Postcard from Iguazú Falls

Above, a view from the Argentinean side of the great “cataratas”

Iguazú is located on the border between Argentina and Brazil (and Paraguay isn’t far, either). When we visited the waterfalls (Dec 2014), the Garganta del Diablo or the Devil’s Throat, reputedly the most magnificent part on the Argentinean side, was closed. Floods a year earlier had caused the need to reconstruct the sightseeing bridges and I’m glad they were doing that because the currents in the water were visibly strong – you wouldn’t want to be on a wobbly bridge.

Unfortunately, any information about the popular Garganta del Diablo being closed (and having been closed for a whole year) hadn’t been published on the waterfalls’ website or in our very recently updated, fresh-from-the-print guidebook (online edition).

Touring the smaller waterfalls made for some great shots, though, so it was well worthwhile. It was a wet, humid, tropical experience, shared with plenty of tourists from the Brazilian side and lots of mosquitoes.
We didn’t see much wildlife; I had hoped to see toucans but due to the large amount of people visiting, only a few colorful small birds and the cute-but-biting coatis weren’t intimidated by the noise.

We only stayed one night and we lodged at a beautiful boutique hotel in the middle of the jungle in Puerto Iguazú, had wonderful Malbec red wine with dinner (as all backpackers do) and I dreamt of seeing toucans.

Very early the next morning, after a restless night of sleep, we actually saw several toucans sitting in what looked like pine trees at the Iguazú airport. Must’ve been some kind of Iguazú magic at work. The toucans were truly amazing, striking even. With their beaks so large, it seems a wonder they can fly.

Onboard the Aerolíneas Argentinas flight to Buenos Aires, the pilot curved over the waterfalls, flying low and giving us passengers a special sightseeing tour for at least 10 minutes. We were able to see the Iguazú falls from above – a natural wonder.