TravelwithBenny: The Iguacu or Iguazu Falls

One of the greatest natural wonder of the world is the world’s famous Iguazu Falls, spread over the borders of Brazil and Argentina. The Iguacu/Iguazu National Parks consists of several hundred waterfalls, cascades and cataracts, surrounded by lush rainforest, teeming with exotic birds, plants, local raccoons (called coati) and butterflies of various colours, shapes and patterns. It was an amazing and spectacular sight.

Rainbow and Iguacu Falls viewed from the Brazilian side

How to get there?

There are airports on the Brazilian side (Foz do Iguaçu) and Argentinian side (Puerto Iguazú) of the falls. Alternatively, one can take a 22 hour bus ride from São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro in Brazil – or a 18 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires in Argentina.
The distance from Foz do Iguaçu downtown to the Falls is about 15km, likewise, it is also about 15km between Puerto Iguazú downtown and the Falls. Actually the airports of both town are situated not far from the Falls. There are many buses travel between the National Parks/Airports and downtown of both towns, and frequently, fare is around US$1.50.

Flight delays in Puerto Iguazú and Buenos Aires are common. Sometimes it could be faster to get to your destination by overnight bus, to and from between Puerto Iguazú and Buenos Aires, and the bus fare is a lot cheaper than airfares yet quite comfortable (and you also save a night of accommodation at a hostel or hotel).

In April 2011, Australian, American and Canadian citizens require a visa to enter Brazil and need to pay entry fee to enter Argentina. Citizens from EU countries, UK and NZ are exempted from visa requirements and from paying entry fees.

Rainbow over the Iguazu Falls in Argentina

Border Crossing

During my visit to the Brazilian Falls in April 2011, I spoke with other travellers who crossed the border from Argentina by bus, they said there were no Brazilian authority to check their entry. When I crossed the border to Argentina by bus, again there were no Brazilian authority to check my exit. Effectively, people who have no Brazilian visa, could try their luck to visit Brazil from Argentina, and the cost of bus fare is only around between US$1 or $2.

Get close and wet in the Argentinian side

Brazilian side or Argentinian side? Which one is better?

If you ask an Argentinian, most likely you get this answer: “of course Argentinian side is better, so don‘t bother to visit the Brazilian side.” But if you ask a Brazilian, he or she might say: “each side is different, equally beautiful, so you should visit both sides.”

But I say, if you have the time and money, visit both sides, and you could either use Foz do
Iguaçu in Brazil as your base or Puerto Iguazú in Argentina as your base. What I did was, I stayed in both towns, with a minimum of 3 nights, 1 night in Foz do Iguaçu and 2 nights in Puerto Iguazú (or you could do the other way round).

The biggest and most famous fall is the U-shaped “Devil Throat” falls of about 250ft high, where you can view it from close distance from the Argentinian side (but you need to walk a long way and cross a very wide river on boardwalk to get there). One can see the Devil Throat from a distance at the Brazilian side, but to compensate this, the Brazilian built a tower, so make sure you take the lift to get to the top, where you can see the falls from a high vantage point. Moreover, in the Brazilian side, you can also walk on the board walk or bridge to get close to the Devil Throat and the surrounding falls and get wet. If these are not good enough, one can take a boat ride from either Argentinian and Brazilian sides, to get very close and drenched.

However, overall, the Brazilian side is more tourist friendly with a lot of information written in English and most people can communicate in some English too, and is also more developed, eg they have storage lockers, world class buffet restaurant, credit cards are welcome, etc.

Taken from the tower in the Brazlian side

Costs and when to visitBoth the Argentinian and Brazilian charge foreigners (from non Mercusor Countries) twice as much as locals (eg Argentinian, Brazilian, Chilean, Uruguayan, etc are considered “locals“). In April 2011, the entry fee for non-local at Brazilian side is around R40, while for the Argentinian side it is around P100 (they ONLY ACCEPT pesos in cash, no credit card). If you speak Spanish or Portuguese, and befriended with one of those “locals”, they might buy an entry ticket on your behalf at half price.

When is the best time to visit? Anytime is good time, around Christmas and January is the hottest and wettest, so waterflow is bigger but watercolour is rather yellowish/brownish, while during July, it is drier and cooler period and watercolour is lighter.