Well, for those of you out there wondering whether to visit both sides of Iguazu Falls; Argentina and Brazil; wonder no more because the answer is YES.... You have to visit both sides period!!! I think the order in which you visit the falls should be: Brazil first then Argentina, not because this is the way my friend and I visited them but because of the WoW-factor!!! On the Brazil side, we give it one WoW factor and on the Argentinian side we give it 3 WoW factors; i.e. WoW, WoW and WoW!! Another way to look at this is to think of the Brazilian side of the falls as the appetizer and the Argentinian side as the main course... Now if your budget is tight then the Argentinian side should be your choice unless you are already in Brazil!!!
Enough advice, let's get to today's story which actually started yesterday evening, when my friend and I scrambled to buy visas for Argentina on the web!!! We took a calculated risk of not getting visas to Argentina while in the US and we both regretted that... Argentina does require reciprocity visas to US citizens just like Brazil! We thought we could buy then at the border control but it turned out not to be the case! Luckily for us, we did manage to buy them on the website of the Argentinian government and printed our entry permits at the hotel and we were good to go.. In the morning, we woke up early again, had breakfast, changed money and headed to the border.. Our taxi driver was great, he waited for us as we got our passports stamped at the border and we were of to the falls.
A big difference between the Argentinian and the Brazilan sides is that the latter is more developed than the former, and that immediately made a positive impression on us!! There were several hiking trails and falls to visit on the Argentinian side, while on the Brazilian side we were all walking on the same trail and hence more crowded!!! The Argentinian side had an amazing network of elevated walkways everywhere, above water and sometimes above the jungle canopy !! What a wonderful way to visit the falls we thought!!! Last but not least, the FALLS!!! Wow, wow and wow we thought, just amazing everywhere we went!!! We saw them from above and we saw them from below and we saw them from the front!!! That is a 3D view without 3D glasses I thought. We got really wet at some falls too... And .... as if we did not see enough Falls in the last two days, there was the grand finally fall called; the Devil's throat!!! That was a Fall for the ages!! I will never forget the size and sheer volume of water running through this fall, just unreal!!!
After the Devil's throat fall, we headed out to town for an all Argentinian dinner: Stake! We celebrated our great visit to Iguazu falls with a grand meal with all the trimmings !! Our taxi driver came back to pick us up and dropped us back at the hotel!!!
Here are some pictures from today's visit to Iguazu Argentina!!!
Elevated walkways all over the park
Several falls on the Argentinian side
Wider view of the falls
Mist rising from the falls
More up close views on the Argentinian side
Monkeys playing on a posted sign
More spectacular views of the falls
Water gushing down rocks and under a bridge
Up close to a beautiful water fall
Tourists getting wet under an amazing water fall
Devil's throat water fall
Water rushing to the Devil's throat
A rainbow over Devil's throat water fall
Massive amounts of water rushing through Devil's throat
Our trip down to Iguazu is nearly over :( !! My friend and I declared it a total success!! We loved both sides of the falls but both agree that the Argentinian side has more WoWs than its Brazilian sister!! Tomorrow we head back to Rio to get ready to welcome the new year on Copacabana beach!!
Enjoy the pics!!!
