The following post was written by Will, one of our interns at Say Hueque. Will is 23 years old and originally from the US but moved to Buenos Aires to study Spanish. This is his account of a recent trip from Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the famous Iguazu Falls, located in the Northeastern part of Argentina. Having lived in Buenos Aires for almost a year, and having worked at an Argentine travel agency for the majority of that time, I’ve heard just about everything there is to hear about how beautiful the falls are and about how I must visit before leaving Argentina. I had contemplated going alone, but ultimately decided against this when a friend from home began making plans to come visit me in Argentina. I knew Iguazu Falls would be a place we would both enjoy so I proposed that we spend a few days there during her visit.
As my friend and I are both recent college graduates, we are always looking for ways to save money. Following this low-budget mentality, we had originally planned to travel from Buenos Aires to Iguazu by bus. (If you’re not familiar, Argentina has an exceptional bus service, which serves as an affordable alternative to the often-expensive domestic flight prices.) However, after a few changes in the original itinerary forced my friend to cut her time in Argentina back a few days, we decided we would rather pay a little more money to fly in order to have more time in Iguazu and Buenos Aires. This turned out to be a great decision. We flew with LAN, which offers two daily trips from Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls, and had a quick and comfortable flight to Puerto Iguazu. Arriving in the early afternoon, we took a shuttle from the airport to our hostel where we checked in and got information about transportation to the falls. With still half a day left of our first day in Iguazu, we decided to take advantage of our time and go on to the national park that houses the falls. We bought bus tickets, which were relatively cheap, and boarded the bus that would transport us to the entrance of the park.
Upon entering Iguazu Falls National Park, we learned that if we planned to return the next day we could get a stamp on our ticket that would allow us to pay half the price of the entrance fee on the second day. Happy to hear about any kind of promotion in such a tourist haven, we eagerly got our stamps, as we were already planning to return the next day for a full day of exploring. We got a map of the park and made our way to the most famous part of the falls, La Garganta del Diablo (translated in English as Devil’s Throat), which is a point where many individual falls merge to create a gigantic set of falls. After following the pedestrian pathways, which wind through the forest and across the river, we came to a viewing deck that overlooks the Garganta del Diablo. Upon looking out at the falls, we immediately realized why Iguazu Falls was named one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. The view was breathtaking and rendered us incapable of forming words to express our contentment. After taking what seemed like thousands of pictures, we left the Garganta del Diablo and decided to walk one of the two circuits within the park before leaving for the day. We opted for the shorter one, as we would have more time the next day for the longer one, and began the route. This route, the higher of the two, offers incredible views looking out over the falls and the forest that surrounds it. We also had the pleasure to see an array of monkeys swinging through the trees as we made our journey. We finished walking the route right before sundown and made our way back to catch the bus to the city.
We began early the next day, knowing we still had a lot we wanted to do inside the park. Having looked through the various adventure packages available for purchase, we decided to sign up for a package that included a jungle safari and boat ride, which would apparently take us into the falls. After entering the park we boarded an open-top SUV and began the route through the jungle. With an informative guide teaching us about the history of the park and pointing out different birds and animals around us, the safari was a great feature of our adventure. From there we secured our things in waterproof bags (having been told that we would be drenched in the falls) and boarded a boat to take us down the Iguazu River. The boat ride took us down some rapids and into a cove, completely surrounded by the falls, where we stopped for picture opportunities. From here the boat started again and began to navigate directly into the falls. Talk about a rush! Seeing the falls up close and then feeling the water rush over our heads was an incredible feeling. The driver took us through a couple different waterfalls, which guaranteed that we were all absolutely soaked, and then dropped us at a walkway next to the cove. Looking at the falls from dry ground, it was hard to imagine that we had just been on a boat inside of them. It was an awesome experience and one in which words cannot fully explain. We spent the rest of the day hiking the remaining circuit, surveying the falls from different angles and even swimming in a tiny lagoon at one point, which left us utterly exhausted by the end of the day. We made our way back to the city, reflecting on the amazing experience we had both just undertaken.
The next day we traveled to the airport and caught our flight to head back to Buenos Aires, a little sad to be leaving such a beautiful place of nature. Discussing the previous two days as the plane prepared for takeoff, we both agreed that coming to Iguazu Falls was a great decision, even though we only had a few days. Having originally been hesitant to plan a trip for just 3 days, it turned out that we had allowed just the right amount of time for a wonderful exploration of the falls and the surrounding national park. Indeed, our experiences in Iguazu made for a truly unforgettable trip. The story of our trip from Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls will be told for many years.
If you haven’t yet had the chance to visit Iguazu Falls, now is a great time to start planning your trip. Check out Say Hueque’s website for a list of our trips from Buenos Aires to Iguazu or contact us to help you design a personalized trip suited to your specific interests!
Written by Will Collier
