IGUAZU FALLS, ARGENTINA

After a week in Buenos Aires my first side trip was upon me. For possibly the first time in my life, I had purchased a “package tour” with flight, hotel, and all transfers included in one price. It was about $350 for everything including 3 nights in supposedly a 4-star hotel. I actually was supposed to leave on this side trip two days earlier, but it turned out I couldn’t get my Brazilian visa in time for that. You have to apply for the visa at the Brazilian consulate between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on one day and you get your passport back at 4 p.m. the next day with the visa sticker inside, no exceptions. It cost me $20 additional to change the dates of the trip, which was actually the fault of the travel agency, but it was a minor problem and I was really enjoying just hanging around in Buenos Aires anyway.

My flight was at 11 a.m. from the smaller airport, which is right in town. A taxi there cost only about $4, including tip. The flight left on time and as usual, no English was spoken, but this was a domestic flight so it was less surprising. It takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes flying time as it’s at the northern tip of the country on the shared border with Brazil and Paraguay. I arrived on time and looked for my ride to my hotel (which was on the Brazil side, for some reason). I saw a sign a fellow was holding that matched the name of the tour company on my ticket, so that was my ride. This time I was herded on board a huge bus with about 25 other people bound for a variety of different hotels. Once underway, Pancho (the guy with the sign) began speaking to the group in Spanish, as if they were an actual group instead of a random group of people sharing a ride.

I had some inclination as he was speaking, but I later had it confirmed that most of the people on the bus had already purchased the Falls Tour package, which consisted of one full day on the Argentine side and one full day on the Brazilian side. One of the employees for the tour company identified me as a non-Spanish speaker and knew enough English to explain it all to me later. Not only could I buy the tour package myself for $20 total, but I could also buy a cruise for $18 for that evening since there was nothing else to do for the rest of the day. I was assured there would be English explanation on board and if I didn’t go on the boat I would literally have been the only one. They said the boat takes you up the river a bit and stops at an authentic Paraguayan village for a ceremony before returning. I asked about the border check and was told it’s within a reserve so no border check would even take place.

I decided to go for it and was taken to the tour company (Sol Iguazu) office in the town on the Argentine side where I had to wait with the other Brazilian-bound hotel guests for almost an hour before we met up with the people who had been collected from their Argentine hotels. We were then driven down to a dock on the side of the river that didn’t look like a boat could actually take on passengers there. After a while, a very large catamaran pulled up and folded out a gangway and the 30 or so people waiting got on board. This included 3 musicians with their instruments. The boat had a large, fancy interior set up like a restaurant/bar with white linens on the 200 or so seats, and also room upstairs in the outside portion for about 50 people. Pretty much all of us headed up to the top right away.

The boat was so big I assumed that it was set up for an evening dinner cruise after we got back, but it turned out it was just for us. We cruised down the river between Argentina and Brazil then turned and hugged the coast of Paraguay. The guide on board was describing everything in Spanish and English and it was sort of interesting. Then we got to a small natural harbor on the Paraguay side and the boat anchored and we climbed up a small hill. Waiting for us was a group of about 20 “natives” who were ready to start some ceremony, solely for our benefit. They were mostly young people dressed in all black. Some of the guys wore homemade looking pants and others wore black jeans that had been cutoff. There was a guy playing a guitar and leading a chant, but he actually only played one chord on the guitar the entire time.

The girls sang a bit and some played drums with a large log beating on a small board on the ground, and the boys mostly danced around in a circle. They weren’t very well rehearsed or organized and it was obvious this was nothing more than a stunt for tour groups. Some sang enthusiastically and knew all the words and other were literally there just sort of going through the motions to increase their numbers. One older girl in particular I saw never bothered to sing anything. I am certain these people actually live in small shacks in a little village nearby, but they probably haven’t seriously done this ceremony in generations. I figured the tour operators pay them directly for the show, but near the end the guys from the boat dropped three large bags of food near them so it’s possible they just do this for dinner.

Back on board the boat 20 minutes later we were heading back to the dock and I went downstairs and started buying beers. Soon the band that was setting up actually began to play, which is when I realized this whole thing was set up all for us. Most of the other passengers then came down to hear the music, as it was getting dark outside anyway. The band was entertaining enough and a couple of people actually danced a bit.

