Indigo in Buenos Aires: Iguazu Falls – Dec 28, 2006
This morning, Hugo picked us up about 8AM and we drove to the airport to fly a charter plane to Cataratas del Iguazu, the famous Iguazu Falls that are about a 2-1/2 hour flight from BA. This is the scene of the world’s largest waterfalls. Hugo went with us for the whole trip and it was his first time there. This was a real highlight of our trip, and I can see why it is listed in that book that describes the 1000 places to visit before you die. The falls are on the Rio Iguazu which forms the northern border of Argentina with Brazil so that part of the spectacle is in Argentina and part is in Brazil. We were on the Argentinian side, and I can tell you that I don’t think it matters which side you are on–these falls are really beautiful. One of the best parts is that our pilot flew us over the falls in two circles, and we were able to get a look at the area from above. Truly amazing!
After we landed, we took a taxi to the National Park, bought our tickets and after lunch, took a ride on an open vehicle through lush subtropical forest where we heard in Spanish and in English about the birds, plants and animals that live in this area. We then climbed down a path to the boats that would take us to the falls. These were basically large inflatables holding about 30 people, all wearing life jackets. We were warned that we would get wet and we did. They provided waterproof bags for cameras and other valuables and they had a videographer on board to film the experience. We, of course, bought DVD’s for us and for Hugo. After a short uneventful trip on the water, we then got to the falls. The captain of our ship took us again and again into the falls and it was so much fun–even better than a Disney ride. There are 275 separate cascades falling over 200 feet, the largest of which is the Garganta del Diablo (the throat of the devil) where the water plunges at least 240 feet. We didn’t go into that one.
We then got out of the boat and walked at least a mile through beautiful park land, had a couple of beers on the way and got on a train that took us back to the place where we had started. It was great to see that Hugo had just as good a time as we did. Then back to the airport and to the plane and to the 2-1/2 hour flight back to BA. We got back to the boat about 9:30PM; it was a wonderful day and a wonderful experience.