour to cross over into Brazil and see them from that side. Our whole group was interested!!  After a nice post trail lunch of mushroom pizza, hummus and salmon poke, our guide picked us up at 1:45 to start the drive to Brazil.  As you would expect, we had to pass through Argentina and Brazil immigration processes.  It took about an hour in total to get to the Brazil National Park. And the view really gave you a sense for the complete majesty of the falls. It was very interesting to see the upper and lower trail platforms and bridges where we had been walking earlier in Argentina. 

The trail here was much more adventurous.  While there were paved trails, it wasn't as flat as on the Argentina side.  There were many more steps.  And the temperature at 3:30 was 35° C!!   Plus the humidity!!   Good thing for dry fit shirts and shorts!!  The payoff was worth it!!   A spectacular view of the falls off from a platform that was right at the Devil's Throat, perhaps the most famous portion of these falls.   

Our "walk" back up from the falls was thankfully aided by an elevator.  You didn't need to walk back up any stairs.  There were a few ramps but the elevator did the hard work. 

We got back to the hotel at 6:15 PM after a full day of exploring the falls. We had a little more than an hour to clean ourselves up, rest a little and meet our group for dinner at 7:30.  Angie and I shared some delicious beet hummus.  Angie then had macaroni with pesto and I had eggplant ravioli.   Both very tasty.  We didn't want a real heavy meal. 

Today we have a late afternoon flight to EZE.   Our guide will pick us up at 5:15 for the short drive. It might be time to think about heading back home.