Don't go out of your way, but if you do...
Written: Dec 11 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Sunny days, falling water, rafting into the mouth of the devil
Cons: Only good for one day, Brazil side is cheaper to stay in
|
|
|
| aleary's Full Review: Iguazú Falls |
I’m not a waterfall freak (I’ve met them, and they’re a bit odd) but Iguazu was a great trip, but probably not worth changing all your plans to go see. Since there are few things to do in the area I don’t think it was so great that you HAD to change your plans to see it (unless your one of those odd waterfall freak, then it’s a must see). If you get a bit adventuresome you can skip over to Foz du Iguazu in Brasil as well as Ciudad del Este Paraguay, but these are not standard tourist places, just very interesting for people who like to see how real people live around the world.
I flew from Buenos Aires to Posadas (in Corrientes Province about 3 hour drive away) and then rented a car to get to Puerto Iguazu. We needed to make this detour because we didn’t reconfirm our tickets (although we bought them the day we left so I don’t know how we could have) so call a day ahead to reconfirm (this is true in all of South America). The drive was simple and pleasant, but most tourists do not go this route. Renting a car is definitely not necessary unless you want to go to Brazil and Paraguay.
Iguazu park is amazing, and is 10 times better on a nice sunny day. The walkways are well maintained and allow you a very close view of the tumbling waters of the Iguazu river. There are actually two parks, the Argentine park which is more extensive and the Brazilian park which is small but has a more spectacular view with a viewing platform almost halfway enveloped in the falls yet with fewer walkways. There are two major areas to walk around in: the bridges before the falls and the network of paths leading near and eventually down to the bottom of the falls. I enjoyed both and was able to do both leisurely in one day.
The services on the Argentine side are reasonable but not overly impressive yet they were working on a small train (to cut down on traffic near the falls) and other buildings for new services. There is a free boat to the small island that basically breaks the falls into the Argentine and Brazilian (though owned by Argentina) where you can get other views of the falls as well as wade in the water. Swimming is strictly forbidden. Also do not try to cross the river on the paths above the falls, the entire parks service will come and put you into harnesses and helmets and bring you back (as happened with two very stupid friends of mine). There are also other adventures you can purchase. I went “into the mouth of the devil” (or garganta del Diablo) and then went down the river a mile or so to a short “jungle” ride. Although the jungle ride was less than eventful (just a lot of green plants) the raft into the falls (really just near them of course) was very cool.
Spending more than a day or two is difficult in Iguazu, I have heard that there are old missions you can visit, but I didn’t see too many advertisements for them. The town of Iguazu is small and slow without too much to do at night, just small bars and one or two small “clubs” for tourists only open on the weekends. There is a nice casino, just learn a few words of Spanish and you can loose money just like in Las Vegas. Foz, the city on the Brazilian side doesn’t use the falls as their primary employment therefore there is much more (and cheaper) but there are few tourist services so brush up on your Portuguese.
Special Note: Americans need a passport to go to Brazil, but if you are just going to see the Brazilian side of the falls you don’t need to pay the $54 and the hassle, they will let you through without it.
The falls are great, but because they are kind of out of the way and there is very little to do beyond the falls I don’t suggest going out of your way if you are in South America for a short time. You can find other impressive places to visit and be able to link them together (like in Patagonia, check out my review on Southern Patagonia). The again you may be a waterfall buff; therefore this is a can’t miss.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
aleary
|
|
Member: Alex Leary
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 11 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.