Known by many names (Iguazu, Iguazú, Iguassu, or Iguaçu Falls) these magnificent and immense waterfalls are considered to be one of the 7 wonders of the natural world, and have been declared of Outstanding Universal Value by UNESCO. It’s pretty easy to work out how to visit the falls but here’s our Iguazu Falls travel guide.

There is a poem somewhere near the part on the Argentinean side called the Devil’s Throat that states that viewing this wonder is like looking God in the face. Whether you believe in God or not, it is a fitting description as these monumental and beautiful waterfalls show off the power and force of nature and leave you both terrified and exhilarated. When we were there the waterfalls were particularly spectacular (and scary!) as there was an unusually large amount of extra water flowing down the river. This made the water look browner that it normally does.

The waterfalls can be approached from Argentina or Brazil, as the Iguazu River (“big water” in the local Guaraní language) forms a natural border between the two nations. There are over 250 separate drops and the maximum height reaches 82m. The area is subtropical so very hot and humid, you will need to bring the sensible essentials like suncream, insect spray, a hat, a water canteen and so on. The falls are a major tourist attraction so the paths and raised walkways above the water are clear, safe and well maintained. This of course means that you will have to battle other human beings for your selfie with the waterfalls, but even the people cannot detract from the experience.

The Argentinean side.

We stayed in Argentina, visiting as part of a trip organised with family. This meant that we got to enjoy a really nice hotel in the jungle called Aldea de la Selva. We each had a spacious air-conditioned cabin, some way down tracks into the jungle. The location made for an exciting experience of being surrounded by all the noises of the jungle, the birds and insects of which became cacophonous and alien at dusk. We were also lucky to have a good restaurant on site where we were able to try some interesting river fish dishes.

To visit the Argentinean side of the falls, you need a full day. This is because it has an extensive surrounding park with walking trails, many of which traverse the waterfalls themselves. There is also an “eco-train” to cover some of the distance (creates less impact on the environment), many facilities for eating, drinking and resting, a small visitor centre and numerous opportunities to observe wildlife (if only the myriad of tourists would be quiet!).

We did the green trail, the lower circuit, the upper circuit and then took the train to the Devil’s Throat. Unfortunately, due to the high level of the water when we visited the boat trip out to the island in the middle of the falls was not operating. There was a different boat trip with a sort of precarious looking inflatable dingy, but this was very expensive! We did watch other people zooming off underneath the waterfalls on this trip and we can only imagine how wet they must have ended up getting.

The lower circuit takes you to a point where you can get totally soaked under the waterfall, and it is pretty cool to get that close.

The upper circuit takes you across many of the waterfalls on metal platforms, which can be a little scary!

The Devil’s Throat is arguably the crowning glory of the park as the metal walkway takes you all the way out into the wide river to a precipice where you can see a massive waterfall and watch the water churning over the side from just metres away. An amazing sight which left us quite wobbly legged. When you can also see rainbows through the mist generated by the falls, it is like being in some sort of alternate fairytale reality!

The Brazilian side.

To visit the Brazilian side you only need half a day. If taking a trip from Argentina, like we did, there is a certain amount of waiting around at the border and after the visit you will normally be deposited at a buffet lunch before being taken back. The Brazilian side only has a short trail, but it allows you to complete the picture of the falls. Brazil has a much better panoramic offering, so it is completely different from meandering around the jungle trails on the Argentinean side.

The best (and wettest!) bit is going out onto a walkway in the middle of the waterfalls. Not quite as stomach churning as The Devils Throat, but still pretty crazy.

There is also a point at the end where you stand right next to a wall of thundering water, before taking a lift back up to the meeting point.

Brazil also offers helicopter rides over the falls. Argentina has banned these due to the disturbance they cause for the area and the wildlife, so we did not even consider it.

Wildlife

We saw hundreds of coatis which are little more than pests as they try to steal anything and everything that you are holding/eating, and have no qualms about sticking their dirty little noses into your bags. The little ones are super cute though!

We saw many birds including circling vultures over the falls, incredibly curious black and yellow birds, some bright blue birds that were too quick to photograph and hummingbirds. There was also a very small owl one night near our accommodation.

Butterflies are abundant and you can even observe them clustering at puddles of water, presumably to get salt as they will also sit on your skin quite happily and lick you with their curly tongues! We also saw caterpillars, spiders and other insects including some shiny black millipedes at our hotel. There were many lizards and we also saw our first armadillo ever, very exciting, but he was not ready for his photo to be taken. There is also the possibility to see monkeys, tapirs and jaguars, but we didn’t run in to any of these shyer creatures.

The Iguazu falls are just spectacular, and for us the experience of being immersed in the jungle was something new. Being that close to something so powerful is very humbling and makes you realise just how fragile we are on this beautiful planet of ours. Scribble Iguazu onto your bucket list now, it is definitely in our top 10 so far!