Argentina Day 11: Iguazú Falls – the largest waterfall in the world

No toucans this morning, but we did enjoy an excellent breakfast at the hotel and stuck to our schedule of heading to Iguazú Falls at 9am.

Las dos hermanas (the two sisters)

The park is very well organized with trails marked for the handicapped or stroller-toting like us. Amir planned our route and we set off. First stop, the green trail on the lower loop to stop and see Las Dos Hermanas, two side by side falls tucked away off the main path to the big falls.

Metal walkways guide you through the park

We next headed deeper into the park to get a glimpse of Salto Bossetti and his neighbors.

Crossing paths with Coati

The trek to the next site was easy in terms of endurance and dotted with beautiful views.

Along the lower loop on the way to Salto Bossetti
Salto Bossetti
Salto Bossetti

We next backtracked to the train station we’d passed along the way. The train takes you up to Garganta del Diablo (throat of the devil), the largest view of the falls in the park.

If you want to take the train, it’s free with your admission to the park, but you must go to the ticket desk and secure train tickets for each person in your party. We were initially confused as to why, but the tickets are printed with a departure time, ensuring only enough tickets are issued for each train ride and it is not overcrowded with disappointed tourists.

The train ride itself is fairly short and not packed with huge scenery (it’s all relative here), so don’t be disappointed if you get seated in the middle or backwards.

We encountered a few critters on the way to La Gargancha del Diablo, including snakes, monkeys and coati.

Mama monkey with a baby on her back
Huge catfish in the river below the catwalks
Just a small snake
Golden Silk Orbweaver Spider
Coati wrestling match

You walk the catwalks for roughly a third of a mile to reach the platforms for viewing the falls.

Almost there…

The platform overlooking La Gargancha del Diablo was quite crowded, even with park staff controlling the flow. We still managed to navigate the stroller through.

Panoramic view of La Gargancha del Diablo
Sound on for full effect

On the way back to the train, we passed a woman who appeared to be having some sort of diabetic emergency as her family members were checking her blood sugar. A few minutes later, a park ranger blowing a whistle sped by us on the platform with the woman barely conscious in wheelchair, with an ambulance awaiting them at the train station.

Frutilla (strawberry) popsicles for everyone on the train ride back
Making more friends on the way back

In total we spent about 6 hours at Parque Iguazú, drank 6 bottles of water, ate 4 popsicles, saw 7 monkeys, and exhausted ourselves. It was an amazing morning and afternoon. We headed back our hotel ready to hit the pool.

Lobby of hotel Loi Suites
Wedding guests enjoy hours of poolside cocktails
Splashing in the shallow pool
Bouncy bridges connect the different areas of the hotel
Daddy/daughter time in the infinity pool
Nighttime view of the pool and hotel restaurant
Nighttime bridges

We’re currently awaiting room service for a late dinner. #1Toddler finally ran out of gas and crashed at 7:15. We’re enjoying the peace and quiet, so there’s no way we were going to wake her to go out to eat.

Tomorrow we fly back to Buenos Aires to spend just one more night there and catch our flights back home to Virginia. It’s hard to believe yet another adventure is coming to an end. We have plans to go to New York in August 2020 as a team of 4, but no international travel on the books as of yet. I supposed I better cross some other hurdles first.

-Steph

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