Iguazú Falls

 We backtracked to El Calafate in Argentina to catch our flight out of Patagonia. The cost of a flight goes up a lot if you fly between countries, so we kept our flights domestic within Argentina. We had decided to visit Iguazu Falls directly after Patagonia to minimize the separate travel legs. Most people do a round trip out of Buenos Aires. We had a quick layover in Buenos Aires but arrived in Iguazú late in the evening after a full day of flying.

​Iguazú is a different world from Patagonia. In 48 hours we had traveled 2,000 miles north. We went from wide open spaces and cool air to the hot, humid jungle. We had to adjust quickly to the heat, but we were pretty excited to ditch the layers for a little while. In Patagonia you need to be prepared for hot, cold, and rain every time you step outside.

​We had one full day in Iguazú to visit the falls. We bought our bus tickets early in the morning and headed to the park just outside of town. This was the busiest and most familiar style of park we had visited. It reminded us of a zoo back home with the welcome center, gift shop, cafeterias and meandering sidewalks. Upon arriving to the park we booked a boat tour to get up close to the falls and we started our journey through the walkways of the park. 

​​There is a good bit of wildlife to lookout for while walking. We saw a few monkeys and many coatíes (raccoon-ish). Both looked like they would try to steal our lunch. We also saw two alligators and a toucan which was pretty awesome. Small waterfalls (a measly 100 feet tall or so) dot the trail before the jungle opens up for the main show. A mile long on the right side falls cascade over the rocks, ending in a misty horseshoe. There is an island in the middle, and another huge set of falls to its left, shared with the Brazilian border. These are the biggest set of waterfalls in the world, and they are so massive you can't fit them in a single picture. We saw helicopters circling overhead, and that is certainly the only way to see them all. We walked a few paths that go very close to some of the smaller falls, and then jumped on our boat tour that took us right to the edge of the big falls. By lunch time we were absolutely soaked. Unlike the tours at Niagara, these boats are more of a speedboat than ferry, and jetting under the falls was a highlight of our trip.

​We walked a final trail to the top of the biggest horseshoe, called The Devil's Throat, where its tough to even see what happening due to all of the mist. We were able to float on a raft back toward the exit to relax and experience the river and jungle. In all we spent about six hours in the park. We definitely thought it was worthwhile to add this pit stop into our trip before heading back to Buenos Aires.