Iguazu Falls

Hi guys! So I am back in San Antonio readjusting to normal life. It’s been easy so far, just sleeping a lot and unpacking. I still have a lot to share from my travel over the last few weeks, so I am going to try and post the next couple of blogs more frequently in an effort to catch up.

For this post, I will be recaping our time at Iguazu Falls, the largest waterfalls system in the world! The falls are located in the Iguazu River at the border between Argentina and Brazil. They are quite far from any major city, but we decided we still wanted to make the effort to see them from the Argentina side only (need a visa to go to Brazil). Hence, our longest travel day of the entire trip. This trip included several bus rides and 2 flights over the course of 42 hours without any hotel stops. This meant sleeping in an airport and an overnight bus during this time. Well I guess no backpacker journey is complete without either one of those.

Here is a map for some reference of the distance we traveled. We were at the red pin and needed to get to the falls via Santiago and then Buenos Aires.

(if only there was a more direct and cheap [keyword] way to get to the falls from Arica)

Here was our timeline:

August 25th:

Bus from Putre to Arica – 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Flight from Arica to Santiago – 10:40pm to 1:15am

August 26th:

Flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires – 7:35am to 9:30am
Overnight bus from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu – 3:30pm to 11:00am (includes a 2 hour delay)

(this doesn’t include any taxis or local buses in between bus terminals and airports)

We tried to give ourselves plenty of cushion in case anything were to happen and luckily, there was only one delay and it was at the end of the travel days. Also, we were rebels when it came to staying the night in the Santiago airport. We left the terminal to claim my luggage and then went back inside even though re-entry is not allowed (in any airport). Since it was so late, no one was guarding so we walked back in pretty easily and found a section of nice armless (!!) chairs to try and sleep on. This really was a money call on Jessie’s part. If we had continued to the exit, we would have had to most likely sleep on the cold floor by the check-in counters.

Anyways, needless to say once we arrived at our hostel in Puerto Iguazu, we took much needed showers and then headed straight to the falls which were well worth the journey. When we first approached the largest drop, the Devil’s Throat, I thought it wasn’t that big. But once we got closer, I could see the full extent of all the falls. And it was intense. Sooooo much rushing water and so loud!

We ended up visiting the falls on both days we were in Puerto Iguazu. One day was a bit cold and rainy and the other was warm and sunny. We walked all of the trails and visited all the view points that we could on the Argentinian side. Supposedly you can get more of a panoramic view from the Brazil side, but on the Argentinian side, you get to see everything up close. I wish we would’ve paid extra for the boat ride that takes you really close to the falls (and I assume you get soaked), but we didn’t really have time. We arrived in the afternoon on the first day and had to leave at noon on the second day to catch our flight back to Buenos Aires. Oh well, I actually haven’t been to Niagara Falls yet, so maybe I can do that there one of these days.

Well onto the good stuff. Here are a few shots from both days: