January 10th ~ Getting there
Brilliant flowers hung from a tree at the bus depot
The 10th was a travel day. Sebastian and crew dropped our group off at the bus station for a scheduled 5-6 hour ride in a local bus from Ituzaingo to Puerto Iguazu.
Bus ticket with assigned seating, meals served
With a late departure, and then an unexplained stop where the entire bus was emptied and then loaded onto a replacement bus, the trip turned into closer to 8 hours.
When we arrived in Puerto Iguazu, the local laws do not allow Brazilian vans to pick up passengers, so a make-shift solution was for us to be carried by local taxis/transfer vehicles, driven around the corner, and then loaded into our Brazilian van.
We then continue for another hour plus drive, crossed the border into Brazil and arrived at Foz do Iguazu for our three night stay.
Our hotel for three nights
January 11th – Iguazu Falls
Mehul and Uma wanted to take a helicopter flight over the falls. Tim, Juani and I decided to join them.
Helicopter we took
Can I say – wow, Wow, WOW! The views were spectacular.
Iguazu Falls from the helicopter
What an amazing way to get my first look at the largest waterfall system in the world.
“The falls are shared by the Iguazú National Park (Argentina) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil). The two parks were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984 and 1987, respectively.” ~ Wikipedia
According to our Intrepid trip notes, Iguazu Falls is over 2 kilometers long and actually a series of cataracts. There are over 270 falls with some reaching up to 80 meters in height. They are wider than Victoria Falls and higher than Niagara Falls.
Devil’s Throat
I can whole-heartedly recommend this experience!
Back on the ground, we drove a bit further to the official entrance of the park where tickets are purchased.
Entrance into the Brazil side of the park
If you are interested in staying inside the park, check out Belmond Hotel das Cataratas.
Hotel we could see from the air.
Greeted by Coati,(aka Coatimundi), furry creatures of the raccoon family, that were cute, but a pest as well. They are aggressive and adept at opening backpacks to obtain food. We were seriously warned not to feed them, as they could carry a harsh bacteria similar to rabies. If bitten, a trip to the hospital would follow where a series of shots must be taken.
Coati
You can bet we used at least some degree of caution – even if MANY pictures were taken.
On the Brazil side, you walk along a boardwalk, look across at the Argentine side and get more of an overview of the immensity of the falls.
My first view of the falls from ground level
Take a note of those boats – we will go on them the next day
Tim and Joanne at Iguazu Falls
Here is a variety of shots taken along the walk. We took our time and really savored the experience.
There are also big and small lizards in abundance that we viewed along the path.
The size of a small to medium iguana
Another type of lizard
As we neared the end of the boardwalk, near Devil’s Throat we put on our plastic raincoats. Fortunately Juani had advised us to purchase them earlier as we left the hotel for half the price they were offered at the falls.
This last portion of the walk, everyone got soaked to the bone, but the views were out of this world gorgeous.
Walkway out to look down in to the throat of the falls
Tim needed windshield wipers for his glasses
The visitors center offers the option of taking an elevator or stairs back to the top. My sandals had gotten very wet and slippery so we waited in a line for the elevator. We arrived back at our bus about 15 minutes late. I felt bad about keeping the group waiting.
Normally Tim and I are very prompt, but I hope I was forgiven that after dreaming of seeing this magnificent place for so long we truly and literally “soaked it up”.
View down from elevator back to the parking lot.
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Iguazu Falls had been on my bucket list for many years. Not only did I get to experience it up close, but had an unexpected opportunity of seeing it from the air. It was definitely worth the wait!
A Note From Abroad 
Those falls are fantastic and the view from above, then below must have just been out of this world. Can not wait to see photos from the boat trip. Hope your camera is waterproof.
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Actually no, not waterproof. We had Tim’s iPhone and my little Sony Rx100 with us in the boat. You can bet we had them buried under our jackets when we went under the falls. Tim and I got soaked to the bones, but managed to protect the cameras, LOL.
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So happy to read the next chapter of this adventure. What an amazing place! That helicopter ride must have been phenomenal. Thanks for the amazing pictures!
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The helicopter trip was not preplanned and such a treat. Certainly gave us a greater perspective of just how immense and grand the falls are.
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Wow, thanks for all the great photos and details.
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Glad you enjoyed seeing them ❤
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Wow! Just gorgeous!
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Thank you Sandra!
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Wow!! Your trip and photos are amazing!! Thank you for sharing!!
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Thank you Denise. Appreciate you taking the time to look at them.
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I just returned from an 11 day international trip. After the air travel and airport dash, I proclaimed I am never leaving home again! Your 8 hour bus ride made my pitiful complaint just that “pitiful”!
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Denise, after you get rested up, I hope you once again get your travel wings on. 😃
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Love this place and your photos! We were on the Argentine side looking at Brazil!
