Visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina ranks highly on my list of most memorable travel experiences to date, and from the following photos, I’m sure you’ll understand why. If you’re thinking about visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina, surely you’ll be convinced to do so by the end of this post.

During our week-and-a-half trip to Argentina, we explored many colorful neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, feasted with gauchos on cattle ranches, learned to tango, and even embarked on a day trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay; but of all these experiences, visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina stole the spotlight.

Iguazu Falls are some of the most spectacular waterfalls on the planet and deserve a special place on anyone’s and everyone’s bucket list. With plenty of quick and cheap flights departing from Buenos Aires (and other parts of South America) daily, not visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina during your South American adventure would be simply inexcusable.

The Parque Nacional Iguazú makes up almost 170 acres of subtropical rainforest and boasts a chain of more than 265 waterfalls. Hundreds of native critters crawl through the rainforest, such as capybaras, jaguars, coatis. Overhead, howler monkeys swing from tree to tree, and high above the treetops, toucans soar with over 400 other bird species. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot a toucan’s bright orange beak or hear a howler monkey’s angry shriek.

Honestly, I didn’t have a clue as to what awaited me in Iguazu. I knew I was going, I knew it was one of the Wonders of the World, and I had heard from one person that Iguazu was a sight worth seeing. That’s it. I didn’t even look up images of the falls on Google because I wanted to be surprised. Because of that, whatever expectations I had for Iguazu were exceeded by at least a trillion times. It was almost overwhelming. In a good way.

Our first stop while visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina was the mightiest part of the falls: La Garganta del Diablo, or The Devil’s Throat. We climbed aboard the park’s eco-friendly, open-air train which disembarked at the starting point for La Garganta del Diablo. As we walked above the water on slippery metal bridges, I didn’t notice anything in particular. And that struck me as odd. Yes, of course, I noticed that it was beautiful and I saw plenty of greenery shooting out of the calm, almost glass-like water, but we walked for probably about fifteen minutes, and this was all I saw.

Wait. I thought I was going to see a waterfall…?!?!!

As we continued following the slick paths, holding onto the handrails for dear life, finally, I noticed something. An odd formation of clouds? Smoke? Nope, neither. I squinted and noticed plumes of water vapor, rising and rising as the rushing falls pounded the river below. Now we were getting somewhere.

Powerful, breathtaking, unbelievable. These are a few of the words that came to mind when I first laid eyes on La Garganta del Diablo. Oh, and also scary. While I stood on the lookout balcony and watched the Devil’s Throat swallow thousands of gallons of water per second, in the back of my mind, I was hoping I wouldn’t lean too hard on the railing and somehow get swallowed up too. But in the forefront of my mind, all I could think was wow.

After standing on the lookout balcony for just thirty seconds, I looked as though I’d just taken a leisurely dip in a swimming pool; the giant cloud of water vapor created by the torrential rapids had completely drenched me and my camera. I was sopping wet.

But I didn’t care.

And then I looked down, straight down, into the Devil’s Throat, into the misty abyss of Iguazu…

After we’d had our fill taking in the unbelievable views at Garganta del Diablo, we ventured off to what was probably the best part of visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina. At the time, I couldn’t fathom how much better the day could (and would) turn out to be.

Though our next stop would be to climb aboard a boat and cruise underneath the falls, the journey through the park yielded more and more panoramic views of lively, green jungle speckled with white, crashing waterfalls. I even spotted the bright beak of a toucan among the leaves.

These were our views as we walked through the park. Pretty unbelievable, right?!

I had never seen anything as beautiful as Iguazu Falls, Argentina before in my life, and to this day, twenty-something countries and countless cities later, I still haven’t. Visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina is just that impressive.

You know those moments when you’re so ridiculously happy that you can’t stop smiling to yourself? Those moments when nothing could possibly ruin your day? When you could cry because what you’re experiencing is almost too incredible too believe? Visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina, boating underneath some of the most incredible falls in the world, wearing a giant life jacket, and getting completely and utterly soaked was one of those moments.

If visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina isn’t on your list, add it. If you have a really long list, then you better move visiting Iguazu Falls, Argentina to the top.

There is no better experience than this one, my friends.