But first, to start at the beginning...
I woke up at 3:00 am to catch my ride to the airport in Buenos Aires. Since it was really ridiculously early, somewhat predictably I was way too early for my flight and wound up sitting in their holding area for 2 hours before they would let me approach the security checkpoint. When I went to check-in for my flight, the woman behind the counter notified me that my bag was 8 kg, which was over their 5 kg limit. She let me take my bag back, which I then hauled into the bathroom. I put on practically every item of clothing I had packed and waddled back to the counter where my bag then passed muster.
The flight to Iguazu Falls airport (IGR) was a mere 2 hours, just enough time to get up in the air, get a drink and a snack pack, and then begin the descent. The IGR airport is TINY! Two, count 'em, two gates in total.
I went straight to Iguazu Falls from the airport and hopped right on the park tram/train to go to the Garganta del Diablo.
To get the Garganta del Diablo, you walk across endless catwalks suspended over the murky brown river water
But when you get there, you are suspended right over the waterfalls
And they're a pretty great looking set of waterfalls (ignore the goofy worried look on my face)
But, I don't know about you, but there's only so much time that I want to spend leaning over a metal railing gazing at a freakin' big waterfall. It turns out that limit is ~15 minutes for me, complete with picture taking, movie filming, panorama stitching, etc. So I headed back to the train to go the next station, where there was an Upper Circuit and a Lower Circuit walk.
I started on the Upper Circuit, which gives you lots of great vistas, and you can peer down from the top of the waterfalls
Which is all very cool, but see above: there's only so much time I can spend looking down at a waterfall. I'd been at the park for a whole 3 hours and feeling a little bit letdown. Everything was neat to look at, but was it worth flying across a country for a daytrip?
Then I went on the Lower Circuit. And my whole perspective changed. See, the Lower Circuit drops you down to (predictably) the lower level of the falls. Which means you can see how immense and powerful the falls really are, something that's hard to grasp from the top. In particular, there's one lookout point where you are literally something like 50 meters from the base of the fall:
As soon as you run out there you are immediately soaked through with mist, and you can't hear anything because the water is roaring over the rocks, and you can't see anything because there's just water everywhere. And it is AMAZING to feel that energy pounding through the rocks, through the catwalk, and through you. It was such an adrenaline rush, that I actually ran out there at least half a dozen times, just to get the thrill again.
It turns out I can only spend 15 minutes standing on top of a waterfall but I can spend an hour and 15 minutes running into one over and over again. I was so wet by the end my fingers had turned prune-y and I had to take off my shoes and dump the water out of them.
After that, I was in love with Iguazu Falls. I did the boat ride that takes you out onto the water, and under a waterfall, and it was as thrilling as running across that catwalk over and over again (although significantly more expensive). I went back through the Upper Circuit and the Garganta del Diablo and had a new appreciation of the views from the top, and how they powered the incredible falls below.
All in all, I spent seven hours at the park, and feel like it was well worth the cross-country journey. The problem is, while I had budgeted two days for Iguazu Falls, I also feel like I saw everything at the park...twice. (San Martin Island and a nature trail I was planning on doing are closed due to the heavy rains they had earlier this week). So, what to do tomorrow? Stay tuned...
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