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  • Day 11

    Iguazu Falls: Part 1

    February 26, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    This morning we spent the first of two days in Iguazu Falls National Park. We stayed on the Argentinian side of the park. One can also visit from Brazil, but this requires an expensive visa and a time-consuming border crossing, so we decided to stay on the Argentinian side, where there are more trails for hiking and approximately 80% of the falls are located.

    We started our adventure with a Jeep and boat ride, which lasted about 2 hours. The Jeep ride was completely uneventful, and was really just a way to get to the steps of the boat dock. We walked down quite a few steps, and were given a life vest and a dry bag for our belongings. Everything that we read made it crystal clear that getting drenched was part of the adventure, so you’d better be fully prepared to get wet.

    The first part of the boat ride was just stunning. The Falls are incredible. First, the largest fall — the Devil’s Throat is just immense, both in terms of height from bottom to top, and the expanse. In fact, part of this particular set of falls is in Argentina and part is in Brazil. The sound is deafening, and the volume of water is awe-inspiring. In addition to this immense fall, there are a series of “smaller” falls, but to describe them as smaller is pretty misleading. They are huge. The largest is called San Martin, and if the Devil’s Throat was not just around the corner, one would think that this fall was the main attraction.

    The second part of the boat ride was to take us into the falls, and get everyone wet. While this sounds a bit silly, it was actually quite thrilling. Coming close to one of these immense falls, which spill hundreds of thousands of gallons of water each minute is exciting. And to then slip into the edge of these crashing falls brings out child in everyone. People on the boat shrieked, screamed, and laughed with delight as we bobbed in and out of the falls. I had a huge smile on my face and enjoyed it thoroughly.

    After the boat ride, we hiked/walked on the lower and upper trails, taking in various vistas of the falls — each one more beautiful than the last. Wow. Just wow.
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