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Cindy, each side has plusses. We loved them both. First I thought the Brazil side was my favorite (saw it first), but later thought the Argentina side was more beautiful. Now I can honestly say that I do not have a favorite, but appreciate each one for their own magnificence…
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Wow! So happy for you that you got to be there.
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Your RX100 is partially weather sealed. I don’t know if it could handle the water of the falls, but it did well for us in a pretty heavy rainstorm. I really like the walkway picture. It really shows us where you were.
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Ray, I think for a minor rain, it would do fine, but we actually went under and through the falls on the boat ride the next day. We had a sealed waterproof bag to put the cameras in and then put that under our rain coats. We were soaking wet but cameras stayed dry.
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I’m talking about New Orleans rain, 2 inches an hour and sideways. For heavy work in the rain like we had during most of Mardi Gras, I just use a small trash bag, even though my gear is weather sealed.
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That kind of rain would keep me happily indoors 😳 but for Marci Gras, who knows…
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My client wouldn’t be very happy with me if I bailed because of weather. Besides, as former National Graphic staffer, Sam Abell says, “when the weather turns bad, the pictures get good.” All the wet streets reflected the color in some amazing images.
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This is simply spectacular. Thanks and God bless you for sharing Nature’s amazing gifts. I travel, without moving. The pictures are brilliant.
Words can’t define this beauty.
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Nature at her most spectacular!
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What a stunning place !!!
Incredible images and I am sure this is something to experience 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing and have a nice day 🙂
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It was indeed!
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Most of the adjectives have been used up…but sufficient, eh, just to say WOW! FANTABULOUS FALLS! Onwards and upwards…
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Fantabulous fits very well!
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Joanne,
I love these photos but coupled with that was the constant amazing roar of the water.
It’s hard to really immerse yourself in the experience (although Tim and you did; literally…) without actually being there.
When anyone asks me about my personal favourite among all the amazing sections of my South American adventures, although it had some tough competition from The Galapagos and Macchu Picchu to name a couple, this one always springs to mind first.
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Peter, I agree that photos can not begin to capture the magnitude of the falls. I was, and am still in awe of all we saw and experienced on this trip. The other places you mentioned, The Galápagos Islands and Macau Picchu were also favorites of ours. I’m glad that we saw them on earlier trips.
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Such a magnificent place! Thank you for sharing so many wonderful photos. I showed this to my husband this morning – we recently had a guest from Brazil stay at our house. He talked about this place!
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Kathleen, I hope our pictures gave a little more insight into the place your guest was telling you about.
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They absolutely did!
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I don’t have Java Script, so I missed some of the beauty, but there was enough elsewhere in the post to satisfy me. The views from the helicopter ride were truly awesome.
janet
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Janet, I get the “Java Script” message on my iPad on occasion and I find that if I simply refresh the page then the slide show magically appears. But if you truly don’t have it installed on your computer it is a simple and free download. Hope that helps.
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I know I can get it, but my IT husband says it’s one of those apps/things that can be exploited, so I don’t have it Thanks. I’ll try refreshing the page, though.
janet
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Sounds like a wonderful time! Enjoy!
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It was, thanks!
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Loved this post👍🏾
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Glad you liked it!
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Water of any sort but particularly waterfalls are my favorite element of nature. I loved visiting Multnomah Falls in Oregon in 2015. Thanks for sharing so many beautiful pics; I can’t imagine how much more gorgeous the falls are in person!
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Multnomah is a beautiful Falls. As a native Oregonian, I am quite partial to it. Multiply Multnomah Falls by about 250, as that is the average number of individual falls that make up Iguazu.
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Spectacular photos and that helicopter trip must have been thrilling! I’ve been fortunate to take many heli trips, and they cannot be beaten for getting views that are impossible otherwise! 🙂
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You really get a good “over” view from a helicopter. About 25 years ago we took a helicopter over the Grand Canyon. This is the first ride since that one that I thought was equivalent.
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Oh, I bet that was amazing too! We took one on our honeymoon over Waimea Canyon on Kauai 20 years ago and it was breathtaking!
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Another gorgeous ride!
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Wow, just wow!
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Iguazu Falls has been a dream of mine since I did a project on it in Junior School. Amazing pictures, it looks like you had a great time.
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Then you must make plans to get there! We loved the sites on this trip.
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Just amazing! Definitely on my list now.
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Good! Can’t believe anyone would ever regret seeing Iguazu Falls.
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That is just amazing! I had never heard of the falls. Thanks so much for sharing. And that hotel looks so nice. Happy blogging.
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So glad we could introduce you to the largest waterfall system in the world. It is one of the most spectacular places we have visited.
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Thanks again!
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Crazy beautiful!!
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Yes, it sure was.
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Wow! What amazing and beautiful place the world is! Thanks also for liking my post on https://annegaelan16.wordpress.com – for the very different city delights.
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