In the midst of the lush jungles and rainforests of Argentina and Brazil lies the tiny town of Iguazu, and within Iguazu lies the famous and world-renowned fifth largest waterfall in the world, Iguazu Falls. With a majority of the falls, eighty percent, in Argentina, and the other twenty percent in Brazil, Iguazu as a town, river, and falls is vast and well worth the visit. A three-hour flight from Mendoza, or an hour flight from Buenos Aires and you’re right in the middle of the tropical rainforest of Iguazu.

Most people say the falls if better viewed from the Brazilian side, as you can see the entirety of the falls better. There are buses that transport people from one side to the other frequently, but you’ll need a visa to visit either side. Due to visa issues and having to wait on our Brazilian visas, we went only the Argentinian side and it was spectacular!

The national park costs 170 Argentinian Pesos (or around $21) for non-Argentine residents for entry into the Argentina side. Once inside the park there are several paths and trains you can take to explore all over from numerous different viewing points. Some of the paths are hidden within the jungle leaves and made of rustic wooden slabs.  There’s beautiful smaller, little waterfalls all over the park as well.

If the tide isn’t too high or too low you can spend a little extra money and go on a boat ride to the base of the falls. There, you can feel the power and the force of the falls as your boat rocks back and forth and is seen in the way your clothes will be all wet once getting back to land.

At the top the falls are so colossal the water spews out with fury. In some spots it’s hard to take a picture without getting your camera, soaking wet. The park took us about four hours to tour entirely, however, plenty of people stay from the time the park opens at 730AM to when it closes at 630PM (summer hours.)

Make sure to bring your bug spray and sunscreen! It can get hot and muggy all around Iguazu. Also, be on the lookout for all of the exotic animals. Iguazu is home to jaguars, jaguarundis, ocelots, anteaters, coatis, and yacare caiman, a smaller species of crocodile.

The coatis, relatives of the raccoon, are all over the place. They may look interesting but they’re nuisances. They steal food, so be aware of that and definitely don’t feed them, the park takes that very seriously! The croc like animals, the yacare caiman are known to make appearances in the calmer areas of the water, frightening but beautiful creatures nonetheless!

Hannah Marsala