Here were the cost breakdown:
- Taxi ride from IGR straight to Iguazu Falls: I was quoted AR$110 but talked him down to AR$100
- Entrance for American to Iguazu Falls: AR$175
- Locker at Iguazu Falls: AR$50 (It was huge! It probably could have fit two of my backpacking backpacks)
- Boat ride into the falls ("Adventura Nautical"): AR$150 (I'm neutral on if this was worth it or not. It was cool, but I'm not sure it was any cooler or the views any better than what you got walking the Lower Circuit trail)
- Taxi ride from Iguazu Falls to my B&B (situated ~10 min drive outside of town): AR$100 (the B&B owner had told me this usually runs ~AR$140, but I had negotiated a flat AR$100 fare for all my taxi needs with my first driver)
- One-way bus rides in Puerto Iguazu (e.g., from outside my B&B to the GuiraOga, from GuiraOga to the main bus terminal in Puerto Iguazu, from the Tres Fronteras [Triple Border] to my B&B): AR$3
- One-way bus ride to Iguazu Falls from Puerto Iguazu (and vice versa): AR$30 (I never did this, but saw it posted)
- Entry into GuiraOga: AR$75 (included guided tour. I actually don't think you can go anywhere without the tour)
- Taxi ride from my B&B to the airport: AR$120 (arranged by my hotel)
Buses in Puerto Iguazu are easy to take. They are all big red buses labeled "Rio Uruguay" (something that confused my when I first saw one at the bus stop in front of Iguazu Falls since I thought they were tour buses from Uruguay). They say in the front where their destination is. Those that say "Cataratas" are heading through town and out to Iguazu Falls. Those that say "Tres Hitos" are going to the triple-border between Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay. I think there were those that said "Iguazu" that were going to the bus terminal in Puerto Iguazu, but I didn't take any of those. You hop on at the bus stop, hand the bus driver your fare. I always said where I was going. I don't know if that was necessary, but it was helpful because sometimes the bus driver would tell me when my stop was approaching.
One time, a man from the bus company hopped onto the bus too and asked to see everybody's ticket, which he then marked and handed back. I'm not sure what his purpose was, since there's only one entrance/exit (unlike the buses back home) so it seemed difficult for somebody to sneak on without paying.
Taxis in Puerto Iguazu
Near the baggage claim at the IGR airport was a stand set up by the exit, labeled "Remises". They had posted fares to popular destinations on the wall behind the two stools. I thought that the guys behind the counter arranged things for the taxi drivers, but it turns out they were the actual taxi drivers. As soon as you arrange the price with them, they hop up and take you to their car. I tried paying the guy at the stand because of this and he told me "No, pay me when we get there".
Although the fares were posted there at the airport, I found that everything was negotiable. My first driver at the airport may have been entrepreneurial than most, but he proposed a deal where he would pick me up from the falls and take me to my hotel, then pick me up the next morning to go to the falls and pick me back up at the end of the day for AR$100 each ride, plus he'd throw in a free ride from my hotel to the airport. I wound up not using him the second day since I didn't need to go back to the falls, but it taught me that you should always negotiate!
Getting around Iguazu Falls
There's a convenient train that takes you from Central Station (where you enter the park, nothing there but souvenir shops, restrooms, and food stands) to Station de Cataratas (where the Upper and Lower Circuit trails are, plus more food stands and restrooms) and then on to Station de Garganta de Diablo (also with restrooms and food stands). The train rides aren't anything special, in my opinion. You can also walk between stations instead of taking the train, but in my opinion it wouldn't be worth doing between Station de Cataratas and Station de Garganta de Diablo, because it's kind of long and you're walking next to the train tracks. Between Station de Cataratas and Central Station, however, is a nice trail (Paseo Verde) that took you through a dense jungle area on a nicely paved path. The scenery wasn't spectacular or anything, but it was a pleasant shaded walk and a nice change of pace from the train.
Once you get off at Station de Garganta de Diablo, I think the only path you can really take is the set of boardwalks over the river to the Garganta de Diablo (Devil's Throat). It's all very level and decently wide, has several resting points off the boardwalk where you can sit and take a break without getting in everyone's way. Tons of butterflies everywhere, some creepily huge spiders off in the jungle, and some cool birds. The boardwalk dead-ends at a viewing platform above Garganta de Diablo. If you go to the right you're pretty guaranteed to be hit by some spray at some point (at least while I was there) since you're closer to the falls, while the area to the left seemed a bit drier.
At the Station de Cataratas, you can take the Circuito Superior (Upper Circuit) or walk a bit further to take the Circuito Inferior (Lower Circuit). What's nice is that if you start at the trail closer to the train station (Circuito Superior), at the end it drops you off near an entrance to the Circuito Inferior, so they flow quite nicely. That's the order I did it in, but I did find the Circuito Inferior to be more impressive. Both have more boardwalks, although unlike the Garganta de Diablo trail, these also had some stairs (not too many). There may have also been handicap-accessible ramps everywhere but I wasn't looking too hard.
There were supposedly water fountains everywhere, but I really only spotted one by the Station de Garganta de Diablo, near to the restrooms. Lots of fast food stands and restaurants near each of the train stations, however. Also fairly overpriced and unappetizing looking, in my book.
See my earlier post for my impressions of the trails. I spent seven hours at Iguazu Falls (albeit on a Friday [fewer people] and on a day that the Isla de San Martin and Paseo Macuco were closed [which would presumably have taken more time]) and did both the Garganta de Diablo and Circuito Superior twice, and spent a really long time on the Circuito Inferior, including the Adventura Nautical boat ride, and I felt that was a sufficient period of time. I had no desire to go back the following day, which is kind of sad since I had budgeted two days for Iguazu Falls.
GuiraOga
Since I had an extra day free, I went to the wildlife sanctuary GuiraOga. They were a 30-minute walk from my hotel along a really ugly main road. It would have cost me AR$3 to take a bus, and knowing what I know now, I should have taken the bus.
GuiraOga had two English tours the day I went, at 10 am and at noon. I found this out because my hotel called to check; I couldn't find the information on their website. It was an excellent tour and my tour guide knew all the animals' names and histories by heart, and spoke with perfect English. I was the only one on my tour, so I got to ask lots of questions, and I never felt like she was rushing me along. The animals were all in spacious cages, but looked quite happy and I thought based on my tour guide that the sanctuary really tries to get the animals rehabilitated and back into the wild. The ones on permanent display there are those that wouldn't survive in the wild. The tour took almost two hours exactly, and there were a ton of birds, mammals, and reptiles to see, and unlike at some zoos that I've been to, all of the animals were easy to see (i.e., not hidden in some log or back room). I don't know how they managed that since the animals had plenty of room to move and lots of trees and bushes inside their cages.
Money
I'm not going to pretend I understand how this works, but there's a not-so-secret black market for US dollars. Except it's not a black market because the money changes have real storefronts and are regulated somehow, but they operate outside the official exchange rate. For example, right now the official exchange rate is 4.98 Argentinian pesos to 1.00 US dollars. But at the money changer (casa de cambio), you can get 6.5 pesos to 1.00 US dollars, which is like winning 30% more money or getting a 30% discount off everything for practically no effort. I say practically no effort because I'm actually unclear what goes into making the change. I benefited from having taxi drivers and other people I met offer to either exchange my money right there or go on my behalf to the casa de cambio (note: in this case make sure it's somebody you trust!). Either way, waaay better exchange rate than at the ATM, plus no pesky ATM fees. However, I do wish I had brought more US dollars now.
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