02-26 Iguazu Falls

Garganta del Diablo
Garganta del Diablo

26th.February – 1st.March, Back in Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls

It was raining and stormy in the night and as the clouds lifted the next morning morning one could see fresh snow on the mountains quite low down. On arrival back in Buenos Aires it was 34 deg.C, so we experienced quite a temperature change during the day. I expect the temperature in Iguazu tomorrow will be even hotter and then I shall return to chilly Switzerland. We really have been very lucky with the weather during the whole holiday.

Some of the group including myself were staying longer in Argentina in order to visit world-renowned Iguazu Waterfalls in the far North, on the border with Brazil and near to Paraguay. Originally only one overnight stay was planned but I thought only 24 hours would be too short to see all of the falls. It was possible to change my flight to one day earlier, although I was in a different hotel for the first night and then in the Sheraton Hotel in the park itself as planned the day after. On my last evening in Buenos Aires we went to a tango dance show before the farewell dinner of the whole group.

The Iguazu Falls are very extensive consisting of many separate falls with islands in between them. The largest falls are the Giganta del Diablo on the Brazilian border and the Salto San Martin entirely in Argentinia. Access to the different parts of the park is provided by special busses and a narrow gauge railway. I first visited the Brazilian side from which the Giganta del Diablo can be seen particularly well and on the second day viewed the Argentinian side with a boat trip to the Salto San Martin. This is quite a wet and exciting trip. More peaceful is a boat ride along a side channel of the upper river back from the Giganta del Diablo station. Finally one can walk through the jungle to see some wild-life and swim beneath a small waterfall. The pilot of the return flight to Buenos Aires was kind enough to make an extra circle of the falls to give the passengers an aerial view of the whole area.

Missiones, Northeastern Argentina
Missiones, Northeastern Argentina
Iguazu Falls National Park
Iguazu Falls National Park

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