McSmiths do South America: Iquazu Falls

One of my principles for this trip was to try and avoid all photos of places we are going to. I really wanted to get that wow factor, and for Iguazu falls in particular I am SO pleased I held out.

Disclaimer: at the end of this post there are photos so please enjoy, or if you’d like to avoid and experience for yourself, don’t scroll too far!

We started on the Brazil side for a day which is widely held to be the less captivating of the two. I have to agree, but as someone with no expectations, getting the panoramic views of the mega vision that is the falls in their entirety, was breathtaking. The sheer amount of water, the noise and the expanse of the falls are what gripped me. What the Brazil side offers is an overview that you don’t get on the Argentina side as you’re very much in the falls there.

I would be lying if I said that was the highlight of my day though. The highlight was, by far, the Parque Das Aves. It only took two hours to walk around the Brazil side of the falls so we had plenty of time and decided to go, relatively reluctantly, to the Bird Park. It was AMAZING! There are toucans out of cages, a macaw enclosure you can go into, super red birds, flamingos, emus, giant lizards, hummingbirds etc. etc. An unexpectedly brilliant few hours.

Two days later we did the Argentina side of the falls. I felt like a small excitable child for the whole day. You get to walk around and above the waterfalls and we treated ourselves to the boat trip into a few of the waterfalls where we got DRENCHED. The power of the water was unbelievable. An expensive but well spent 12 minutes!

We saved the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat) until the end of the day and it was mindblowing. In Chris’ words; it’s like the earth just falls away. We couldn’t help but stand there and stare (and get soaked) for a really, really long time.

Smith