On March 6th we returned to Buenos Aires after about a week in Uruguay.  BA was only an overnight layover before flying to northeast Argentina; however, before leaving the city we felt compelled to go to one last steak dinner at a place called La Cabrera.  A little touristy, perhaps, but awesome nonetheless.  We were served the largest cut of steak I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately I was so excited about eating it, I didn’t pause to take a picture.

On the 7th we sadly left BA behind and flew to Puerto Iguazu.  Located in the northeast corner of Argentina, it is the closest town to the magnificent Iguazu Falls.  When we traveled to India a few years ago we’d scheduled only one full day in Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Between the pea soup fog that set in on the morning we visited and the UN delegation that closed the area in the afternoon, we never really saw it. Learning from our mistake, we’d scheduled 2 full days to see the Falls.  We also stayed at a wonderful oasis of a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town called Los Tangueros… a good choice, as the town of Puerto Iguazu is distinctly unspectacular.  Both days were hot and sticky, and it was nice to be able to come home to a cold beer and a swimming pool (generally at the same time).

The Falls sit on the border between Argentina and Brazil. Lacking a visa to enter Brazil, we limited our viewing to the Argentinian side, where luckily most of the Falls are located.

The Argentinian side is extremely well organized (man, I do love Argentina… between the organization and the steak, what a great place).  It’s an easy taxi or bus ride to the Falls from town.  The park features a maze of walk-ways, which serve both to provide both great views from varied angles and to preserve the park as much as possible.

The weather on our first day was perfect, so we embarked on the major viewing points in an effort to get the best pictures possible. The trails led us below, alongside and above the Falls. Here are some pictures in no particular order:

Wildlife running rampant in the jungle

Luckily a qualified park ranger was on duty

On our second full day, we woke up to another beautiful day. Having spent the first day winding our way through the walkways in search of great views, we started the morning with a hike.

The park includes a dirt trail which leads to a tiny, secluded waterfall and swimming hole in the jungle. You can’t see the Falls from any point on the hike, so, for the most part, we were alone on the hike and at the swimming hole. The hike was 3.5 km each way, so it was nice to be able to swim in and around the waterfall when we arrived (3.5 km isn’t much but it’s incredibly hot and humid in the area).

Rachel inspecting our private waterfall in the jungle

We then geared up for the boat ride.  We took a staircase which led all the way down to the river below the Falls. There we boarded a speedboat, which brought us quite close to two of the waterfalls– naturally, we had to sit at the front.  Although we didn’t go directly under the Falls, it was hard to tell while on the boat– the water pounded down and everyone was completely drenched.

One of the speedboats racing into the falls