We got back to the dock and then right on board an awaiting van. The 8 or so people staying at the same hotel as I was were all taken to the Brazilian border where the van driver took all of our passports together to a window while we waited on the bus. The town on the Brazilian side is several miles away from the border and our hotel is a couple miles past town and not near anything useful. The Recanto Park Hotel was actually very nice and posh. My only complaint was that my single room actually contained just a single bed, instead of a full-size like most other places, especially nicer hotels. There was a buffet dinner available for about $7 and that was about it. I was hungry and it was about 10 p.m. (Brazil is one hour ahead of Argentina during their summer, so we had to deal with the confusion of everything in two separate time zones every day) when I finally got in my room so I went downstairs and had the buffet, which was very good and included steak better than you usually see in buffets.

I had also signed up for the rest of the Falls Tour for $20 as it seemed cheap and the itinerary was exactly what I wanted to do with the two full days I had there anyway. I was assured that there would be English explanations on the Falls Tour itself, even though there was no English within my group up until that point and I was the only non-Spanish speaker there. We were picked up in front of the hotel early the next morning and taken through the border with a similarly efficient procedure. We pulled up in front of one of the larger Argentine-side hotels and put on a big bus, which was nearly full. It’s about a 20-minute drive to the entrance to the park surrounding the falls, Once again, Pancho was briefing everyone in Spanish on what the day had in store for us and I was in the dark. I had found a man at my hotel on the same tour who spoke decent English (although his wife spoke none) and he translated the essentials to me.

We bought our park tickets for $10 and were taken to the main entrance. Again, I asked Pancho (in Spanish) if there would be English once inside and again he said “sí.” I found myself part of a group of about 40 or 50 people going into this park and I was already having second thoughts about the group part of it. A very helpful park employee recognized me as a helpless English speaker and asked if he could assist me. I explained my predicament and told him even if there was an English guide there it would be embarrassing to me for him to have to explain everything a second time to only me and slow the group down. He offered to talk to Pancho, who then finally admitted there was no English guide available. I was actually relieved. They are just waterfalls, who needs longwinded explanations? The park guy told me it was better on my own anyway and then gave me a suggested itinerary on the free park map I was holding.

It was MUCH better on my own. First of all, I was amazed at how nice the park is put together. It’s honestly up to Disneyland standards of construction and safety equipment, which seemed very unusual for South America. I think the rest of the world accepts the occasional accident in a park like this since the population doesn’t automatically sue for millions in punitive damages like they do in the States. I went along the beautiful pathways that were nicely carved into the scenery in some cases, or literally catwalks suspended over the scenery in other cases.

Once I got to the first viewing area for the falls I was amazed. I haven’t been to Niagara, but it always looks the same in all pictures, like one giant river dropping a few hundred feet then continuing. This was actually about 25 small rivers about a mile across coming together in a maze-like fashion, then dropping into smaller rivers, which eventually come together. It looks different from every angle. I walked to all the viewing spots taking the exact same photos everyone else takes, then I got down to the area near the bottom. There was a 10-minute boat ride available at the bottom for $10, which seemed expensive, but it looked fun. They advertise that you WILL get soaked in that boat and they hand out large plastic bags to protect your belongings. I asked a guy selling tickets at the top of the stairs about it and he assured me that it’s so incredibly hot at the bottom that you will welcome getting soaked. That seemed like a strange endorsement at the time.

I decided to do it and bought a ticket. A few minutes later I was among about 30 other people in a large motor-powered raft and off we went. The boat ride actually consists of speeding towards one part of the bottom of the falls, then easing the boat directly into the stream just enough that everyone gets completely drenched, then doing it again, then going to another fall and repeating the process before returning to the landing. This wasn’t just into the misty part, they drove the boat into the heavy stream so you have no choice but to turn your head down and let hundreds of gallons of falls cascade over you. It was true, you get exactly as wet as you would had the boat flipped over, but it was also true that it was incredibly refreshing and having my clothes soaked for the next hours cooled me off as they dried out.

I then took the small boat that takes people over to the island from where more paths go up for different views of the falls. I came back then went back to the main part of the park for lunch. I then set out on the train to the main group of view platforms at the top. The park guy agreed with my tour book in saying that this is best viewed in afternoon light and that it’s less crowded then anyway. The free train goes a couple miles then drops you off and you follow a 1.1 km series of catwalks built out over the rivers on the top of the falls. Again, this was all incredibly nice and well built. The view from the end was definitely the most stunning of the park, but it’s really just one large viewing area so once you’ve looked around you are done. The best parts of the park are definitely the lower parts, but the views from the upper part should not be missed. Instead of taking the train back to the entrance I was talked into a $5 “Nature Cruise” in a boat. It was incredibly hot as the 6 of us were paddled down a river by a fellow who pointed out a few fauna in Spanish only. That wasn’t so great, partly because it ends in the middle of nowhere and you have to wait for a truck to take you to one of the intermediate train stations then wait for the train anyway. I just walked back up from that train station and ended up beating the people who took the train by about 5 minutes.

