Waterfall Trip: Iquazu Falls (Argentina & Brazil) - Dec 2004
 (click any picture to get enlargement)

 

We finished our initial tour of Buenos Aires and then headed  to the north-eastern tip of Argentina.  Our destination was  an area called Iguazu; see #2 in red on the map to the right.

On this trip we hoped to get some good views of the world's greatest series of waterfall.  We had seen Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Nigara Falls in New York... but Iquazu was supposed to be much better.

We had a lot of clouds during the first part of the flight, but then it cleared up nicely.  

We saw a lot of trees in this part, which was very different from the farmland of the southern regions.


In the distance we could        make out a river...
... and after a while we could     
    see some white water.



As we got closer, we could see the layout of the entire area.

 
 
As we got ready for landing, the pilot did a series of maneuvers for us.  Luckily we were on the correct side of the plane and got some good shots of the falls.

The views were spectacular...  and it didn't cost anything extra!

I would recommend studying  this picture for a little while.  Understanding the layout of the waterfall areas will help you as our tours continue. 

At the top of the picture is the "throat".  Along the left is the Brazilian side; the river is the border.  The Argentine side is to the right;  it has the most complex series of waterfalls.



I zoomed into the 'throat' area just to see the effect... wow! As the plane circled and we got further away, we could see how massive the entire series of waterfalls was... over 200 in all!
 

The last glimpse we got from the plane was over the 'throat' ... 

... no one should be canoeing in the waters above these falls!
The pilot then aimed for the little airport & we landed safely. A taxi took us to the hotel along lush  tree-lined highways. At the hotel we were greeted by more lush garden areas.
More important was the hammock and swimming pool, as it was quite hot during the day!
Resting, refreshing & assessing our schedule. Nice wooden furniture, but too hard & fully in the sun! Our favorite guy was constantly cleaning the pool.

 
We ate and rested well at the hotel.  We also visited the local town to snoop in the shops and have drinks.  The climate was perfect for plants... but a little to hot and humid for us. 

This ends our first day in the Iguazu area.  During the next two days we visited the falls area.


The recommended viewing order for the Iguazu picture pages is as shown below.  
Study the map a bit to get a visual idea of where these tours took us.
 


1) The "Throat"
via train ride & hike.

2) Upper Circuit
over some of the falls.

3) Lower Circuit
eye level to some falls.

4) A Boat Ride
  to feel the waterfalls.

5) Brazilian side  
re-visit the "throat".

Extra: Bird Sanctuary
on the Brazilian Side.

 

 
After we completed our two days in the Iguazu area, we flew back to Buenos Aires for a little while.

We then flew to the southwestern part of Argentina ... for a Glacier tour ... click here to see that.
 

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