A Getaway to Iguazú Falls
Recently, we took a little getaway to Iguazú Falls. Iguazú Falls is on the border of Argentina and Brazil, right near Paraguay. It was a bit of an adventure, we traveled from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú, which is on the Argentina side. We flew with Fly Bondi and it was, frankly, a terrible experience, but we still enjoyed the trip so I wanted to take you along for all of the ups and down of the trip.
A Getaway to Iguazú Falls | Argentina Side of the Falls
We stayed on the Argentina side of the falls. Our flight was delayed and we finally got to our Air BnB around 3 AM. Since we got in so late, we kept it really mellow the first day and went to a hummingbird garden, which was basically in somebody's backyard. It was really beautiful. My daughter loved it, my son did not. It just wasn't super toddler friendly. We grabbed a very early dinner at a pizza place and grill. We got an order of their piggy fries, which was cheese fries with pork in it and then my husband and I split a grill platter, which was delicious.
The next day we got up and headed to the national park to see the waterfalls on the Argentina side. As we went into the park we noticed a lot of animal crossing signs. We saw signs for jaguars, tapirs, coatis and deer it's really funny to see all the different crossing signs altogether.
The Argentine park is very stroller and wheelchair friendly. I would suggest staying on the Argentine side if that is a priority for you. We chose to go on the upper trail, which is where you can see the tops of the falls. The time listed on the sign said the walk takes around 180 minutes, but it only took us about 45 minutes. This was 100% accessible for the stroller, which made it really easy to take the baby and not have to worry about him.
When we first started walking, it was just jungle and woods and you don't really see the waterfalls, bit you can hear them. It was very overwhelming at first for me as we were walking up to the falls because I never realized how incredibly massive this system of waterfalls is. It is absolutely insane! September is the busiest time of year at the park so it was moderately crowded but not awful. We could walk through places, but we still had to wait sometimes for people to pass us. I kept thinking about how incredibly overwhelming it would've been to be the first person to discover the falls. How terrifying must that have been? You're just on this beautiful river and then all of a sudden it just drops. It doesn't drop straight down, there are levels of the falls. The day we were here, it was very hot. It got up to 97 degrees Fahrenheit. We took a lot of water and bought more water while we were there, so if you're going, I highly suggest taking water because you will need it. We also packed snacks and bought lunch while we were there.
There is so much wildlife at the falls. We saw a ton of birds and largest spider I've seen in my entire life. We saw a lot of coatis, which are kind of like raccoons. They have zero fear of people and they're all over the park, but especially where the food is, and they WILL try and steal your food. There are actually caged in areas where you can eat at the park so the coatis won't bother you while you are eating. They are so unafraid of people that several of them tried to crawl into the basket of our stroller several times. The only way that they would move is if my husband started moving the stroller enough to scare them.
We attempted to do the lower circuit of the falls, but it's very stair heavy which would've been hard with the stroller, so we decided not to do that. After spending the morning at the falls, we went to this animal refuge because my daughter loves animals. We parked at the front of the animal refuge and took a tractor ride several kilometers inside of the park to where the animals are located. We saw a lot of parrots, mostly macaws and a lot of toucans. I've never seen a toucan up close so that was especially exciting for me. The majority of the animals at this refuge have been injured or rescued and are being rehabilitated to be released back into the wild. A few of the pumas can't be released back into the wild because they were babies when they were brought to the refuge and couldn't survive in the wild. There was also a mink, which my daughter says was her favorite animal in the entire place, which was kind of surprised to me. We also saw a really cool vulture. After the animal refuge, we went to Tres Fronteras, which is on the Argentina side, but you can see Brazil and Paraguay while there. We ate at Punto AR, which was delicious.
A Getaway to Iguazú Falls | Brazil Side of The Falls
On the third day we went to the Brazil side which meant we had to go through border control. Once we went through, we went straight to the park. The park is absolutely insane! It's much smaller than the Argentina side, but it had seriously amazing views. It was pouring while we were there so we bought ponchos and made the best of it and it really was so much fun. The spray coming off the falls because of the storm and wind was SUPER intense, but still so fun.
Since it was raining, we probably spent more time here than I think we would have otherwise. We had lunch (still on the Brazil side) and went back up to the falls after. Lunch was delicious. We came to the conclusion that we liked the Brazil side of the park than the Argentina side. After our time in the Brazil park, we went to the Brazil side of the Tres Fronteras where you can see Paraguay, Argentina, and be in Brazil. The Brazil side of the Iguazú area is much more developed than the Argentina side. We had a really hard time finding a grocery store that carried more than eggs, juice, and milk in a box near our Airbnb, but on the Brazil side you can see that the city is bigger and has a bit more development and infrastructure. After visiting, I would suggest staying on the Brazil side instead of the Argentina side.
When it was time to go home, Fly Bondi canceled our flight home, which was a nightmare. We tried to get it rescheduled, but they would not reschedule our flight until the next day at midnight, which was ridiculous. We thought about driving, but it would have been a 15 hour drive. So instead we bought last minute tickets on a Aerolineas Argentina flight. We got the last seats available that were in the very first row at the bulkhead in premium economy, which my kids absolutely loved. We left in the morning like we were supposed to and got home at a reasonable time. It turns out that the flight that we were rescheduled on by Fly Bondi for Sunday night at midnight also got canceled. If we had relied on Fly Bondi, we would have been stranded in Iguazú and my husband would not have been able to go back to work on Monday. Overall, though, we absolutely loved our trip. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I would definitely recommend it.
