Of course, by now you’ve guessed what country we headed to next. Iguazu Falls (or Cataratas del Iguazú on the Argentina side) are beautiful. They give you more of a top down view, which is an amazing contrast to the Brazilian side. You really need to view the falls from both sides.
We had a different driver, Roger, today and no one was impressed with him for a variety of reasons. 1- He spoke English but hardly ever would speak it except following a request to do so. 2- He wasn’t overtly friendly. 3- He collected our money for a small tourist entrance fee for all ten of us, but he told the lady at the checkpoint that he only had five people in the van, which could have got all of us fined. 4- He wasn’t forthcoming with places to stop in town and seemed like his job was more of a nuisance than anything. I would not recommend him. But he did get us across the boarder and to the falls and back to so that was the important part.
Like the rest of South America, except Brazil, they speak Spanish in Argentina. This flustered me a bit because I wasn’t sure how to greet people so I told the lady checking tickets – Bom dia, Buenos dias, and Good morning. She just laughed.
Make sure you apply bug spray regardless of which side of the falls you visit!
Unlike the shuttle buses on the Brazilian side, the park on the Argentine side uses a train to get you to the falls. We got our tickets and proceeded to the train. You can walk but it is quite a ways and you will walk quite a bit out to the falls, so I recommend the train.
Unlike the Brazilian side where you walk along the side of the river and end at the Devil’s Throat, on the Argentine side, you walk out to the falls across a boardwalk over the river to get to the falls at Devil’s Throat.
The walk is peaceful and flat with places to rest along the way, if needed. There are a ton of butterflies everywhere and they will just land on you. So cool. Tucker had seven on him at one point along the trail. I was told this area has more butterfly varieties than all of Europe.
There’s also plenty of wildlife to see along the way as well.
You can hear the falls long before you see them.
The boardwalk literally takes you to the edge of the Falls.
Pictures just can’t express the majesty of the Falls.
It’s so loud and powerful and beautiful. Like I said, this video doesn’t come close to experiencing it yourself.
I hope the boys remember these adventures.
Yes, it is crowded out at the end of the boardwalk, very crowded, but you can’t miss it. The roaring falls, the cool mist from the water, the rainbows. It’s just amazing.
After taking in all the beauty, we hopped back on the train to our next destination, lunch. We got off at the next stop, took a quick potty break and then we walked to the next area, which had more food options than the shops at the depot. It was busy too, but, it is what it is.
With bellies full and bladders empty, we hiked out the Upper Circuit. Like the Brazilian side, there are numerous trails and boat tours, etc. If you can make the walk, I highly recommend walking one or more of the trails in the Argentine park. There were so many rainbows and falls to view.
You might even get to see a monkey. Trevor got a picture of this one. There was also another one back at the lunch spot and the boys watched it run up to this man’s picnic table, steal a whole package of crackers from him, and run off with them.
When we were all done exploring, the driver picked us up at the lunch spot instead of having to ride the train all the way back to the front. Bring water, lots of water. You are going to need it and water is very expensive to buy on the Argentina side.
The plan was shop a little in town and then eat dinner but no one really felt like shopping. The driver took us to an area with wine and olive oils. I did buy some Alfajors, which I am told is a must Argentine treat. We all thought they were ok; kind of a moon pie vibe with doce de leite instead of marshmallow. Obviously, we were not his average tourists. So we just asked him to take us back to the hotel instead. Now, we were able to get cleaned up before dinner. Hahaha! Oh yeah, this was my view out of the van. Who puts a decal on a window of a tourism van???
Besides that, some of us were tired. I’m not one to name names though.
With the driver gone, we struck out on our own. Roberto is like me and loves bbq. He found a Texas BBQ joint called Black Bill Smokehouse. We happened to be there on their one-time-a-month buffet night. Yes, please, and thank you!! So good. There was American country music playing and then when the band starting playing it took a more Lynard Skynard, CCR direction. So much fun. Theirs even a little playground for kids. They, also, have a goat tied up outside in a pen. Not real sure what that was all about. Ask Trevor why petting the goat isn’t the best idea.
Of course, you need ice cream after all that brisket and ribs. I think I now know why my clothes have shrunk.
The van only seats 8 and we had 10 so Daniel and Tucker rode in the back. Don’t look at me, it was not my decision. So anyway, Roberto had to stop for gas. The place he stopped at had some people there with souped up cars and classic VW Bugs (Bugs are really popular in Brazil and, apparently, Argentina too). As we are getting gas, multiple police cars pull up. We are telling the kids to get down, and telling Lisa to shut the side door she had opened for some air. We got gas and as we’re leaving, a police car hits the blue lights. I knew we were going to jail. The officer rolled right on past us and pulled over a guy from the gas station that left right before we had. Luckily, the police were more concerned with those people and their cars than they were about a few families getting gas. Little did they know we were the true criminals that night. Thankfully, despite our woeful disregard for authority that night, we all made it back to the hotel safely.
NoHurryCains 
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