I still had time for a couple of beers in the hot, afternoon sun in the large complex near the entrance. The young fellow who worked at the stand selling beer and food spoke some English and we began to chat. The most interesting thing to me was that he said he works 12-hour days there and makes about 30 pesos, or about $10 total for the day. I’m sure the cost of living in that rural-ish area is very low, but that explains why a pint of beer in a fancy national park can be bought for a little over a dollar.

Back on board the bus, we headed to a hotel on the Argentina side and us Brazil-side people were transferred to a van and taken directly back to the Recanto Park Hotel. My biggest regret upon arriving there was that I was staying at such a remote hotel, but I was exhausted from walking many miles in the humidity and I just wanted to shower and crash at my hotel anyway. Having a luxurious hotel complex actually paid off. They had a wonderful pool area with waiter service and drinks typically cheap for the area. After a while by the pool, I had the buffet dinner and went to bed.

The next morning those of us on the Brazilian side were able to sleep in about 45 minutes longer because it was the rest of the group that would have to assemble early to go through the border. We were picked up by a small van, which met the large bus down the road. The trip to the Brazilian side took another 20 minutes or so and the part entrance looked pretty similar from the outside. I had read about it in my tour book so I knew that it was much smaller on the inside. This time there was really no “group” part, it was just explained that we should all meet at the end of the long path at a set time.

The Brazilian park costs $6 to enter instead of the $10 on the other side. You basically take a park-owned bus once inside for a few miles which deposits you at the near end of the viewing walkways. I must admit that since most of the actual falls are on the Argentine side the views of them from the Brazilian side are better and more complete. The views get better and better as you walk until you reach the platforms at the end, one of which actually lets you walk way out over the river so you are viewing the falls close-up and standing in the mist. It was spectacular, but after that you walk up the stairs, or ride an elevator if you are lazy, and you are done. I was a little early at the meeting point and Pancho arrived about 30 minutes late. I had already figured out that time means about as much in this part of the world as it does in southern Europe. I was able to chat for a long time with another Argentine guy who spoke good English, although again, his wife spoke none.

We climbed onto a park bus for the ride to the entrance, then through the gates to our bus. I was glad this was a shorter day because all this time in the baking sun takes its toll, even with a hat and sunscreen. I was looking forward to going back to the hotel, but it turned out we had a lunch stop and then a “city tour” of Foz do Iguaçu, which is the large new-ish town on the Brazilian side. But first, we stopped at a large souvenir complex on the main highway. This happens every time you take a cheap tour, but it’s just part of the price. You don’t have to buy anything and you probably save $5 or $10 a person by letting them take you shopping so it’s not too bad. Pancho said this would be a 15-minute stop and about 40 minutes later we were rolling again up the highway to the lunch stop.

We arrived at the rodízio, which is a type of buffet Brazilian restaurant, just a few minutes later. I was surprised that this place was actually mentioned in my book as both expensive and highly recommended and even more surprised when I learned that it would only be $5 per person. There is an awesome buffet and salad bar, and also a wall of carving stations in front of a wood-fire barbeque where you could ask for as much sumptuous meat as you like. They generally carve off only a little at a time, but they seem honored when you ask for more. I didn’t overdo it there, partly because my hotel included a breakfast buffet and I knew I would also have the dinner buffet later that evening. Two buffets a day is a lot, even for me, so three in one day is definitely over the top. The food was all great including the ice cream you could scoop yourself for desert.

Back in the bus for the “city tour”. I was already suspicious since what I had seen of the city looked like Santa Ana, California or any other anonymous suburban area that is only a few decades old. We turned up one street, then down another as Pancho spoke in Spanish. Only a few minutes into the “tour” the bus pulled up beside a store and we were instructed to alight and meet back in 30 minutes. We were then given a slip of paper to keep track of our purchases in the store. I followed everyone else inside to find it was basically like a small Mervyns. I overheard someone say they supposedly have good deals on linens, but I didn’t see anything too special or cheap. There was nothing even remotely interesting in this part of the city so I just got back on the bus and waited. Eventually we were underway again and brought back to the hotel where I used the Internet and hung out. It was hot and humid by the pool, but I was actually really enjoying the atmosphere poolside at this very nice hotel in the middle of nowhere, Brazil.

My flight wasn’t until the next afternoon, so I also had the next morning to just relax, so relax I did. Late the next afternoon I landed at the small airport near downtown Buenos Aires to check back into the Waldorf Hotel for one night before my early morning boat trip to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay.