Every time I told anyone I was in Argentina, I immediately got fired back the standard question if I had already been to the waterfalls of Iguazú… I managed to visit the country for a month 2 years ago while completely ignoring them.
I mean, it’s just waterfalls right, after having seen over a hundred of them how special could they really be?
And then the trip: an expensive bus ride from Buenos Aires, 18 hours ONE WAY, completely up north not on the way to anything… That’s too much, man.
But then I arrived at the point of returning to Argentina and wanting to stay for a bunch of months. That means: Visa runs, as I refuse to get a permanent visa anywhere (too much stability). I had already been to Uruguay, and to see the harbor town of Colonia del Sacramento twice is a bit more than I bargained for… So hm, why not checking out those damn waterfalls up north, while crossing the border to Brazil to see them from both sides?
So I went to BA’s Retiro station to negotiate my bus ticket to an absolute minimum and off I went. I even got myself a vegan meal included… which turned out to be a chicken- and fishplate, as in Argentina those are apparently not considered animals. After being kept up all night by an overweight lady who talked 6,5 hours to me about soap and showed me all 731 photos of her son on her cellphone (the price of being friendly to people), we arrived at a roadblock of tree cutters wanting more money… Right, 18+4 hours. When at last, AT LAST, we drove into the tiny village of Puerto Iguazú and Couchsurfer Eduardo showed up in his muddy pick-up truck with a smile from ear to ear I almost threw myself at his feet out of pure happiness.
I noticed I still had my thermo-leggings one from Buenos Aires where winter hits hard, but it seemed highly unnecessary in the 35-degrees heat of this northern province of Misiones. As usually, I appeared to have made an excellent choice in picking a Couchsurfing host: This guy seemed to be everything that humanity lacks sometimes… Open, honest, no judgments and having his mother, who just had a stroke, living in to take care of her 24/7. This bright little lady sadly lost control of her muscles, which resulted in farting loudly with every movement… followed by a tornado of hysterical laughter which made her fart even more powerful. Gold. After the inevitable merienda I was taken to the campo, the countryside, to join some friends in their mate drinking ritual, flawlessly turning into a wine drinking affair... Once dinner was served at 11:30PM I could truly conclude I lived like a real Argentino for a day.
After a solid sleep - Eduardo slept on the floor so I could sleep in all comfort… bringing hospitality to a new level – I jumped on the back of his motorbike. Eduardo, being a biologist, had insisted on accompanying me on my Iguazú visit, but his mother turned out to have a bad day and he wanted to be there for her. Instead, he brought me to some family members, who volunteered to be my travel buddies for that day. Once I paid the 330ARS to enter (and they their national 40ARS fare) we planned out our hiking routes. I noticed how polished and family-friendly this park was, instead of an expected rough encounter with nature I had ended up in some strictly-organized Disneyland with little tourist-trains bringing people from place to place. Being so developed and expensive, Iguazú turned out to be a fancy splurge… that turned out to be worth every single peso.
Remember when I said “it’s just waterfalls right, how special could they be?” Well, like the-most-incredible-thing-involving-water-you-have-ever-seen-in-your-whole-g#ddamn-life-special! Holy crappers, I just couldn’t grasp the raw marvel of nature mind-boggling my entire consciousness.
The deafening sound of billions of liters of water collapsing in the gaping cracks of Earth, alternated with contrasting multiple rainbows outlining the grandeur of this wild wonder… It’s just too much to take in.
The multiple paths guide you right in between the falls, some even let you walk on top of them so you can see the streams clattering into eternity right under your feet. When everyone went home I decided to stay a few hours longer… I needed some private time with this splendid piece of nature, if this might be a once-in-a-lifetime-experience I’d better extend it as long as possible.
Surrounded by monkeys and cheeky quati’s I stared until my eyes hurt, in an almost meditative state. These waterfalls and I share a planet, life is such an amazing thing.
I hitch-hiked back with a Uruguayan family, of which every single family member was astonishingly hot (that seems to be a Uruguayan thing). Eduardo warmly welcomed me with another wine-night, after which he took me for a day to the campo where he had bought some land and was building a little house of his own. I helped him out a bit. I never knew stirring in a pile of cow poop (to plaster the walls), while a quiet sun caresses the serene landscape could be so satisfying.
Ready to go to Brazil!
