Eleanor Roosevelt is famously quoted as saying "Poor Niagara" on her visit to the Iguacu Falls. These spectacular cataracts are far more impressive than the far better known, and more visited Niagara Falls in the USA.
Meaning "great waters" in the native guarani language, the Iguazu Falls are shared by Brazil and Argentina, with Iguacu being the Brazilian spelling and Iguazu being the Argentinian spelling.
No cars are allowed beyond the car parks on either side of the Falls, with the sole exception of overnight visitors to the Sheraton (Argentina) and Das Cataratas (Brazil) hotels. So all transport is by foot, forest train, or organised tour (speedboat, forest jeep).
Trails of Iguazu on The Argentinian Side – Devil's Throat
On arrival at the entrance to the Iguazu Falls on the Argentinian side, it is best to take the first train of the day to the Devil's Throat (Gargantua del Diablo) station. This is because it is only the first train (at roughly 0830) that goes straight through to this station – all others require a change of train at the intermediate station.
From this it is a 1.2km walk across metal walkways to reach the Devil's Throat viewpoint. This viewpoint can get very crowded, even straight from the first train of the day, but it is the most spectacular of all.
This is the viewpoint where the visitor looks down into the Devil's Throat, and the visitor will also see the amazing spectacle of swifts darting behind the falls to their nests, and perhaps also the lucky "88" butterfly, a small white, black and red butterfly with "88" markings on its wings, among the scores of other butterflies along the trail.
The return walk is directly in reverse to the Devil's Throat train station, then catch the train for one stop back to reach the start of the Upper and Lower Circuits.
Trail of Iguazu on the Argentinian Side – Upper Circuit
This circuit is a similar length of walk to the Devil's Throat walkways, but passes just above several waterfalls. These include the "Two Sisters", the "Mbigua", and the "Bosetti" waterfalls. Like the Devil's Throat walkways, this is all fairly much on a level. Both this and the Devil's Throat walkways take roughly an hour each to complete. The walker feels right on top of some of these falls.
Trail of Iguazu on the Argentinian Side – Lower Circuit
This circuit is the only one with steps – but these are normally taken in descent and combined with a boat trip under the falls. Again a similar length to the other Argentinian circuits, but can take a little longer, due to the steps. This is less exciting than the other two trails, despite having a better viewpoint to look up at the falls.
Trails of Iguazu on the Argentinian Side – the "Gran Aventura" Boat Ride and Forest Jeep Ride
Strictly speaking this isn't a trail, but it is typical to pay the extra 200 pesos and catch the speedboat from the end of the Lower Circuit. This goes under some of the falls (passengers can get VERY wet – dry bags are provided but photographers with dSLRs should note that the bags are not very large. The boat then docks further down river, where a jeep ride through the forest takes passengers back to the park entrance.
There are several walkways on the Argentinian side, each with their own special viewpoints. Visitors may find it useful to view a map of the falls before their visit. Visitors should allow more than one day at Iguazu to get the most out of their trip to Iguazu/Iguacu.
Chiz Dakin - A keen mountain walker, scrambler, cyclist and occasional climber and sea kayaker for several years, Chiz Dakin has carried a camera with ...