Oh oh oh… now it comes. The ancient rivalry! Brazil and Argentina, the 2 biggest countries of South America who generally can’t stand each other’s guts, sharing this Natural Wonder. But who has the BEST part?
Read along, my friends.
So I already saw the Argentinean side of the Iguazú Waterfalls (here spelled as Iguaçu), which possesses 80%, how interesting could the Brazilian side be? Not really, I concluded rather ignorant. However, this was my chance to see something of a country where I spent many hours of my life during lay-overs, but hadn't seen one single bit of.
Eduardo dropped me off at the Argentinean border where I hung around for a few hours until my Brazilian Couchsurfing host Carlos picked me up again. Together with a Czech girl we were granted full access to the beds in his house.
As I just came out of the 'Country of Wine' I was too hung-over to immediately hike up the falls, so I decided to go to some Buddhist Temple Carlos recommended. “But, as I'm on Latin American grounds now, why not take a little siesta first?”, I said to myself. Right, a European like me has not mastered this fine skill of relief... I ended up sleeping the entire afternoon.
[So I went to the temple on day #3… yup: worth a visit! Here’s some picture-proof].
Well done Steph... but I needed to do something, as a day without activities is a day not lived. So I decided to invite myself for a little citytrip to explore the splendors of Foz do Iguacu. Yeah... it´s really not that special. Unless you're a fool for global fast-food chains and big smoggy lanes full of traffic congestion, then you should absolutely not hesitate any longer and go for a nice long stroll through Foz. Nevertheless, I ended up enjoying this beautiful day of Brazilian winter (25 degrees) by working on my tan, sharing lunch with a homeless guy who taught me my first Portuguese words and sipping splendid cappuccino in the best coffee bar in town: Empório Com Arte. Also, worth mentioning: I couldn't help but notice that once I crossed the Brazilian border almost 90% of the entire population between 15-35 was overwhelmingly good-looking, both men and women. That mixing of the races worked out quite well, if I might say! After 1 day of walking the Brazilian streets I had to put some tiger balm on my neck muscles after overstretching them too much.
Day #2, moment of truth: the Cataratas of Iguaçu. The great thing about Couchsurfing is that you don't only safe money by sleeping at a local's house, these people also have the best inside information. So now I knew I didn't have to book an expensive tourist bus, but I could simply grab a city bus (120) for a few reales. Well 'simply'... I found myself all of a sudden confronted with being in a country where I do not speak the language. That's been a while. If you understand 8 languages of which 3 are the ‘colonial’ languages of English, Spanish and French, you can get pretty far. Portuguese however, na-ah! I felt completely handicapped trying to ask with hands and feet and some torn down scream-version of cavemen-Spanglish which bus to take. Luckily, besides being breathtakingly beautiful, Brazilians are also incredibly helpful.
After 30 minutes I entered the heavily commercialized and superbly organized visitor center of the Brazilian side of the falls, where I had to pay the shockingly expensive entrance price and wait for the double-decker tourist bus to bring me to the famous highlight. First I saw some waterfalls, from a distance. Immediately I texted my Argentinean friends to fuel their exaggerated sense of patriotism (that's common for Argentineans) and told them their side seemed to be more impressive. However, I was wrong.
Once I started walking down the trail the views got better... and better... and better. I had to stop every few meters to remind myself what I was seeing, but my brain couldn't grasp the beauty, it was just too much. The forces of nature combatting for attention, the power of water profiling its grace amongst the lush green treasures of nature. Most people have absolutely no clue how magnificent the world is that they are living in.
Then the moment was there, at the end of the path I found the grand finale... the ‘Devil’s Throat’, a long boardwalk right into the falls, requiring a poncho to not be flushed away together with your camera equipment.
Ecstatically I marched towards this Natural Wonder of the World with an almost psychotic smile on my face I couldn't possibly wipe off. The sounds of the water falling infiltrated my brain in an almost meditative manner, several rainbows led the way to the unquestionable treasure.
I looked around me but reality wouldn't hit in. I just stood there, maybe for 5 minutes, maybe for an hour, I lost all track of time. A voice next to me whispered ¨It´s hard to take it all in right?¨. Yes. Yes, it was.
So, to answer the question already many people asked me: Which side of the Iguaçu Waterfalls is best? There is no answer. The Iguaçu Falls are the best, and whatever side you see it from, you'll be blown off your feet.